Finding Good Things In Normal/Preppy Stores

[Angel of the End]

Preppy and normal stores are actually where I find alot of the best things. Sheer black long sleeve blouses, pretty long black and lace skirts, elegant accessories (hair, jewelry, ext) and so on. JC Pennies has some beautiful black and silver costume jewerly and blouses as well. Also, Victoria's Secret can have lovely waist clincers and corsets.

What are all of your thoughts on this? Ever find anything simply wonderful where you least expected it? Do you go into these stores often?  

[-Resurrected Writer-]

Define normal store.  

[GilAskan]

-Resurrected Writer-

Define normal store.

I was wondering myself.

It seems to be that within our beloved Guild, anything that's not goth is apparently "normal". And apparently, the epitome of normalcy is preppiness.  

[Henneth Annun]

Normality is relative. Someone asks you why you don't dress "normally", you say "I am dressing normally, this is normal for me."

Relative to the 'mainstream culture', many of us don't dress "normally".

---

Yes, I find good stuff at shops not targeted towards the goth subculture. It's not really a big deal to me, I thought most people did that. What's the sense in limiting yourself to a certain number of stores targeted towards you when you could be missing out on hidden gems in other places?  

[LaceyBones]

Once in a while, I find cute stuff at Forever 21.  

[Angel of the End]

GilAskan

-Resurrected Writer-

Define normal store.

I was wondering myself.

It seems to be that within our beloved Guild, anything that's not goth is apparently "normal". And apparently, the epitome of normalcy is preppiness.

I mean stores that have items of clothing that are not targeted twords the goth/alternative group. Like American Eagle <--- targeted for wanna-be-preps or Hollister. DEB focuses at "trendy" girls, Wet Seal is focused at more sophisticated styles for adult women, ext. The place where I buy my Wild and Crazy lipstick is a place where they sell knock-off hip hop clothing brands.  

[Autumn Caledonia]

I've found some decent stuff at H&M. It's even relatively cheap there too. Plain colored t-shirts for $5. For a mainstream fancy mall store that's dirt cheap.

Some of my favorite socks have come from The Gap.

And my absolute FAVORITE sweater in the entire world is Calvin Klein. (My grandmother got it on sale and thought it looked like something I would wear. She's very good about that.) It ended up becoming a key part of my winter goth look.  

[Autumn Caledonia]

I've even been known to find some decent things at Hot Topic from time to time.

(Haha, yes I do think of Hot Topic as a "preppy/normal/mainstream" store. It's nothing but pure commercialism, the mainstream trying to capitalize on the alternative. So it gets put in this category in my book.)  

[Angelica_Eve_Nguyen]

normally I avoid mundane stores, but sometimes I find things at Kohls, Sears, and even American Eagle. My fave jacket's from AE...  

[Ethereal Laments]

I actually found some really nice jewlery at a Claire's. Also, some nice things at Target and Forever 21.  

[Angel of the End]

Most the things I find are actually from more normal mainstream stores. Like a long black and lace skirt that is ankle length from Vanity, a black dress and black lace socks from DEB, black lacy heels with a bow on them (sadly stripper shoes) from Shoe Heaven, a black sheer long sleeve shirt from Wet Seal, several skirts and black blouses from Target, black shorts (the only shorts I own) from Walmart, make up (black eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner, ext) from Walgreens, a black purse with a silvery decorated cross on it from a Christian book store, ext.  

[Sugar Tree]

I've found great stuff in stores like Ardene's, Clares, GARAGE...

All of my collars are from Claires, a lot of my wristcuffs and armwarmers are from Ardene's. All my black tanktops are from GARAGE.

I got an awesome pleather trenchcoat from Winners for $50, got another pleather coat from Bryan's for about the same price.

La Senza and Jacob are always good. I got a cool bra with corset lacing from La Senza and plaid panties and a plaid bra from Jacob.

Only good thing about AE (American Eagle) is their lingerie line...I'm still a sucker for cute panties. Although their sizes cater to stick-thin Hollywood girls...their medium fits like a small...

Very.Slowly.Dying.

 

[SADERR]

-Almost all my shirts are from WalMart or West49, or a band Tshirt stand in our mall, usually. (Or a thrift shop)
-My pants are almost always from thrift-stores.
-My accessories are usually from Ardenes, or something I've made.
-My shoes are a pair of shitty skate shoes from WalMart.

So, almost everything of mine is not from a "goth" store, I just make it my own.  

[Keevan Draco]

right now, Wal-Mart is selling a medium selection of skate wear....a lot of it is pure crap, but there are a few pieces that could be modified to suit my needs....