Where Trend-Setters Shop : Huntington Beach store Electric Chair is center of anti-fashion. Buyer says her goal is to keep ahead of everyone else.

With its assortment of furry bra tops, black leather lace-up bustiers and rosaries (for wearing, not praying), the Electric Chair could well be every parent’s worst nightmare.

After closer inspection, however, most find that the store with its radical rags is not a threat. In fact, some hip parents shop there, too.

“We try not to be intimidating,” says buyer Rhonda Barraza.

Electric Chair sales clerks (whose hair seems to change color daily) are friendly though not fawning. In addition, the store’s dressing rooms aren’t shaped like coffins, the way they are at another alternative clothing store, and the music is kept to a tolerable decibel level.

Billed as Orange County’s largest alternative clothing store, Electric Chair is an oasis of originality in a sea of sameness. What began as just another Orange County beach-and-surf shop 12 years ago has found its niche as a center of anti-fashion.

“It’s the only Los Angeles-like store in Orange County,” says Aimee Rodrigues, a 22-year-old sales clerk. “You can’t find this stuff unless you go to Melrose.”

Clothing buyers for mainstream mall stores have been seen at the Electric Store regularly because they know trends often start here.

“I do the homework and they copy,” Barraza says.

Once a look begins to pop up in malls, it quickly disappears from the Electric Chair.

“It’s not cool for something to be in the mall,” Barraza says.

That’s what’s happening to the skull-and-dagger motif that once dominated alternative clothing. Now that skulls can be found in department stores in Iowa, Electric Chair patrons want something different.

“Our goal is to always keep ahead of everybody else,” Barraza says. “When the kids see something everywhere, they don’t want it anymore.”

Her greatest challenge is staying outside the mainstream, which quickly absorbs anti-fashion trends.

“We always keep up with what the kids are into,” she says. “We talk to them about what they’re wearing. We set the trends.”

She goes to where the kids who wear the alternative clothes usually hang out--the street, the skate contests, the underground parties. She seeks out clothing manufacturers too small to supply retail chains. Many are local designers who work out of their homes.

“They’re the most artistic,” she says. Some of Orange County’s big-name manufacturers such as Gotcha have their roots at the Electric Chair.

The latest anti-trend, according to Barraza, is for girls to dress like boys and boys to dress like factory workers.

“The girls are not into tight skirts; they’re into double extra-large T-shirts and clunky shoes,” Barraza says.

In short, both boys and girls are into industrial clothes: heavy denims, work shirts, baggy jeans. The colors are dark or electric--there’s not a pastel in sight at the Electric Chair.

A staple of the store is the heavy rubber-soled shoes by Dr. Martens, or “docs” to those who swear by them.

Sharon Connon, 21, of Huntington Beach, wearing green pants and a black halter that shows off the tattoo on her shoulder, has come to Electric Chair for a pair of black docs with yellow stitching.

“Y’know, you’re the first person who’s bought those,” Rodrigues tells her.

“Cool!” says Connon, raising her two fists in the air. “Don’t sell them to anybody else.”

Above all, the people who shop here want clothes and accessories that are different.

“People who come here are not into conforming,” says Janine Busansky, 22, also of Huntington Beach, in a black and white polka dot sun dress. “They’re a little more creative. They have a personality of their own.”

The Electric Chair’s big sellers are T-shirts touting alternative bands, black leather flight jackets, studded belts and wild ‘60s-style hats, some covered in fur. One red-and-white striped top hat is straight out of Dr. Seuss’s “Cat in the Hat.”

Silver jewelry, including nose earrings, studs, biker rings and hoops, are hot. They’re made by small manufacturers.

“You don’t find these things in other jewelry stores,” Barraza says.

The neon-colored fur purses with stuffed-animal eyes and a heavy biker chain strap are as far from a Chanel bag as one can get.

More outrageous garments--such as the blue fur-covered overalls with the spotted leopard print, silver halter body suit and lace-up black leather jeans--are worn to parties and night clubs. Other items like black Stussy jeans, baggy flannel plaid shorts and Hang Ten T-shirts are tame by comparison.

Huntington Beach designer Steve Baldry makes floppy patchwork hats and one-of-a-kind clothes. Rodrigues holds up one funky Baldry creation: a black zip-up jacket with white fur around the cuffs and hems.

“It’s almost like a little Jetsons jacket,” she says.

A sign that demand is high for anti-fashion: The Electric Chair has opened two other stores, one in Long Beach and another in Riverside. The original store, meanwhile, has grown to 8,500 square feet.

Ironically, making an anti-fashion statement has become more difficult as alternative clothing becomes more accepted.

“When I was a kid you were strange if you dressed differently,” Barraza says. “Now it’s becoming more mainstream to dress alternative. It’s getting harder to stay ahead.”