Hot Topic ~ I Am An Evil Aunt.....
Written: Apr 18 '06

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| Full Review |
I'm not sure when I first discovered the Hot Topic stores. It was several years ago though, when my daughter was a teenager and obsessed with all things black. My first thought upon entering one of these stores was Where were these when I was a teen?!?. Very cool stuff here. I found myself wishing I were a few years younger and could get away with wearing some of this Punk-slash-Goth stuff. I did purchase my way-cool Pacman steering-wheel cover and floor mats from them. They carry everything from smart aleck t-shirts to PVC trench coats to stickers with warped sayings on them to baby clothes. Yep. Baby clothes. That's where their website comes in.
Lars' niece recently gave birth to a gorgeous little boy. She loves the whole rock scene. I knew that the normal little cutesie crap for babies was not going to cut it for her, so on our recent trip to the States I sought out those delightful baby outfits for young Robin. We found bibs and Onesies with matching caps with AC/DC, Guns-n-Roses, and Social Distortion on them. Perfect! But I knew they had more. I had seen more on prior excursions. So, off to the website to explore. Sure enough, there was a veritable treasure trove of items to let the other kids in the nursery know that Robin was not to be messed with...
The website is done in a black background, as you would expect given its focus and target audience. Luckily for my old eyes, the menu is framed in blue with white lettering so I can focus easily and find what I want. the choices are: What's New, Gift Cards, Music, Band Merchandise, Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, Shoes, Intimate, Jewelry / Body Jewelry, Accessories, Belts / Leather Goods, Hats / Bags, Gifts, HT Baby (BINGO!), Clearance, Girl's Plus Sizes, and Guy's Extended Sizes.
Off to the to the HT Baby area I went. Oh me oh my... let's have one Blest Black And White Skull Baby Bodysuit for $16 and since it is still a bit chilly in Sweden this time of year, how about a nice Guns N' Roses Logo Baby Hoodie for $24.99. That should do it for now, since I had already shipped over several items. I really wanted to find some little bitsy black combat boots too, but apparently they do not have those. urgh. Lots of Vans tennies, but no boots. The search for those continues.
So let's go to the shopping cart. What's this? Take 20% off all purchases while we're moving!. Hey, I like that! Woohoo! You do have to make an account here to check out. I find that a tad annoying, but the truth is I will be shopping here again so it will be nice to have my info stored for easier buying next time. Besides, I do have a Hot Topics Club card so this purchase applies to getting that big discount later. Yeah bay-bee.
So I tediously enter all the shipping and billing info, happy that this will be a one-time ordeal. Until I get to State/Province. They only ship to the US or Canada. Errr WAIT! That's misleading... the State/province box is only mandatory if you live in those two places.. further down I can select Sweden as my country. Woohoo! My only shipping option for an International order is Express Mail Intl. 10-14 Business Days at $18.50. Obviously, the majority of you will be within the US and will not have to pay so much. Really, though, this was lower than I expected. You see, the package of stuff I had bought and shipped myself was $40 to ship over from Miami to Sweden, so that $18.50 was a pleasant surprise.
They accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. You can also pay with a money order, cashier's check, Hot Topic or Torrid gift card, Hot Topic or Torrid gift certificate or store credit. Our AmEx card was billed on the day the order shipped.
The box arrived within the stated time and well packaged. I mean, it's clothes. One wouldn't expect that to be easily damaged anyway, right? Still, sometimes International stuff is handled rather roughly, and Hot Topic did make sure to account for that with sturdy packaging.
I know others have had some bad experiences with Hot Topic's on-line branch, but I have to go with my own experience and give them 5 stars. I do plan to order more so if there is ever a problem, you can rest assured I will rush back here to update this review accordingly. Right now, I highly recommend this store. Robin is lookin' mighty fine in his new clothes!
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Baby Clothes
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About the Author
Member: Lori Leidig
Location: Sweden
Reviews written: 647
Trusted by: 770 members
About Me: Game over.
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