Is The Economy Turning America's Children "Goth"?

IMO a stupid and misleading article.But it's loosely related to fashion,I guess.

The degree to which Americans have stopped shopping is getting almost as scary as our over-consumption used to be. Yesterday we learned that men worldwide had stopped buying underwear, a disturbing development because former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan had famously fixed upon the metric as one of the most consistent, recession-proof sales figures in retail.

But it turns out demand for men's underwear is more elastic than we thought (even if, heh, the elastic itself isn't so much anymore.) Sales are projected to drop 2.3 this year. And elsewhere in the shopping universe, the February retail sales released yesterday portended a veritable bloodbath of red ink for the nation's mall retailers. The worst pain was reserved for Nieman Marcus and Abercrombie & Fitch, whose affluent customers cut back their habits to the tune of 30 and 34%, respectively. And the four chains that managed to keep sales flat or modestly up from February 2008 were off-price or discount stores. With one exception...

It's Hot Topic! The 681-store purveyor of spiked leather wrist cuffs, True Blue Raw hair dye, painful-looking body jewelry and assorted other signature accessories of misanthropic adolescent subcultures like "Goth." So that's what the nation's teenage boys are buying with the money they save wearing holey underwear? Is the Depression turning good kids into antsocial derelicts in black lipstick who will never get jobs? Well, yes on that last part. But Hot Topic has also apparently profited handsomely from its association with Twilight, a movie about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire only to attract the attention of a rival vampire who bites her wrist, prompting the boyfriend vampire to kill the rival vampire and save her life so they don't have to miss the prom. Whatever the case, teenage angst needs no stimulus package.
The best part is when the author calls goths "antsocial derelicts in black lipstick who will never get jobs"
I wish I knew the author of this pile of junk.I'd like to personally tell him a thing or two about gothic culture.

I've been wearing the same old pairs of underwear for years. I don't throw mine away unless the elastic completely gives out.

"Is the Economy Turning America's Children Goth"!

hahahahahahahahahah!!

It *is* a stupid and misleading article, but hilarious from the stance of "what will they think of next."

Most teenage boys don't buy their own underwear.
They're mom's buy it.

^^Very true!

Or their girlfriends hahahah

"antsocial derelicts in black lipstick who will never get jobs"

Pfft...... Sure, many of us have to slave away at boring menial jobs just to afford the extensive wardrobe.

I work and go to school to better myself and to dramatically increase my income.

After all corsets, dane, and new rocks don't just grow on trees !

Considering how many goths swear they wouldn't shop at Hot Topic, I think it's the scene kids that are giving it the increased business. But regardless, One possibility that may have eluded the author could be that their parents don't have the money to buy their clothes at the gap, and now the kid's are getting jobs to help out with expenses and buying their own clothes, where they want to get them. But then again, it's just a guess as I haven't put any serious research into my opinion.

The ever growing popularity of hot topic has to do with the whole twilight frenzy.

My Hanna Montana loving cousin was waiting in line for the midnight release of the dvd, and she has every stupid little novelty that has to do with that horrid movie.

Well, that has to be one of the more poorly written and unorganized articles I've read.
"Is the Depression turning good kids into antsocial derelicts in black lipstick who will never get jobs?" Heh...really? I'd like to show him my resume. Its not much now, but I'm sure I could find some fellow goths with rather impressive job histories.
So from what I can gather, the author is trying to say Hot Topic continues to rake in profits while other companies lose sales, because teenage boys are buying goth clothes instead of underwear. (What?...) And then something about Hot Topic being successful due to selling Twilight merch. So he pretty much discredited his own article there in the end.

ya and I always remembered hot topic being super expensive as well. Even the movie/music merchandise was overpriced. I know people who stopped buying band shirts at HT and bought them cheaper on-line.

I clicked on the authors name and there is a blog you can comment on.....I think I might give it a go.

I also blame emo kids for all the silly goth labels lol hehe.

This article is pretty ridiculous. All the goths I know, including us in here, have jobs, or if they don't due the current economic/workplace downfall, they did have them or are looking for one. I see way more "normies" that would rather play video games than get a job more often than I see goths not working or trying to at least use their creativity to get extra money.