Hawaiian Shirt
History of the Hawaiian Shirt
While they are called Hawaiian shirts everywhere else, locals in Hawaii actually refer to the shirt as the Aloha shirt. The shirts incorporate a variety of influences. Traditional Hawaiian grab made from tapa cloth was hand painted with intricate designs and bright colors, and served as a basis for a modern version. As plantation life engrossed Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, workers took to wearing checkered palaka shirts. These influenced the cut of the Hawaiian shirt. Then, as Hawaii began importing silks, batik, rayon, and cotton products from Asia and the mainland U.S., these fabrics became popular because they were cool to wear in the hot tropics. The colors and images of the Japanese kimonos added another influence when they found their way to Hawaiian shores.
These various elements combined, and the Aloha shirt emerged in the mid 1930's. The term "Aloha shirt" may have started as street slang to describe the bright shirts with Hawaiian and Oriental designs that the local tailors were making, or it may have been coined by Ellery Chun, who eventually trademarked the term in 1936.
Hawaiian Shirts Become Popular
Hawaiian shirts became popular with Hollywood actors like Montgomery Cliff Burt Lancaster, Ernest Borgnine, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Bing Crosby who took their turns appearing in them while on film. Spurred on by high visibility in movies and TV shows like Magnum PI, the Hawaiian shirt eventually exploded in popularity. And, believe it or not, Hawaiian shirt Fridays actually started in Hawaii, not mainland corporate culture. In Hawaii, Aloha shirts are worn each and every Friday, making for sea brilliant designs on the street during Honolulu's busy hours.
Hawaiian Shirts Today
Today, Hawaiian shirts are worn for fine dining occasions, company and convention meetings, barbecues, parties, vacations, and just about any other occasion or non-occasion you can think of, including weddings. Much of their popularity is attributed to their unique and colorful designs that are likely to stand out in a crowd. They are typically comprised of cotton, rayon, or silk product blends.
While floral patterns still predominate, solid colors, print images, and all sorts of colorful designs can be found. Shirts range between the tastefully subdued to the obnoxiously loud, so there is a Hawaiian shirt out there to fit any personality, style, or occasion. In Hawaii, they are considered formal wear and are worn almost exclusively, even in business environments, during the summer months.
While many companies make Hawaiian shirts, if you're looking to buy an official Aloha shirt, be sure to look for the "Made in Hawaii" label that differentiates it from the imitators.
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