By James Brooks

There can be few items of clothing so readily identifiable as being from one particular island group, but the Hawaiian shirt, or Aloha shirt, is one such garment. They were actually invented by a Chinese merchant who was based in Honolulu before the Second World War, and were constructed from the leftover pieces of kimono material.

They were proving to be an instant success, but wartime got in the way of their worldwide spread. However once the war was over, the style really took off as several events coincided. The sudden increase in popularity of surfing made the style incredibly cool surfers gravitated to Hawaii for its waves and weather. In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA, firming up already strong ties. And finally the Rock n Roll revolution also had a hand in the popularity of the shirt, especially when Elvis Presley sported one, along with an iconic Hawaiian garland, in the 1961 musical Blue Hawaii. (Other highlights were the song Cant Help Falling in Love and Angela Lansbury long before Murder, She Wrote.)

All this would pale in comparison to the second surf explosion in the 1960s, spearheaded by The Beach Boys, with Brian Wilsons crafted melodies and harmonies setting the perfect benchmark for countless surf acts to try and equal. The imagery of the era – a supercharged hippy vibe accompanied by Volkswagen camper vans, blond-haired, Aloha-shirted dudes, bikini-clad beach babes and campfires on the beach still has resonance to this day, perhaps as a reminder of a time of innocent hedonism.

The look would remain in the public eye thanks to two hit TV series. Hawaii Five-O is probably best remembered for its theme tune and surfing opening credits, and ran from 1968 to 1980. The main characters were besuited and relatively straight-laced but there were plenty of opportunities to get the Hawaiian look onto camera, and this kept the vision alive. The series was reprised in 2010, under the radically different title Hawaii Five-0. (Typography geeks will notice that the original used a letter O while the later version uses a zero.) Magnum, P.I. was a more glamorous affair, with Tom Selleck screeching around the islands in his Ferrari, chasing bad guys in his role as a private investigator, almost invariably wearing his Aloha shirt. A 1986 episode even brought our old friend Angela Lansbury back to the islands, this time playing her familiar role, mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, in a crossover episode called Novel Connection.

So there we have it a simple garment that has never really gone out of fashion thanks to a strong thread of popular culture keeping it in the public consciousness. This can surely only be equalled by jeans as far as perpetual trends goes. While Aloha shirts are still in production, theres something much more authentic about an original from the 1950s or 1960s. Pop your sunglasses on and have a look through your local vintage clothing store, and youll find as many designs as there are days of summer. Even better, go online to find a vast array of Hawaiian shirts. Whats great about them is that theyre designed to be loose fitting, so finding one that fits is a piece of cake.

About the Author: James is a style and culture fan and includes fashion as one of his expert subjects. Stylish

Hawaiian shirts

are both cool and comfortable and of course a bold statement. James tells us why

vintage clothing

fans see these garments as one of just a few that really appreciate in value.

Source:

isnare.com

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