United in style and culture
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, my mom’s then boyfriend decided to take me on a bit of a field trip. This was 1980. I was living in LA with my dad, just getting into Dungeons and Dragons, and I was hoping that Odom (that was the boyfriend) was taking me to see Empire Strikes Back, even though I had seen it like 2 or 3 times already.
“No this is much different”, he probably said. “But very cool. It is a different galaxy than you’re used to.”
We drove from my comfy suburb of Glendale to the outskirts of Venice Beach, a place my dad warned me about seeing as at the time it was a space for weirdos, surf outlaws and beefy dudes working out in the sand. Last time I was there it still had all of those elements, but with more Starbucks.
When we exited the car, I could hear the peal of booming bass all emitting from cars that I had never been witnessed to. These cars had style, all chromed out, some with images of Aztec gods or sexy ladies wearing clown makeup painted on the hoods. Odom had taken me to my first lowrider show.
Here was a young black man taking a super white kid to a lowrider gathering and I immediately was hooked.
Years later, my dad moved us to a central coast town called Salinas, as he wanted to be closer to the bay area. It was here that I dove headfirst into punk rock, metal and skateboarding. Now, my dad wasn’t making a lot of money and skate gear is expensive. A buddy of mine preferred to wear these curious shirts emblazed with a gorilla logo on one of the two big pockets that rested between a zipper that only went halfway down. He told me they were Ben Davis and wouldn’t rip if you fell, which I did often. My dad breathed a sigh of relief seeing as, at the time, they were only $10 at Sears. In the work wear section, I also discovered pants and shorts called Dickies which had this great side pocket. I would fall, often, but those shirts and pants endured.
And I have been wearing Dickies and Ben Davis ever since.
Cut to just about a month ago. The barista at my wife’s restaurant informed me of a new shop on St. Mary’s that specialized in Dickies and Ben Davis. When I looked them up, I was also happy to find that it was a lowrider focused shop. Dickies, Ben Davis and celebrated lowrider culture? Oh, I have got to go to there.
Unida Clothing opened their doors February of this year (2026), and it is a straight up celebration of Chicano and Latina culture. When you walk in you are met with a table of flyers advertising all sorts of upcoming events, especially ones that Unida are either sponsoring or a part of, along with a pimped out bike and loads of photos and artwork on the walls. Recently there was a block party at St. Phillips Plaza equipped with djs, food vendors and, of course, lowrider cars. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend but seeing footage of the function made me jealous as all heck that I wasn’t there. Eating Mexican street food next to tricked out Chevy’s while listening to old school party music? That made the 10-year-old me bounce around like I did when I first attended that lowrider rally in Venice.
Owners Maria and Jonathan Borquez have created a space that is wholly proud of who they are, where they came from and where we are going into the future with not just Chicano car culture but the style and swag of what it means to be a part of that. Yes, I am infuriatingly Caucasian, but Unida (which means united) invites anyone and everyone to come be a part of their familia. Not that I’m going to appropriate a culture I was not born into but seeing that I have been immersed in Latino and Latina culture most of, if not all, my life all I can do is admire it for what it is.
Which is totally bad ass.
When I was there the Borquez’ daughter Priscila was running the place, and she was super friendly and fun to talk to. I told her about my history of wearing Dickies and Ben Davis and how much I loved lowriders.
“That’s awesome!”, she said. “You’ve got the spot now.”
Outside of the vast amount of clothes, shoes and accessories, Unida also carry backpacks, hats and (this warms my heart) skate decks and Homies.
Ah, Homies. One thing I miss about certain spots in LA and San Francisco was walking into a shop, plucking a quarter into a machine, turning that clackity knob and receiving a lil Homie of my own. Through the years and the shotgun move to Tucson, plus roommates with sticky fingers, I lost most of them. But, get this, I still have one and he is my favorite, mainly because it’s a breakdancing Homie, which I use as a character figure when I play D&D. He now sits proudly on a toy shelf among other relics of the 80s and 90s. Gracias breakdancing Homie!
Clothing is, obviously, the official focus here. I mean, it’s in the name! T-shirts, hoodies, shorts, pants, you name it. Of course, I was thrilled to bear witness to whole section dedicated to Dickies and Ben Davis but also happy to see wear for kids of all ages. They even have baby jumpers. Get ‘em started rolling in style early I say.
Like said earlier, Unida puts on events all the time so it’s best to follow them on social media to see what’s coming up. I’m definitely going to be at the next car show at the shop, not just to se the cars and listen to the music but to eat the food! Unida is located right next door to a Food City which makes me doubly jealous because they bulldozed out neighborhood Food City nearly 15 years ago. Eating delicious vittles cooked in a parking lot next to a ’64 poppin’ hydraulics is literally my version of heaven.
Social media is the only means to keep up as Unida does not have a website. They don’t need one! Priscila, along with her brother Jonathan jr., do a bang-up job at keeping us all posted with their posts, even featuring little sisters Jocelyn and Brielle. Todo queda en familia!
Thank you Unida and I will definitely be back. I mean, St. Mary’s is one of the holy grail locations of Mexican food here in Tucson…and that is saying a lot. Getting a fresh pair of Dickies, a new half zip Ben Davis then grabbing some super dope spicy menudo with handmade tortillas?
Perfección.
Oh, and maybe a Homie or two as well.
Cheers!
Unida Clothing
1223 W St Mary’s Rd, Tucson, AZ (in the Menlo Shopping Center)
Tues – Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Monday: 12pm – 8pm
Closed Sundays
Yeah Write Mark 
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