︎ gunfightgoblin
edinburg, texas
Let me tell you about the local RGV Pop Punk Princess, Grecia Alvarez.
Did you know the word ‘youth’ was originally a metaphor for social change and was an idea aided by media constructions about what was organic? Images of youth were always self-destructive, misdirected, victimised, cool, and cutting edge. As the concept of ‘youth’ developed, people created ideas about the values created in institutions and traditional customs.
The punk movement began in America in the early 1970s, and became associated with Britain in the late-1970s: a time when an economic recession that caused high levels of unemployment and increase in poverty-line living conditions, provided a catalyst for a new youth movement. When John Lydon wrote the lyrics to ‘God Save the Queen,’ a Sex Pistols’ single, he didn’t realize it would create such a cultural and social impact. The Sex Pistols always played their role as trouble-makers, deliberately provoking the media and politicians, and the result was a general increase in intensity of the moral panic.
Did you know the word ‘youth’ was originally a metaphor for social change and was an idea aided by media constructions about what was organic? Images of youth were always self-destructive, misdirected, victimised, cool, and cutting edge. As the concept of ‘youth’ developed, people created ideas about the values created in institutions and traditional customs.
The punk movement began in America in the early 1970s, and became associated with Britain in the late-1970s: a time when an economic recession that caused high levels of unemployment and increase in poverty-line living conditions, provided a catalyst for a new youth movement. When John Lydon wrote the lyrics to ‘God Save the Queen,’ a Sex Pistols’ single, he didn’t realize it would create such a cultural and social impact. The Sex Pistols always played their role as trouble-makers, deliberately provoking the media and politicians, and the result was a general increase in intensity of the moral panic.
“Punk” was a subculture that rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of the hippy myth. It followed the lead of much of the mod youth movement and brought a stripped-down version of rock and roll into the arena of popular music. Punk music brought an intersection between youth and extreme fashion that asserted attitude and strong visual styles. With American bands sporting mainly black leather jackets and blue jeans, and the British bands tending towards ripped shirts, safety pins, and bondage wear in a self-mocking, shocking image. I just learned that ‘porn chic’ was a style of punk clothing that gave female punks a new basis of empowerment and authenticity. Overall, this was a post-modern society, transformed by evolving fashions, music, and attitudes, ultimately challenging the status quo.
The version of punk I grew up with was from the late 90s and early 2000s. Having 3 older sisters, my childhood revolved around jumping up and down on a bed to artists like A Rocket to the Moon, Rufio, Good Charlotte, Blink-182, Green Day, Escape the Fa- you get the point. It’s another idolization story featuring the younger sibling trying so hard to fit in with all of her/his elder siblings. If this meant going through a scene phase because my 15 year old sister was doing it, you bet my 8 year old a** was going to try it too. It’s funny to look back and see how I grew up wanting to be Avril Lavigne to eventually girls like Melissa Marie and Hanna Beth. The neon bold wardrobe drizzled in incraments of black, Skelanimal merch, punk princess persona - I wanted it all. Of course, I was only a digit old and none of those amazing things were and could ever be me. When that facade ended, I was eleven years old turning to J-pop, Sailor Moon, and Girls Generation. One summer night when my parents were out of the country, my sisters threw a party at our house and I remember enclosing myself in what was our library/computer room with glass windows on the doors. All I remember from that night was dancing to K-pop in front of so many 18+ year olds in that room. Thank God social media hadn’t reached its peak. The reality was - I wanted to be just like them.
However, Grecia was already a teen sensation at an early age of sixteen, I only knew of her from the high school we both attended. With Grecia being a year younger, I could still remember the way she stood out in a crowd because she literally embodied (and still does) everything I wanted to be growing up. Not to mention that she dressed differently than anyone else did at school, and at such a young age, she experimented with fashion earlier than anyone else I know. Her own teenage introduction to counter-culture came through exposure of My Chemical Romance, that pop-punk fuelled rage to the dough-eyes of K-pop culture, Jenny from Blackpink, Harry Styles, and harajuku street fashion. At nineteen years old, punk princess, sweet Grecia Alvarez is all of this and more. Grecia is ultimately every girl I wanted to be in every stage of my life - all in one. The lighting she exudes is soft and pastel, the air foggy, extraterrestrial stars. A starburst of glitter often highlights a single cheekbone. She could be caressing a flowering branch or wearing red rose petals as blush, and her stare would still be as bold as it is serene. At age 10, Grecia was already walking around her elementary wearing “the craziest sh*t” to eventually moving onto platforms and high heels in middle school.
“I go to my closet and I don't stick to an aesthetic. I kind of think of myself like a shapeshifter, you know, some days I want to just dress up punk. But then other days I want to just, you know, have ‘the soft girl’ type of look. It just depends on my mood for the day. When I dress a certain way for any day, I feel like a different person and that’s really fun. And sometimes you just want to put on more mysterious clothing, you know? It really just depends on the day and how I want to deal with the world.”
To this day, I promise you’d still be able to spot Grecia out in a full room. Her style has leveled up; it’s expressive, cartoonish, and the most flamboyant and eclectic of all. She has sartorial eccentricity, full of inventive ideas. The day I plotted the fashion show, I made sure I personally messaged Grecia because I had to have her on the show. Since she doesn’t necessarily have a type of aesthetic, Grecia shares how a good portion of her closet consists of one thing: pink. She points out, “I feel like a part of me just loves pink. I love emulating the innocence in my outfits. And I tie that in with my obsession for My Chemical Romance, I take a lot of inspiration from the way they dress and the way they do their makeup so there's a lot of black in my closet too. I like that combination of black and pink.”
