Border Town Fashion... Yes, it's different

There is no doubt about it; fashion in border towns is different from the rest of the U.S.

Hispanic style had a significant impact on the fashion and trends we followed. Older members of the community might not have felt this influence, but as high school-aged teenagers, everything from the way we did our makeup to the kinds of shoes we wore reflected Hispanic style.

When I started out to write this blog, I thought I would do some research first. I searched far and wide for articles, opinions, blogs, anything that talked about this subject, but I found nothing. I found articles in fashion magazines about the influence of Chinese style and the influence of African-American style, but none about how Mexican style impacts U.S. fashion. So I’m going to write what I know about it, because I experienced it first hand.

First of all, let’s talk about the jewelry. Gold, gold, and more gold. You won’t find Hispanic girls wearing silver or even white gold for that matter. It’s all about the yellow stuff – and lots of it. These 7 day bracelets (or semenario bracelets) were one of the most popular things to wear. I’d say starting in about 4th grade girls began wearing these thick, gold bangles. Often they covered about a ¼ of their small arms, but that didn’t stop the trend. In fact, like the bigger the bracelets were the better.

The same went for earrings: big and gold. Pretty much all of the girls wore hoops. Other styles just ceased to exist. Guys on the other hand wore diamond studs.

And as for necklaces, it seemed that everyone owned one of these script name necklaces. Of course, in gold.





In addition to jewlery Hispanic makeup trends influenced the girls at my high school as well. To shape their eyebrows, instead of plucking or waxing, many of the girls just shaved them off and drew on new ones. One arched line of dark, brown eyeliner replaced their original eyebrows. What always made me laugh was when they didn’t draw them on quite right. Too high of an arch left them with a constant look of surprise. I always wondered what they looked like when they washed their faces at night. I mean, you don’t sleep with your makeup on, so that means the eyebrows come off too. I guess this trend ruled out swimming as a hobby as well.

One of the other makeup trends was wearing thick, dark lip liner. Usually lip liner is blended into the lipstick color for a more natural look, but many of the girls drew a thick, dark line around the outside of their lips and just left it there.

This is a picture I found on the internet of a girl that represents both of these trends.




As for our hair, there was really only one way to do it: long, with layers, curled under at the ends with a thick curling iron. Bangs were optional, but when girls did have them they were big and curled like Selena’s in this picture.



I’ve also noticed that Mexican fashion had an influence on our shoes. Usually when women dress up, stilettos are the shoes of choice. But in Bisbee, you wouldn’t find any thin heels, only chunky ones. Chunky, platforms like these were what the girls always wore.

A fight to be white

In my last blog I talked with a few people who also grew up close to the U.S.-Mexico border. I wanted to find out how others felt about their experience. One person mentioned that the Mexican culture is more aggressive. At first I wanted to disagree with this statement, but then I got to thinking. First of all, I don’t agree that as a whole the Mexican culture is more aggressive. I have traveled to Mexico many times and find that Mexican people are usually compassionate, warm-hearted people. But, at my high school, it was a different story.

Usually being Caucasian would make me the majority race, but in Bisbee this wasn’t the case. I was the minority and I was treated like one. In most parts of the U.S. racial discrimination is aimed at people of other races; Mexicans, African Americans, Middle Eastern people. It’s not so often that being white makes you the target. If a Caucasian person wants to experience racial discrimination all they have to do is attend Bisbee High School.

Every year the first weeks of high school are filled with student fights. My freshman year blood was splattered across my locker on the second day of school. By week two a student had to have his jaw wired back in place. There were fights in the cafeteria, there were fights in the hallways and in classrooms, there were fights in the parking lot – my educational experience was one mixed with fear. But I couldn’t let that fear show through. That would have made me an easy target. So instead I stood up for myself.

Everyday day after my third period class I would walk past a Mexican girl who decided I was going to be the target of her hatred. This girl had no reason to dislike me, but as she passed by me each day she glared at me. I suppose she was expecting me to look down at the floor and each time that I didn’t her anger grew. Pretty soon the insults starting coming, most of them were in Spanish – things like “stupid, white bitch” were the most common. For the most part I just didn’t react, but I never look down. She didn’t like that so one day she punched me in the face. One thing that I will say about the Mexican culture is that they wear a lot of jewelry – nice, big, gold rings. That felt great across the bridge of my nose.

Like I said earlier, if you don’t stick up for yourself, you just become an easy target, so I fought back. There was a teacher standing near by, and a few of my friends as well, so the fight was quickly broken up.

The transition into high school is an awkward, difficult period for most youth. But as a white teenager, attending Bisbee High School, you face quite another monster. I can’t count the number of times I was called a white bitch or the number of racial fights that took place at my high school, but I can tell you that it was A LOT. Surviving Bisbee High School as a skinny, white girl meant you had to be careful, you had to have friends that would stand up for you, and you had to hide that fact that they scared the crap out of you.

Enough about me already

Let’s hear from other people to find out what they did and did not like about growing up in a border town.

Serena Sullivan, 22:

“I liked being able to cross the line to drink and go party when I was 16,” she said. “I also liked being able to go over there to buy food or have dinner,” she added.

Serena also said she enjoyed experiencing Mexican culture.

“We don’t have as much culture over here,” she said.

What Serena didn’t like about growing up so close to the Mexico was constantly being surrounded by the Border Patrol.

“Having them everywhere is like having the government around you all the time. Even though they don’t have anything to do with me they’re everywhere and I’ve always hated that,” she said. “They can pull us over and hold us if we’re speeding and they’re not even cops,” she added.

David Gallaher, 22:

“I liked the convenience of being able to go get palettes and fresh tortillas and stuff like that,” he said.

David also liked the varied experiences that living in a border town exposed him to.

“It’s cool because there are all kinds of different people that come through the area,” he said.

But being Caucasian sometimes made David feel uncomfortable when he crossed the border in Naco, Senora.

“I feel kinda awkward, like the outcast, when I go over there because Naco is pretty segregated,” he said.

Sage Alexander, 21:

Sage agreed that one of best parts about living in a border town was being exposed to a wide variety of cultures, customs, and people.

“There are so many different kinds of people,” he said. “Now I’m comfortable with a lot of variety,” he added.

But Sage says there is a negative aspect to the Mexican culture as well.

“There is more aggression in the Mexican culture. I saw more people getting fights that were Mexican,” he said.

Christina Gomez, 22:

Christina was grateful to live close to the border because it made her appreciate even small things about living the United States.

“As soon as you get into Naco everything is so trashy and you can instantly tell you're in Mexico. It made me appreciate our 'every once in a while pothole' and the two stop lights we have in Bisbee.”

Appreciating the opportunities we have as U.S. citizens only made Christina more compassionate towards the illegal immigrants she constantly saw during her youth.

“It's so sad and I feel so bad for them,” she said. There way of life it so sad that they're willing to risk there lives to come to our country,” she added.

Christian Ramirez grew up three miles north of the U.S./Mexico Border in California. Click here to read his story and find out how his expereinces have shaped his life.