i agree, most of my favorite goth clothing sites have a .uk domain. If I were just a little more poor at math than I am now, I would be buying right and left from them since they always seem to be cheaper.

I honestly dont like any of the clothes hot topic sells or really anything in there. Well they have fishnets and maybe a The Cure band tee, but I could buy that elsewhere for cheaper.

Its true that just bc you buy things that HT sells you are not a poseur, but some kids think that Hot Topic is the holy grail of goth. Once they enter they have been "transformed" Its like that south park episode. but now is more scene.

Thats what irritated me perhaps. Clothes dont make the goth, just like any sort of clothes does not make the person.

Also, I hate going in HT because there are really annoying people in there. I dont know if other people have noticed it, but every time I have been there, there are always little girls taking pics with there phones of the hot guy that works there. Or guys messing with all the merchandise.

I spend a lot of time at the mall and around teens (i am a camp counselor) and I never encounter silly teenagers anywhere else other than the food court.

^^I tend to agree on them becoming scene and such. Personally I still find things there that I like. I love TRIPP but they don't sell any of their things besides retail so if I want them I have to go to a hot topic or other retail location.

I like to complain about hot topic being so scene and I don't like being there, yet at the same time hot topic is a good place. As we all know baby bats can tend to be stupid and need to have that holy grail transformation. Which is why in part I was one of those hot topic goth teens and thanks to the clothes they used to carry, I am now in the lovely subculture we all love so much because of me taking the time to understand what the hell it was I was wearing.

I have a theory about the decline in variety of what Hot Topic carries:

10-12 yrs ago, when I went there frequently, I found unique things made of velvet, satin, lace, etc.

Recent years: more tees and cotton pants, which fit more of a "scene" aesthetic -- but is the change actually just a byproduct of much cheaper production? Is it just much easier/cheaper to sell mostly tees with stuff on them instead of velvet dresses/satin dress shirts/faux-fur miniskirts?

Not the first time I've ranted about a decline in clothing quality over the past decade. But I'm just wondering if that's the root of the style change here.

Last week I purchased two adorable Nightmare Before Christmas stockings for our son (34) and his fiance (32) at Hot Topic -- I know they'll love them...!

They give me darling TNBC items from Hot Topic year round.

I must admit, in all the years I've shopped there I've never been treated poorly.
All the clerks have been personable, helpful and quite professional.
I'd truly miss ours if they were to ever disappear...

i went into HT just to see what it has changed to and I must admit I was almost blinded by the bright colors.

I have to expect HT to change. Like any other store, they are catering to trend. With HT they are catering to alternative trends. Its just normal for most large retail stores.

I'm really disappointed in the change to the store front facade of the HT in Countryside Mall in Clearwater. It's not that dissimilar to the Ann Taylor Loft store.

Not that change is always a bad thing...it's just odd to see the facade of a HT look like the trendy store next door to it.