Torrid first hit out the market at the turn of the century with full-on gothic gear: long dresses with complicated lacings, vinyl in all shapes and sizes, and spooky reference T-shirts for our dragon-lady best moments. Then, depending on how you look at it, Torrid progressed – or regressed. Those wild dresses began being replaced by office gear. Corsets began resembling demure camis. “Goth” labels began being replaced by things like “Rockabilly” or “Wear to Work.”

For those who recall its beginnings as an extension of a plus size Hot Topic,  Torrid is sometimes viewed with a sense of loss. While there are certainly elements of the gothic still woven here and there throughout its line – Tim Burton themed Tees tend to remain available as well as that classic, the thigh high. For the most part it is now the trendy shop for the curvaceous, including such “not the goth” brands as Baby Phat and Cavaricci.

Still, every so often, a gothic element will sneak in. Just a trace, a bare whisper of where Torrid buried its roots. It’s that corset that stays well past Halloween. It’s those socks with skulls on them. It’s these lace-up-the-back knee highs.

Torrid hasn’t totally abandoned the goth – and it hasn’t really gone mainstream, either.