- Posted by marie on January 9th, 2008 filed in That's Fashion, Weird and Wonderful
When I was thirteen, my “cousin” Gigi came to live with us for a couple of weeks. ["Cousin" as in the Filipino way where everyone is your auntie and your cousin, probably even your boyfriend] Anyway, she got into some sort of shenanigans back home and was sent to stay with me, who was a perfect angel back then. Gigi loved cholos, and looked like a chola herself or at least had the hairdo, which was stiff as straw, raped-by-Aquanet, peroxide-lightened hair. In the two weeks Gigi was with us, I learned how to concoct a makeshift cocktail from Boone’s Strawberry Hill and my mom’s mangoes, and we would sip them while sitting in my front yard catcalling at the guys who would drive by in their cars, pumping their music as loud as they can. Gigi called that move “The Mating Call.” I was sad when she went back home since it was nice having a chola sister for a little while.
After years of other similar friendly run-ins, I theorized that cholos and cholas may be the undiscovered comedians of the world. They come up with more pop culture-referenced, witty one-liners than you could ever imagine. Their style was very fashion forward, with their now ironically hip Virgin Mary shirts and other Catholic paraphernalia. They were fixing classic cars longer than your rockabilly boyfriend and listening to the best band in the world, Zapp & Roger.
If you grew up in southern California, then you know what I am talking about. You were probably appreciating cholo/chola style long ago. Of course, Gwen Stefani rocked wife beaters and Dickies back in ‘95 and obviously still sports some chola-esque elements. In the past decade cholo/las have become a popular choice in Halloween costumes [aside from Halloween 2007's easy-to-do costume: Amy Winehouse.]
Are you down for chola style and want to know where to begin? Perhaps my do-it-yourself Chola Style Guide can help pave the way.
+ Watch movies about cholos. Blood In Blood Out, American Me and Mi Vida Loca are good starters. Then you can watch Scarface, which isn’t a movie about cholos but they love it and think Al Pacino is a badass just like you do.
+ Refer to this Ultimate Gangsta Starter Pack that I made for Robyn Swank a few years ago when she was obsessed with cholos. The starter pack was my first foray into custom gift basket making [which I will of course get into at another time]. Items included were a 40 ounce of malt liquor [don't forget to spill some for your homies], a switchblade [to cut fools who try to step to you], brown lipliner, an appropriate movie [as reviewed in#1], a hooded sweatshirt featuring a gangsta and his heina with Jesus watching over them, crip slips [even comfortable enough to wear to Coachella! ], a Virgin Mary bandanna, and big gold hoop earrings.
+ Give yourself a chola-themed nickname. In seventh grade I used to write Gigglez all over my Trapper Keeper. If you are a wallflower, Shy Girl will work perfectly. This is pretty simple. As Dlisted pointed out, “Chola girls in High School had nicknames that sounded like the names of the bitches on Flavor of Love.”
+ Write some poetry to your man in lock-up. A chola loves doing this for her man. I know it’s been years since you let your own feelings out on pen and paper. Don’t be afraid to let go and show Chuy just what you mean to him. If you are not poetically-inclined, post the lyrics to “Angel Baby” on his myspace page. When he gets out of jail he will undoubtedly appreciate the sentiment.
+ Last but not least, take some pictures at the mini-mall with your homegirls. Choose your background wisely [you can never go wrong with the classic "Smile Now, Cry Later"], coordinate your outfits, and get together beforehand to draw on each other’s eyebrows and drink wine coolers. My homegirls and I did this a little while ago as you can see up above. Make sure to get a lot of wallet-sized photos because everyone will want one. Don’t worry about covering up your hickeys. Your man likes it when his heina is all tagged up.
Dunno bought the 80’s leotard though!
January 9th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
aii! i’m your new #1 fan. give me a hickey!
January 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
i want a hickey too!
January 9th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
don’t forget the Kid Frost cds and the liquid liner.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
for valentine’s day i am being a chola cupid in a show- with a pink gun. because in east LA we don’t need no bow and arrows.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
this is important cultural documentation. you need to publish this shit stat. wordup.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I miss good burritos and cholas. They don’t have them on the east coast!
January 9th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
My first girlfriend was a Chola from Wilmington who was using her aunt’s address to attend school in Palos Verdes.
She used to have this big puff of hair at the front of her head and she used to talk about putting razorblades into her bangs so that if someone grabbed them in a fight it would be blood and guts time. Weird girl. I’ve got a soft spot for chola style to this day thanks to her.
January 9th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
HOLY FUCK YES!!!!!!!!!
January 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Thats not a hickey. It’s a curling Iron burn.
January 14th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I’m just here for the hickeys. Tag me up, please!
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 am
This is the best!!! I love the part about cholos and cholas being undercover comedians and the fact the boys were into classic cars way before your rockabilly boyfriends! This blog is a stroke of pure genius! And I just can’t wait to purchase one of those care packages in order to begin my life-long dream of being a dirrrty hilarious ass-kicking chola bitch!
March 27th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
[...] Funner to play than Hipster Bingo as long as you don’t get jumped. For more cholita goodness check out the Chola Style Guide. [...]
June 21st, 2008 at 7:25 am
Chola culture is fun, especially Chola Photography. Check my page out: http://www.myspace.com/Shuga13
August 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
This totally made me think of this awesome-ass Graciela Iturbide exhibit at the Getty earlier this year. The portion of the exhibit was “East L.A.”
Good stuff!
September 6th, 2008 at 6:38 am
A simply awesome post
Love it! I’m not from the U.S. so it’s kinda new to me but all good. made me laugh.
September 11th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Damn eyy this shit iz badd ass all true eyy frum tha heart
September 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am
chola styl3 has always b33n my styl3 3v3r sinc3 i was a youngin so i r3p chola styl3 por vida hom3z