Lina decided simpler was better. She thought she'd like the more unusual costumes and accessories, but just trying to envision herself in something like the snake-hair wig or the flippers weirded her out.
Her eyes fell upon a collar tucked away among the larger things. It was alone on its wire rack, and she picked it up. It was black leather, with silver pointed studs. It looked simple enough, if not innocent.
Lina had enjoyed a brief imitation-goth/punk phase, though she never tried hanging out with the groups in school, and she never quite got the look right. But she liked the idea of wearing collars. This one looked much nicer than the plain choker she used back then.
Just for the hell of it, she decided to try it on. She strapped it around her neck and tightened it until it was secure enough not to slip but loose enough not to choke her. She noticed a large mirror down the aisle and examined how it looked on her.
In her normal outfit it stood out strangely. "If I had the right look, this would match," she said to herself. She glanced around for some goth-type wardrobe, but before she could scan the surrounding racks, she felt strange. Her collar felt ice cold, and it sent a shiver down her spine. Her skin crawled with an unidentifiable sensation. All she knew was, something was wrong.
Her reflection started shifting in the mirror. Lina looked closer and saw that her clothes were moving. She looked down and realized it was true! Her shirt, skirt and everything else were squirming about, changing color and shape. She tried to pull her shirt off, but the way the fabric was changing, it kept slipping out of her grip.
"Stop! Stop!" Lina cried, not knowing what else to do.
The clothes darkened, shrinking in some areas and expanding in others. Her skirt tightened up and the sleeves of her shirt thinned and segmented. Her shoes were growing up her legs. Something was forming on her wrists as well.
In a few more seconds, the changes were complete, and Lina had herself a brand new outfit. Her shoes were now black boots with steel plates around the toes and heels. They went up almost to her knees and contained four large metal buckles. Her new shorts were frayed at the ends, black denim with a wide black belt studded in spikes. Two silver chain loops dangled from her right hip. Her undershirt was a fishnet affair with short sleeves and tucked into her shorts, while on top of this she had a small dark red shell with a black heart in the center, a lightning-shaped cut piercing halfway into it from the cleft in the top. It was sleeveless, and ended just below her breasts to show off a semi-exposed fishnetted midriff. Her wrists each had a black studded bracelet to match her collar and belt.
Lina wasn't sure what to make of it all. On the one hand, it was more impressive than any wardrobe she had come up with during her experimental phase as a punk/goth, but on the other hand she didn't feel very comfortable wearing this in public at the moment.
She tugged at the fabric, still not sure if it was real. "This is crazy. Clothes don't just change like that!" she tried to reason with her situation. "I know I wanted to look more appropriate for the collar, but I didn't mean change what's on my body!"
She gasped herself into silence when another chill washed over her.