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I think bondage pants are really hot, and if I wanted to wear pants often, I would shop at Hot Topic. As it is, I just get comics there, and check to see if any of my favourite cartoon characters have been put on any of their shirts yet. So far, I've only found Mighty Mouse at Wet Seal and one other place.

Oh, they did have a dress that reminded me of and Eccentrique dress that I love, but it was too expensive for the materials that were in it. sad And I've seen a couple others that were pretty cute. However, since I sew, I just log the ideas away in my head, and spend my money on better fabric.

I don't mind people dressing from HT, but they shouldn't think that just because they shop there they are part of the Gothic or Lolita cultures.

Hot Topic = poor quality at a high price; They use the cheapest fabrics! However there was a "Halloween Costume" they had - that seemed to be of good quality and very adorable and loliable -- but that is the only thing I've seen in there of quality, however still a bit pricey! I'd pay $200 dollars for quality before I go buying a dress for $65 that I know will fall apart in about a month xX;

So your saying loli is just a marketing ploy ^^; -- Well that's dumb -.-! What about the people that make their own loli clothes, not loli because they didn't pay a rediculous $500 on them? o.0;

I'm not saying anything so you can stop calling my statement dumb. ^^ I'm only pointing out what it says in this article which is based on the personal experiences of someone who has been around the Loli crowd in Japan. Don't get mad at me for what it says... neutral Maybe you should go read it? And while you're there you can read my posts in that thread as well?
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=1317864

I whould wear gothic lolita stuff that isnt cosiderd a brand if I wanted one but didnt had much money... but not that hot topic stuff or something... I saw more real, cheaper and better stuff on ebay.

Well . . .

I thought that Hot Topic Lolita bases its clothes off of Western Loli fashion, don't they? So they wouldn't really be goth loli anyway, right? XD;

Well to be honest I never liked the idea of mainstream loli. So..... Yeah. I think a lot of what attracted me to it in the first place was that not that many people liked it. There's obviously a lot of people who DO like it, but they're rather scattered about and such... ^^' Anyway. I like things that are different, and mainstream makes it... not different. x_x;

Yes, yes exactly :] Anytime people bring up the terms "mainstream" or "Hot Topic" in a lolita community, there's always tension, so I'll try not to be offensive to anyone when I explain my opinions ^^'

It's not so much that we can be considered "picky" rather than something like...

ON MAINSTREAM THINGS. "If everybody likes this, then won't it be that you are just following the trend?" Even if a person likes something before it becomes popular, such as goth loli in this case, then once everyone likes it, there isn't really a difference between you and everyone else. There most definitely IS a difference, but to the rest of the world, you're just doing what is "in" or stylish for the moment. Then, after the community begins to tire of the fashion, when you continue to wear it, you'll be ridiculed for being "out of date" or for not keeping up with the styles.

ON HOT TOPIC. Also, I remember saying before, but Hot Topic doesn't really have the best quality clothing, to be honest. It kind of rips easily, and it's really thin. Overall, in my opinion it's cheap quality for a high price. Personally, even if Hot Topic sold "True Lolita" clothing, I think it woudl still be a cheap quality version, and therefore I would prefer to buy the original brands anyway. Even if you pay a lot more, at least you know it will last longer, right? The same goes for brands like Bodyline. I'm sure that they probably WOULD be considered "True Lolita" since I've seen some Kera snap lolis in it, but~ many people prefer to buy from big name brands such as Baby the Stars Shine Bright because they know the quality will be better. I can't say I've bought from either of them, but I do like Baby the Stars Shine Bright better...

ON SEWING. I can't say too much about what people in Japan would think as far as sewing goes, but since they include patterns in the GLB's I don't think it would be a problem. Also, since pattern books specifically for Gothic Lolita are released by the same publisher (yes?), then I the said lolitas MIGHT still consider it name-brand (since the patterns in GLB are from the name-brand designers).

I'm sure many of you can relate to something like that, although I may not have worded it so eloquently ._.;