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Hope there is not already a thread about this...

Okay, so i was asking some people today "What do you think of Hot Topic?" Over half said that Hot Topic was "poser-ish". I was just wondering everyone elses thoughts on this. 3nodding

Yeah sometimes some of the people in there dont exactly belong there but I dont think they make Hot Topic poserish.

Hot Topic's legitimacy in the goth culture is a topic I have commonly heard debated. I think I best summed it up duing a conversation I had a few weeks ago:

"It's good to pop into CVS if you need just a few simple things (aspirin, film, pencils, etc.), but you wouldn't want to shop exclusively there, would you? No, you'd go to Miejjers, or Kroger, or Walmart. Likewise. Hot Topic is like the goth CVS. It's good to pop in for a few simple things (eyeliner, a Projekt CD, fishnets, etc.), but you couldn't shop exclusively there. The majority of the CDs are pop-punk and metal, the majority of the fashions aimed at teens who want to rebel. Good for a quick pick up, yeah, but with far better stores online (like Heavy Red, Argoth, Goth-Shop, Drac-in-a-Box, etc.), why Hot Topic?"

As for it's "goth-oscity" (how goth it really is) I'll post on that a bit later.

$50? that's around £25 here, not too bad when the cheapest pair of trousers starts at £35 (and that's for real crappy ones) say $70 roughly, at most of the indie shops.

I live in the uk so we don't have any big chain alt places, just small indie shops (real cute places where it helps to be stereotypical emo and/or goth ie. a stick person because they're so crammed full >.<). So it is amusing to say the least with the fights that ensue about hot topic. There seem to be the people that view it as a mecca of all things they love, the people that hold it as the symbol of all things un-holy and blech, and the people that don't really give a crap.

I do agree with GilAskan's point of view. Where I live there's a choice of three shops that specialise in goth/emo/punk/wierdo things, but I wouldn't shop there exclusively, partly becuase they're damned expensive (they're independent, they need to get money somehow...daaaaamn) and they only have things that are showy and overblown.

I like to go around in my £5 crappy jeans I got from a chav (prep, only without the taste) shop. Cheap, plain, understated. Perfect. For the best buys, don't give a crap where you go (though, only with certain people, I'd never dream of going into a chav shop with a guy. Girls can get away with it, alt guys will get their arsed kicked if they show up in a chav shop...).

Mostly, if I shop at Hot Topic or Torrid, I just buy their shirts (Lawlz, only sale ones!) because some are too cute to resist. x: I also am hopelessly in love with the Emily the Strange brand.

Really, I'll pretty much shop at any store that has my sizes. (o___O) Except maybe A&F and American Eagle. $50 for a plain T-shirt is a bit too outlandish for me. x;

eww. Kindergoths, mallgoths, mallcore... ewww. While I don't blame Hot Topic, I do think they are one of the factors in the exponential growth of the posuer-goth cultures.

What I meant was that they weren't wholey responsible for posuer goths, nor did they start the trend. They do contribute to it's growth though, and do nothing to stop it.