Yesterday our meetup group had our first Goth Mall Crawl. I've never been a mall goth, and I was dying to find out what it was like! No, seriously, I just thought it would be fun, and possibly nostalgic for anyone who had ever been a mall goth, only without all the angst. Also I haven't been shopping with anyone besides Martin in ages, so it was perfect.
Anyway, while only four of us actually made it, we had a blast! I knew both the others already, and one brought her 16-year-old daughter, who I have seen occasionally but haven't spent time with in a few years. We met at Hot Topic, and ended up spending probably an hour there, looking through everything (and I mean EVERY thing!) and trying things on. I ended up with a bottle of awesome pink/blue spatter nail polish and two great pairs of shorts that had "Buy one, get one for $1" tags on them! I was really lucky to find both in my size, as there was only one pair of each left, AND they were the only ones I liked.
The Misfits shorts (I'm thinking of removing the back pockets so you can see the letters, it says "Misfits"):
The purple/black tie-dyed distressed shorts by LOVEsick, and the nail polish (which has a LOT more blue flecks in it than this pic does):
Then we had lunch, followed by a stroll around the rest of the donut-shaped mall. I lost count of how many stores we actually went into; it really didn't matter because we were doing so much talking, anyway. When we finally got back to Hot Topic, we'd been there for almost five hours... no wonder my feet hurt!
The one thing we didn't do was take any pictures. :-( I guess we were too busy talking to care!
Have you ever done the mall goth thing?
Where I live, there is no Hot Topic but the next time I get to the US, I am going to check it out, especially for band t-shirts. I tried ordering online but the shipping was astronomical
ReplyDeleteI've seen some of those international shipping costs, they're utterly insane! You might also try Etsy, as some of the shops have band t-shirts, either vintage or replica. There might be a shop close enough to you that the postage wouldn't be so bad.
DeleteOh, it sounds like a fun day! I don't think I've spent time shopping with friends since I was a teenager. I've spent hours at the mall with my husband and son (my husband enjoys shopping way more than I do) but I haven't even done much of that lately as all the book stores seem to be closing down, and book stores are my favourite places in malls. :)
ReplyDeleteI know, bookstores are going the way of the dodo, and it's SO SAD. I honestly don't remember seeing one in the mall we were at on Saturday... Nope, I just checked their online directory, and there isn't one bookstore in that mall! :-(
DeleteI never went to the mall as a teenager, because there wasn't one anywhere close to me, and it took at least an hour by bus to the closest one. And shopping with my husband is fun, but it's NOT the same as shopping with grrlfriends!
We don't have Hot Topic in Australia, I have always shopped at secondhand shops. That's all I can afford most of the time, anyway. I used to get red and black nailpolish and lipstick from the cheap rack at the chemist that was the only black lipstick you could get although I don't think I ever wore it out of the house. The main "mall" shop I used to shop at was a hippie shop where I bought hippie dresses and semiprecious stone pendants.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE second hand stores! They're my favorite places to shop even when I DO have cash to spend. I don't usually shop at Hot Topic, either, because until a couple of years ago, they pretty much stopped carrying goth items. They're a very "trendy" store, and their stock changes as quickly as a teenager's mind... I guess we're in fashion again, yawn!!
DeleteThat nailpolish bottle is a beauty that could decorate your bathroom or vanity desk :) I agree with removing that disturbing pocket both shorts are cool.
ReplyDeleteWell if mall goths hang around in shopping centers doing nothing I guess I was one in my pree teens.
Yes, I love the skull-shaped bottle, and the color is great! And I think I AM going to take those pockets off, I never use back pockets on shorts, anyway? I don't want the rivets to leave holes, though, so I may try to cut around the studs on the pockets and leave those, if it doesn't look too silly that way.
