Selena: A Visual Dictionary

New York Times

02-04-2025

It's difficult to fathom how a 23-year-old could wield so much influence on popular culture. And yet Selena Quintanilla, who was killed 30 years ago this week, did just that. Her fans love her just as fiercely and as loudly today as they did in the 1990s, and it's not difficult to understand why. She was beautiful, charming and immensely talented — her singing sounded just as good live, if not better than on her studio recordings — but she was also deeply relatable.
She was Mexican American and proud of her Tejano heritage, but she did not learn Spanish until she was older and made no secret that it was imperfect. Still, Selena managed to make it look effortless.
The singer died on the cusp of even bigger success, working on her fifth studio album, intended to be her English-language crossover. While it's hard not to think what she would have accomplished had she lived, Selena left behind a very stylish legacy. From her signature red lips and chunky hoops to her instantly recognizable purple jumpsuit, Selena is undoubtedly a superstar, for her time and for ours. Here's a look at the visual signifiers that made Selena into the cultural figure she is today.
The Bigger, the Better
I could never relate to the girls in my elementary school class who yearned to have their ears pierced. I'd had mine pierced since I was 7 months old, and by age 2, I already owned my first pair of gold hoops — they were mini, but now I marvel that my tiny toddler lobes once supported them. My household was only half Latino, but in the 1990s, the image of Selena loomed large, and it would have been impossible as I grew older not to have at least an oblique awareness of how crucial hoop earrings were to her signature look.
It's hard to separate them out from the other essential elements of her style: How can you have hoops but not red lipstick? How can you have red lipstick without the counterbalance of dark brows and wispy bangs? The hoops could be gold or silver, thin or thick, but they were always oversize, and they were often her only accessory. She wore them with her hair in loose waves or pulled back in a bun, with bluejeans or with one of her bedazzled bustiers. They grounded her, as jewelry tends to do, but also reminded you of her glamour and sexuality.
When she appeared on the cover of 'Amor Prohibido,' her fourth studio album, released in 1994, the hoops she paired with a ruffled white top and heavy black leather jacket created an indelible image. With its mix of femininity and toughness, it spoke to young girls like me, who aspired not just to have bigger and bigger hoops as they grew older, but also to be as self-possessed as Selena looked wearing them.
— Marie Solis
Glamorous Yet Approachable
Selena showcased a range of distinct hairstyles throughout her career, but one element that remained largely consistent was her signature long black wavy hair, often paired with styled bangs.
Onstage, she frequently leaned into a rocker-inspired aesthetic, wearing her hair down with voluminous bangs. This became one of her go-to concert looks, most memorably seen during her final performance, at the Houston Astrodome. She sometimes wore her hair in loose curls styled in a half ponytail, her bangs pulled back. Her naturally curly hair would become part of her performances, swaying and flowing as she danced and spun.
For more elegant moments, Selena favored towering updos, often featuring a delicate strand of curled bangs on her forehead. This iconic look is immortalized in her 'No Me Queda Más' music video. At times, she opted for a sleeker, simpler style, pulling her hair back into a slicked bun.
When she won her Grammy in 1994, Selena wore her hair in a messy, teased and curled updo: the picture of glamorous yet approachable charm.
— Frank Rojas
A Red for Every Occasion
In a time when beauty of a more diminutive sort was in — meager little pencil-line arches for eyebrows, slender hips, minuscule waists — Selena's lips, supple and coated in red, were not just part of her fiercely proud Mexican American image, they became her signature look.
On full display were lipsticks in cherry red, brown-hued brick and soft rose. Sometimes glossy, sometimes matte, they were always pouty and rimmed with a liner a few shades darker, closer to that of a glass of merlot (and still imitated today).
But apparently, she did not tend toward transfer-proof varieties. Selena was known for leaving smears of lipstick on her microphone, from holding it so close to her mouth, and the last one she used became known as 'Selena's last kiss.' It's on display, still caked in burgundy, at the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Selena's image was so synonymous with a bold lip that in 2015, her fans started an online petition urging MAC Cosmetics to create a commemorative makeup line. More than 37,000 signatures and one social media campaign later (#SelenaQuintanillaForMAC), the company heeded the call. The collection, in violet packaging — a homage to the purple spandex set Selena wore for her Astrodome concert — sold out in hours.
— Rachel Sherman
Destined to Be a Showstopper
