Pachucos were members of a subculture of Mexican-American and Chicano youth that emerged in the late 1930s and 1940s, primarily in East Los Angeles and other U.S. cities along the U.S.-Mexico border. The subculture's female counterpart was known as the Pachuca . The aesthetic was a defiant and flamboyant expression of cultural identity in response to marginalization and racial prejudice from mainstream American society.

Pachucos were most distinguished by their fashion. They wore extravagant zoot suits which featured high-waisted, wide-legged pants with tight cuffs, paired with long jackets that had wide lapels and padded shoulders. They often accessorized with long watch chains, feathered hats, and tattoos. This look was inspired by Black men in Harlem who also donned zoot suits. The Pachuca style, which broke social taboos of the time, often included a female version of the zoot suit or, alternatively, short, tight skirts and heavy eye makeup. Men's hair was typically styled into ducktails or pompadours.

The subculture was also defined by its unique language, a slang dialect known as Caló that blended Spanish and English. The music of the subculture, which included danzón, cha cha cha, mambo, and swing, was played in dance halls. The media frequently portrayed Pachucos as gangsters and delinquents, and their refusal to abide by wartime rationing laws for clothing, which banned the production of zoot suits, led to heightened racial tensions and the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. While the subculture faded by the 1950s, its legacy was later embraced by the Chicano movement and continues to be celebrated today as a symbol of Mexican pride and elegance.

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