A lot of people are trying to make money off the Steampunk craze, but don’t really understand it. For instance, goggles and gears. Even in the Steampunk worlds, you wear goggles if you are on a steam powered motorbike, an airship, or other areas where your eyes need protecting. You might wear them if they have night vision or zooms, but you don’t just wear them all the time for no reason. The same with gears. If you are a mechanic or inventor, you might very well keep extra gears and tools on you, sample kits, etc. However, all Steampunk folks know that there is a purpose to your gear. Steampunk wearers can tell you in great deal the function of their guns, tool kits, sample kits, flying backpacks, etc.
So here is the video making fun of people who just put gears on things, paint them bronze and trying to sell them on the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA&feature=player_embedded
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 