The Definitive Guide to Wearing Your Ethnicity
By now it’s common knowledge that I like to wear tshirts with funny, ironic, and silly messages related to being Chicana and/or Mexican. I have a good collection going now.
Whenever I post photos of the myself wearing the tshirts over at Flickr (Look at my chest set) I get questions about where I got the tshirts.
So, I just thought I would make it easier for you all to get some tshirts too, if you want them.
For those in LA/Southern California, you can shop at both the Montebello Town Center and Puente Hills Mall. The store I shop at in the mall is Aztlan Gallery (626.839.7780).
For online shopping and browsing:
Chica
“CHICA is a lifestyle brand dedicated to empowering Latinas and all women who follow their dreams. Our clothing will always have an upbeat attitude with a Latin Flair, drawing inspiration from La Cultura: our language, our people, our food, our music & our dance.”
- From the site.
This one is just for las mujeres who want to be cute while representing. I really wish I could wear this tshirt, but alas it is not true. I was not hecha in East LA. Also, shouldn’t it be hecha since a girl is probably going to be the one wearing the shirt?
Chicano Nation
“A small retail/wholesale business which targets a special market of the raza community (the Chicano consumer).”
– From the site
I don’t think I have anything from Chicano Nation, but I like the look of their accessories.
Firme Clothing
The website doesn’t say much and I don’t know much about these guys. For some Firme tshirts, check the Brownpride Store.
Industrias Ilegales
“Industrias Ilegales is a small company from East Los Angeles. It was founded in 1998 by local Artist/Activist from the community. Our goal is to produce a quality garment with possitive message. We are tired of false representation from big companies with no conexion or respect for our cultura or our struggle. ”
– From the about us page.
Some of the designs are based on familiar altered logos. Others are more focused on promoting our indigenous heritage. Since I’m so pale, I felt the need to prove that I was indigenous inside. I also have the viva la mujer bag.
Insurgentes
“Revolutionary attire for the rebel in you.”
“We try to cover the different perspectives of our culture. We have Northern Indigenous literature, and history. Also crafts from Mexikoh, which represent the day of the Dead. We have Alpaka hats from Ecuador, and our most popular item: T-shirts. Revolutionary, Indigenous, Traditional, Political, Payasadas, and just plain garras Firmes.”
– From an article on their Echo Park store, Nahui Ohlin
My friend bought me the Chilivera tshirt for my birthday. I also have the decolonize tshirt and the infamous Chapulín Colorado tshirt.
Mayazteca
They have more than just thsirts, they also have some really nice dress shirts. I have a friend who has some of these and wears them all the time to work. Mayazteca seems to be a one stop shop for cultural wear and accessories. I’ve wanted the Chicana banana tshirt since my first year in college.
Mis Nopales
“Mis Nopales is a small company based in southern California created by dos hermanos. We strive to celebrate the history and orgullo of Mexican culture through our products. Our focus is to provide quality products with a unique flavor, like frijoles y nopales! Our name is a representation of our environment (Who doesn’t have nopales in their backyard?).”
– From the site.
The Mis Nopales tshirts are my current favorites mainly because I get questions like “what does ‘ni entiendo’ mean?” When I answer, “I don’t understand.” I get great confused looks.
NaCo
I like the NaCo clásico line more than the newer tshirts. Whenever I go to Café Tacuba concerts, I get a kick out of seeing the roadies dressed in “estaff” tshirts.
Orale Wear
Conscious urban wear. The guy who runs the company is the uncle of a good friend, so I often saw him wearing the different tshirts and sweatshirts. I don’t think I have anything from here, but I bought my sister the soluna tshirt a while ago.
Xochico
“Xochico is a small California-based company that markets licensed and original goods to people who like unique products that you can’t find just anywhere. Cool stuff, ethnic and international — we bring a unique perspective to pop culture for those people who don’t feel “represented” by traditional companies and products.”
– From the site.
The chingón tshirt makes me think of El Más Chingón,
The final two are not specifically related to Raza, but I occasionally find something worth wearing, like my Mexican Basketball Association and bésame tshirts.
Busted Tees (basketball shirt)
Vintage Vantage (for the bésame shirt)
Thanks for the info!
You forgot to include Acamonchi wear…the dude that started it is up in San Diego, some Nortec graphic designer, I love his more political ironic Chicano shirts.
Oh yes, I need to buy that Mas Chingon shirt. Perhaps, give one to HP and Oso that say, “Menos Chingon” too.
Wha. How’d I get thrown into that?
I guess the swap meet doesn’t have a website, but that’s where I always got my T Shirts.
