transformers Blog and Journals

So, Brittany tipped me off to this last night and I felt a rant was in order. 

As September ends and October rolls in, we begin thinking of that magical time of year called "Halloween."  With the spooky stuff and the pumpkin based goodies and, of course, the costumes.  Which means you'll be shopping around for bits and pieces for the year "come as you aren't."

Luckily, there are a number of websites out there offering help with costumes.  You can buy pre-packaged or you can look at tips for easy costumes that you can put together from everyday clothing items.  

And then, there's Hot Topic.

Look, Hot Topic, you were cool and fun when I was in high school.  And I don't know if I've out grown you or if you've changed, but we are done.  Professionally.  Your Halloween ideas are both ridiculously BAD and over-priced, to the point that you've morphed into a store selling the Mean Girls theory on Halloween costumes:

In the real world Halloween was a time for little kids to dress up in scary costumes. In girl world it was the one night a year a girl could dress like a total slut and no other girls could say anything about it. The hard core girls just wore lingerie and some form of animal ears.

Okay, so maybe it's not quite THAT bad.  But several of the guy costumes are...well, they're certainly not GOOD.

Do you remember when you were a kid and there were "costumes" that were just smocks with a character's picture on them and a cheap plastic mask?  Yeah, these are just the adult version of that.  

There's also a ton of pre-packaged Alice in Wonderland inspired costumes (gee, Hot Topic selling stuff that's related to a Tim Burton movie?  You don't say...), but of course, according to the website, you also have to dump an extra ton of money on accessories to go along with your $60 pre-packaged costume.  Let's try to ignore the fact that you can get similar costumes, if not BETTER ones, for the same price at a ton of other stores, especially Halloween specialty stores.

And yes, every year someone needs to come as a dead celebrity.  And this year's big one, obviously, is going to be Michael Jackson.  And their "normal" Michael version is fine, if dull:

But in celebrating the King of Pop's life, let us not forget to be epically LOL EDGY and make fun of the fact that, near the end, he was a very sad and messed up man.

Oh, but here's the kicker.  It's Hot Topic, so you know who HAS to make an appearance?

Yes, ladies, you too can force your boyfriend to dress like Captain Sparkle Dick of the USS Uber Douche.  And guess what this costume costs, according to Hot Topic's website?  Go on, guess.

I'll tell you:

$137.98.  Plus shipping.

So, yes, you can totally pay about $150 (when you add in the shipping cost) to look like a total douchebag.  Seriously, all that shirt needs is a popped collar and I swear I have seen college guys walking around in the same thing, calling each other "bro" as they do.  The only difference is, they aren't slathered in this:

Also available at Hot Topic, btw.  That'll up the price of the costume by $9.99.

Honestly, folks.  Don't take their advice on this stuff.  You can do so. much. better.