To this day, I promise you’d still be able to spot Grecia out in a full room. Her style has leveled up; it’s expressive, cartoonish, and the most flamboyant and eclectic of all. She has sartorial eccentricity, full of inventive ideas. The day I plotted the fashion show, I made sure I personally messaged Grecia because I had to have her on the show. Since she doesn’t necessarily have a type of aesthetic, Grecia shares how a good portion of her closet consists of one thing: pink. She points out, “I feel like a part of me just loves pink. I love emulating the innocence in my outfits. And I tie that in with my obsession for My Chemical Romance, I take a lot of inspiration from the way they dress and the way they do their makeup so there's a lot of black in my closet too. I like that combination of black and pink.”
As I’ve said before, subculture style is all about a sense of belonging with adherents bonded by the same or similar fashion. Grecia has noticed that over several years of living in the valley, she has seen more and more people expressing themselves through their clothing. “I didn't realize that there was actually people that express themselves so much. I think it's great that we live here in the valley. There's a lot of people that can be close minded, but it’s great when others are counteracting that and expressing themselves. There's so many great people down here and they’re breaking that stereotype that we're all....takuaches, hahaha.”
Me: Why do you think the RGV can be limited in how they dress then?
Grecia: I think down here there's a lot of machismo, but on the men part I think a lot of people are just afraid to express themselves. Because down here, especially for men, if you dress a certain way, most of the time people will stare at you, and there's a lot of homophobia down here. So it's really hard for anyone to dress up, because people are just going to glare. People get so much unnecessary attention if they stick out in public, it sucks. For example, when I go to the mall I feel like a lot of people stare at me. Not so much kids or teenagers, but more adults and they kind of give me side glances and it kind of sucks, but you know, I'm happy. I’m happy with the way that I dress and I hope that the more of us that do dress up and express ourselves feel happy too.
Me: When you first started getting those reactions, did it make you want to stop dressing up so much?
Grecia: I don't think I've ever really cared. I noticed it and other people with me noticed it. And they'll even point out, ‘That person was staring at you!’ And I it's never bothered me, I literally will look at them like, ‘I don't care!’ The great thing about realizing that you're happy with the way you are is that: you stop caring what other people think about you. You don't care, because we're all gonna die one day. There's no point to stop letting yourself be happy for some stranger that you're never going to think of or see in your life again. Like who cares! You know like, I've never cared.
Me: Yes, that's really good! I think about that a lot sometimes when I'm going out, even to the grocery store, and I look like shit. I don’t even look good but rather the complete opposite. I haven't showered in X amount of days and I'm oily or something. But I also keep that mentality like - when the fuck am I gonna see these people again? And, yeah, you're right it pertains also for when you’re looking really good and all that.
Grecia: You know, it's good to get positive reactions. But there's also going to be negative ones, no matter what. I just think regardless of fashion, be yourself. There's no reason to shield who you really are.
Me: And so, with your with your hair I've noticed that you've gone through three different hair styles. Can you tell me about that?
Grecia: I was going through a period last year where I was dying my hair. But it got really fried so I had to chop it off. By the way, I cut my hair and I dye it exclusively. I think it’s funny to add in, but I literally bleached my hair for the first time and I didn't even read the instructions. Like right now I'm feeling kind of bored of my hair and I gave myself short little bangs. I want to dye my hair again so I might go for a forest green. I've had my hair chopped below my ears and like right now it's like growing again and it's chest-length now. I feel like just as much as clothing is important, so is your hair because whatever you're going through at that point, it's just great to emulate your hair like, sometimes you just want to chop it all off just to say you did it. I’m very impulsive.
Me: Considering your hobbies, do you think art, literature, and politics can somehow correlate to fashion and the clothing that you wear?
Me: And so, with your with your hair I've noticed that you've gone through three different hair styles. Can you tell me about that?
Grecia: I was going through a period last year where I was dying my hair. But it got really fried so I had to chop it off. By the way, I cut my hair and I dye it exclusively. I think it’s funny to add in, but I literally bleached my hair for the first time and I didn't even read the instructions. Like right now I'm feeling kind of bored of my hair and I gave myself short little bangs. I want to dye my hair again so I might go for a forest green. I've had my hair chopped below my ears and like right now it's like growing again and it's chest-length now. I feel like just as much as clothing is important, so is your hair because whatever you're going through at that point, it's just great to emulate your hair like, sometimes you just want to chop it all off just to say you did it. I’m very impulsive.
Me: Considering your hobbies, do you think art, literature, and politics can somehow correlate to fashion and the clothing that you wear?
Grecia: I think that clothes can be really political, especially with the punk movement. I wouldn't consider myself actually a punk, but that's what I try to emulate in my clothing sometimes. As for literature, there was this book that I read for a class. It's called ‘Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza’ by Gloria Anzaldua. That book is absolute perfection. It’s about a woman that lives here in the valley. I think she passed away in like the 90s. But she talks about her experience as a lesbian, as a Hispanic, her experience with white people. There's just so much spirituality. And with music, I think a lot of the music I listen to is really political. I've been listening to a lot of riot girl bands. I do think that politics, art, and literature is so important. A lot of people think it’s boring. Politics is such an important thing to come across in all types of subjects though. You can even emulate struggle through art. You could get people to read your message and relate to it.
Me: Is there anything else that you would want to add about yourself, fashion, or anything else?
Grecia: I want to encourage people not to let others put you down for the things you dress. If you walk out of your room and you're feeling really confident with an outfit, wear it. I've been shot down so many times by my own family members. My mom has even looked at me and said things like ‘what the hell are you wearing?’ haha. Don’t listen to people that criticize the way that you dress because your fashion is a part of you. And if people are criticizing you for it then they're not nice people. They should be happy that you're happy and not shut you down for the way that you express yourself.
lovette mai e. sanez