DeleteYes, sounds like you were a teen mall goth, alright! The only difference between that and our mall crawl was that we weren't just hanging around doing nothing. But I wouldn't have minded that, either. Sure would have been easier on my feet! :-)
Sounds like a fun day out Lucretia! Love that nail polish bottle :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great? A skull-shaped bottle of polish in a fantastic color, who could ask for more? :-)
DeleteI'm suffering from a case of nostalgia over this post! In the mid-80's, there was a store Up Against the Wall which originally was alternative and somewhere in the 90's turned HipHop. I fondly remember buying an eyeball ring, an ankh t-shirt, and pining over all kinds of other paraphernalia that a young Me couldn't afford. Happy Sigh! I'm so glad you had fun! There is a Hot Topic down the street from me now. I go in every few months. The last time I scored a really cool bracelet for maybe $8.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love remembering stuff like that, and don't you wish you could visit those stores again? I do! Unfortunately, most of my favorite stores are looong gone. :-(
DeleteHot Topic does have some really nice jewelry (as well as some really awful stuff), and their prices are actually excellent most of the time.
Once in a while I go to the mall but I'm always along when I do it. I'm a guy after all. Anyway, I usually check out Hot Topic and Spencer's. Then, I get a bite to eat and head on out.
ReplyDeleteHey, guys don't HAVE to go to the mall alone. We had a guy signed up to join us on Sunday, but he forgot. And Martin might have come along if he hadn't had to work. I think it may depend on if you want to socialize more or shop more, and guys probably go to a mall to shop more than to socialize.
DeleteAaaccckkk, Spencers! Two of us stopped in there briefly after a trip to the restroom, and OMG!! The merchandise was a horrendous cross of cute toddler alt clothes, skimpy pre-teen Fredrick's of Hollywood-style lingerie in neon colors, t-shirts with swearwords on them, and stuff that should have been put in a section for 18+ only, like the plastic glasses with a "nose" that was really an extended phallus. REALLY??? Is it like that where you live, too? I haven't been to a Spencers in a long time, and I couldn't get out of there fast enough! And the music was all hip hop and crappy, which made it worse.
Hmm...It sounds like your Spencers and ours are very different. I've gotten some neat stuff there including my bat necklace, studded belts, chains and my Living Dead doll, just to name a few things. Maybe they cater more to the overall local scene or simething.
DeleteI've heard great things about it as well, but I was appalled at what I saw there on Sunday. And if that's what the local scene wants, how embarrassing for them. Maybe it's just THAT particular Spencers... I hope so! The only things I would have considered buying were the toddler clothes, and they wouldn't have fit me very well! ;-)
DeleteI worked a Christmas season in an out of town mall as a teenager and it put me off them for life! I also live near a small city, and the alternative shops were all clustered to the west of it, with the Kardbar for posters and cheap jewellery, Flip for Hollywood, which sold vintage jeans and band t-shirts. Both of these shops have miraculously survived the gentrification of Newcastle, probably due to location.
ReplyDeleteThere were also hippy / goth shops closer in and a great alternative arcade that sadly burned down early 90s and left a huge gap in the alternative market. Sadly alt shops are struggling now amongst the homogenised redevelopment of the city, but one - Kathmand2 - still survives in a handsome Victorian Terrace that borders the original teen alt crowd hangout spot at Old Eldon Square, aka the Green. It's a big outdoor square - no hiding indoors for us hardy northern types! A hugely eclectic crowd used to hangout there every weekend (and still do). I'm a little too old, but I do sometimes have a sit and a coffee there (yup, there is now a Starbucks, when in my day it was a dank old pub!). Ahhh memories!
Those shorts are so cute! What a bargain :)
Wow, I can see how working in a mall would put you off them! All that noise and teeming humanity would either kill me or make me go postal! Bleahhh.
DeleteToo bad about the "homogenized redevelopment" in your city, how totally BORING!! Unfortunately, the city I live in is like that as well; one has to go to San Francisco or San Jose (both of which are close to an hour away) to find most alt shops, clubs, etc. that haven't gone mainstream at least to some extent. Hot Topic, unfortunately, carries too many mainstream and "trendy" things (including tons of Disney movie stuff AND Justin Beiber!!) for it to be truly an alt shop anymore. However, they DO sometimes have awesome bargains, like those shorts! :-)
sorry for the work speak - I've been working in urban regeneration too long!!!
DeleteNeed to unhitch professional brain...
On the contrary, it was the PERFECT description of something we obviously both despise! GMTA... ;-)
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