It was the most famous purple outfit in pop culture since 'Purple Rain.' Selena may have made her name as a singer, but she had a sideline in fashion design — she had her own stores and often sketched her own clothes — and she loved a jumpsuit. So when she made one in her favorite color for her 1995 concert at the Houston Astrodome in front of a record-setting 61,000 fans, with bell-bottoms, a bellybutton-baring cross-body top and a bolero, the look was destined to be a showstopper.
What the artist could not have known was that it would also become a symbol. She was fatally shot a month after she took the Astrodome stage, and as a result, her jumpsuit, which seemed to embody the joyful, barrier-breaking verve that characterized her music, has served as her epigraph. She was buried in a similar purple dress with an almost identical silhouette, and when a limited-edition Selena doll was created in 1996, it, too, was wearing the purple jumpsuit. (The dolls can be found on eBay going for hundreds of dollars.)
The original jumpsuit is preserved for all to see in the Selena Museum, and a replica worn by Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 Selena biopic went on display in the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Hollywood, Calif., in 2022. At this point, the jumpsuit has become so synonymous with Selena's memory that whenever someone decides to pay homage to the artist, whether for an anniversary or a costume party, whether Kim Kardashian or Demi Lovato, it's almost always the purple jumpsuit they choose.
— Vanessa Friedman
'A Bra, With Little Sprinkly Things on It'
Whether tasseled, bejeweled or otherwise, bustiers figured into some of Selena's most celebrated looks. They were not just costumes — they embodied her captivating stage presence, sensuality and creativity. She tricked out most of them herself, inspiring fans to take a D.I.Y. approach when recreating her style. Selena could leave things to the last minute: According to her sister, Suzette, she once sewed pearls onto a white bustier right before a show.
These form-fitting garments came in a range of sequins and colors, from a ruby-red-and-silver version with intersecting straps to a black top adorned with metallic, coin-like silver spurs. But perhaps her most famous variation was a black lingerie-inspired bustier with iridescent rhinestones that covered one cup entirely while the other had an intricate design that was missing some beading. The asymmetry, the story goes, was a result of Selena's running out of rhinestones — an accidental detail that only elevated the look's place in history.
Today, the bustier is central to her legend, but as a garment, there admittedly was not much to it. As Edward James Olmos, playing her father, noted in the 1997 movie: 'It's a bra, with little sprinkly things on it.'
— Frank Rojas
Honoring Her Tejano Roots
A large silver rhinestone buckle or a gold one with layered hanging chains — Selena's belt buckles were more about style than functional, but they perfectly complemented her signature bustiers. She typically wore them with tightfitting high-waisted pants and either stilettos or — what else? — cowboy boots.
The belt buckle offered a glimpse into Selena's Tejano heritage. Growing up in Corpus Christi, many of her performances across the Lone Star State took place at state fairs and rodeos. Long associated with cowboy culture, the belt buckle was traditionally worn by men as a symbol of power, opulence and an essential element of masculine fashion.
For Selena, the accessory signified confidence and cultural pride — turning heads while paying homage to her roots. She often personalized her oversize buckles with rhinestones, sometimes with the help of her mother. These sparkling details were not just for show; they were extensions of her identity, blending regional tradition with glamour.
Her most recognizable belt was simple: a black leather strap with iridescent sequins adorning the buckle.
— Frank Rojas
A Selena for Everyone
If you took high school Spanish at any point in the past quarter century, there's a good chance you had a 'Selena' day or two. Pop in the VHS, turn off the lights and let 127 minutes of PG-rated cultural enrichment wash over you (potentially over the course of several classes, as your harried teacher's lesson plan demands).
The movie, which was written and directed by Gregory Nava, was notable for its quick turnaround time. Released less than two years after the singer's death, it deified Selena with that particular strain of immortality that only a Hollywood portrayal can offer. So for many students who — for shame! — might not have been completely up on the Tejano music scene, Jennifer Lopez was not just playing Selena: She was Selena.
While Ms. Lopez's 1997 interpretation of the young star might be the most indelible, it certainly was not the final word. The Mexican American actress Christian Serratos starred in Netflix's 18-episode 'Selena: The Series' in 2020, and Selena tribute acts continue to do brisk business in the Southwest. ('I've studied her so much over the years,' the Selena impersonator Honey Andrews told KSAT-TV in San Antonio. 'From every performance, I know every little breath, every little hand gesture.')
But some of Selena's most enthusiastic imitators do not earn a dime for their recreations. After all, with so many instantly recognizable visual touchstones, the singer's look can be replicated with a reasonable degree of fidelity without breaking the bank — the Halloween-costume definition of an icon. With respect to Ms. Lopez's turn, Selena portrayals have long since been democratized.
— Louis Lucero II