I second Oso and HP getting the “menos chingón” t-shirt
Oh yeah, thanks a lot for the list, allow me to add me a store from my ‘hood in Dallas: it’s called CharroKing, they’re pretty controversial right now because of their Oak Cliff ( Dallas’ East LA ) t-shirts.
while kurtis was down here he bought a NaCo hoodie.. he didn’t know what naco means and i couldn’t totally translate the meaning of it but he liked it and bought it anyway. i thought it was so cute since it made im look cute ;p
Those are some hot shirts.
*looks for Inca related apparel*
btw, I’m in the process of taking over the world.
Slowly, but surely.
*bookmarks*
Hey, I should get Mas Chingon, I don’t go around throwing up after a couple of beers, like BOTH EMC and Oso do.
great links.
Thanks for the links. I definitely will be doing some shopping.
great post, thanks for all the links!!
Your post made me miss my techno-rancheras very much. The T-shirts reminded me of a friend back in Mexico named Micheal that as a kid went to Reyno Aventura (what use to be the Mexican Disney World but has now reopened as a six flags) and he got a t-shirt with his name. The thing is that because he couldn’t spell at that age and his mom apparently distracted did not supervise the transaction, the T-shirt ended up spelling MAICOL. He has then re-printed it many many times.
brown is beautiful in a good shirt
Um, am I allowed to say brown is beautiful out of a good shirt or does that make me a white man oppressor exoticizing “the other”?
Davo,
What the hell is going on in your gravatar man?
Is it not obvious???? If you really need me to paint a picture
Joseph,
Thanks for the idea. I realized I had a lot of these sites bookmarked and now I’ve found more thanks to some of my readers.
EMC,
I think HP deserves the shirt, but Oso might just be regular chingón. Thanks for the suggestion. My list is pretty LA centric.
Oso,
You probably got thrown into that because you and HP both live in SD. Too bad, ’cause we all know you’re a lot more chingón than HP. I think you’d get strange looks if you wore a brown is beautiful tshirt. Then you can fool people and speak in Spanish and tell them you lived in MTY and they’d get all confused. It might be fun.
Antonio,
I never saw any interesting tshirts at the swap meet. Man, it’s been ages since I’ve gone.
Seyd,
Some of those Charroking tshirts about Oak Cliff were pretty funny, but I could see why some people would be offended. I think we gotta stop making fun of both Oso and HP. We act like they’re in cahoots or something.
Vicky,
I’m sure Kurtis could have been wearing a burlap sack and you still would have thought he was cute. Ah, love.
Rue,
I think my list was very Mexican-centric. If you take over the world, you’ll have to mandate no more lame tshirts.
HP,
No one who drinks light and votes Republican can be más chingón. The two are mutually exclusive. Sorry.
Irasali, Julissa and CJ,
Beware, when wearing some of these shirts, I think guys spend too long “reading” the message. Bastards.
Davo,
Great story. I though Sindi was a great phonetic spelling of my name, but Maicol takes the cake. Um… nice gravatar. Did she mind you peeking?
Agustin,
I agree. I think your little girl should have one of those shirts.
Good website, smart, funny and thoughtful. Just hopped on to it from another blog. Love the links post very much.
haha the charroking shirt is sadly true in certain areas of oak cliff..Some youngstas jacked a paletero and then shot him for like 20 bucks..
This made me laugh so hard. Thanks for all the links, will definitely look into it, and I will certainly check your blog from now on.
My friend has a “hecho en mexico” tattoo, inside a postage stamp cancellation mark. Your t-shirt reminded me of it.
[...] and distributor of Chicano t-shirts (perhaps Lotería Chicana ought to look into it since she seems to have a fondness for said objects) because, I in all my humble ignorance, forgot to uncross [...]
[...] As a Xicana of the North seeing Xicanos in the South is always an experience. There are raza t-shirts everywhere for sale, “Viva Zapata” “Hecho en Mexico” etc. There are Chican [...]
Thanks for the cool links!
Have you checked out the stuff 1910Co.com has?
They’re sweatshop free…they’re my favorite!!!
hmm
you guys should check out the stuff at horchata design syndicate. that’s some cool stuff there too: http://www.horchatadesign.com
You’ll love Chicano Style. They have a huge selection and opened 5 stores in So. Califas. You can also shop online at http://www.chicanostyle.com. They carry all the brands mentioned here PLUS a lot more original designs. Check them out Raza!
Peace,
c/s
Hi there, I have been searching for the loteria card t-shirts the as posted on this site.. any recommendations where I can purchase them.
Thanks.