A summer trend for over 100 years: The history of the Hawaiian shirt

Bright colors, colorful flowers and a summer mood – that’s what most people associate with Hawaiian shirts and Hawaii. And that’s exactly why the kitschy cult clothing is so popular every year. Curiously, it was born in one of the darkest decades of recent history, during the global economic crisis at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Hawaiian shirt in the 1920s

Hawaii has only officially been part of the USA since August 21, 1959, but it was already a dream destination for many Americans in the 1920s. And for good reason: white beaches, turquoise water, Hawaiian orchids, strelitzias, anthuriums and plumerias offer a wonderful (mental) escape from recession and unemployment.

It is not known exactly how the shirts came about. It is likely that Japanese seamstresses in Hawaii began using the classic kimono fabric for men’s shirts. Accordingly, Japanese motifs such as cherry blossoms adorned the shirts. Hawaiian flora followed later. And for good reason.

In the 1920s, the shirts were reserved for wealthy tourists and locals, because normal workers couldn’t afford a family vacation in Hawaii. That’s still the case today, but what changed was the Aloha shirt. True to the motto: If you don’t come to me, I’ll come to you, it conquered the US mainland.

Mass production from the 1930s

This is thanks to Ellery Chun, who from the mid-1930s produced the first Hawaiian shirts as mass-produced goods, shipped them to the USA and thus paved the way to success. Even then, they caused a stir: As reported, the Los Angeles Times recommended that buyers of the Hawaiian shirts buy two or three at once, because their wife and daughter would definitely want to wear one of the colorful shirts.

Despite all the cheap provocations, the Hawaiian shirt prevailed. Why this happened is anyone’s guess. But it is likely that it was due to male celebrities who were ahead of their time and were not afraid to show their colors. In the 1930s, these included singer Bing Crosby and Duke “The Big Kahuna” Kahanamoku, three-time Olympic swimming champion and one of the founders of surfing. Both conveyed one thing above all: the irrepressible charm of a man who did not have to worry about his masculinity when he wore a colorful shirt.

Hawaiian shirts and the war

With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian shirt changed again. During the war, the shirts were not produced due to a lack of fabric and when the war was won, the traditional Japanese patterns gave way to Hawaiian plants and nature motifs.

In the 1950s, the Hawaiian shirt was made popular by soldiers returning from the Pacific. It is therefore not surprising that the then US President Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 to December 1972) was photographed wearing a Hawaiian shirt for Life magazine in 1951.

The 1960s: The rise and fall of the Hawaiian shirt

The cult item of clothing reached its temporary peak in the 1960s. This time, style icons such as the King of Rock wore the garment. On the cover of “Blue Hawaii”, for example, Elvis Presley wore a dark red Hawaiian shirt decorated with a white floral pattern.

On the other hand, photos of Richard Nixon (January 9, 1913 to April 22, 1994) wearing an Aloha shirt were also taken during this time. This exudes more of the charm of a stuffy suburban dad who wants to come across as a little more relaxed.

As a result, the spirit of courage disappeared and gave way to the kitsch of a long-forgotten holiday memory that people would rather bury deep in their wardrobes than proudly display. The big fashion chains then did the same and turned away from the colorful floral patterns.

The Hawaiian shirt in Hollywood

Hollywood handled the Hawaiian shirt very differently. From the 1980s to the late 1990s, it was mainly the rebellious characters of the dream factory who wore the colorful shirts. For example, Al Pacino in “Scarface”, Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”, Leonardo Di Caprio in “Romeo and Juliet” or Brad Pitt in “Fight Club”, as the reports.

In the 2000s, surfer labels like Quicksilver were the main influencers of the Hawaiian shirt trend. However, it took another 15 years before Italian luxury brands like Gucci jumped on the bandwagon and Hawaiian shirts once again graced the catwalks in Milan, Paris and New York.

The present: The racist Hawaiian shirt

This has not made things any quieter for the cult item, on the contrary. The Hawaiian shirt itself is not immune to trends and how could it be otherwise: Princeton professor Zara Anishanslin sees the item of clothing as the “fashionable counterpart to the plantation wedding” which symbolizes “the colonialism, imperialism and racism of the USA against the indigenous population of Hawaii”.

But this has not (yet) resulted in a real outcry against the Hawaiian shirt. Perhaps because it simply looks too good for that. Or because most people see it like Dale Hope. He is a local manufacturer of Hawaiian shirts and author of the book ““. He revealed that the meaning of Aloha is an essence of being, love, peace, compassion and a mutual understanding of respect. And that is exactly what makes the Hawaiian shirt the trending item of summer 2023.

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