Symbolic Significance of Pachuco and Teddy Boy Fashion

This poster examines how self-presentation among Pachucos and Teddy Boys subcultures served as a claim for recognition and a form of protest. By analyzing both subgroups’ formation and key elements to the style itself, I argue how their self-presentation represents the making of a claim to their historical and socioeconomic contexts. My hypothesis suggests that these distinct sartorial choices reflect collective discontent and critiques of social and political injustices. This supports the argument that making a political or moral claim is beyond discursive articulation and that one can express said claims outwardly through clothing choices, hairstyles, and makeup.