HAWAIIAN SHIRTS

2020-01-28T02:06:00.000-08:00

Click and scroll around this site until you

find your perfect Hawaiian shirt

every image is linked to the store that stocks that item

& most images show the shirts' price when you hover your mouse over it.

Hawaiian shirts were popular long before Elvis wore that 'famous' red Aloha shirt on the cover of the 'Blue Hawaii' soundtrack back in 1961. In fact, the modern Hawaiian shirt was born in the early 1930s.

Nowadays, no party is complete without a guy or three dancing around in Aloha shirts, no working week can end unless a Hawaiian shirt has been spotted on Aloha Friday and nothing says 'vacation' quite like the bold, bright colors of a Hawaiian shirt! Go find yours!

~*~

Mahalo!

2010-01-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Hawaiian shirts were popular long before Elvis Presley wore a red aloha shirt on the album cover for the "Blue Hawaii" soundtrack in 1961.

In fact, the modern Hawaiian shirt came about in the early 1930s. A Chinese merchant named Ellery Chun of King-Smith Clothiers and Dry Goods, owned a store in Waikiki. Ellery started to sew brightly colored aloha shirts for tourists fashioned from old kimono fabrics he had leftover in stock. The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper was quick to coin them by the term 'Aloha shirt' and Ellery trademarked the name.

The first advertisement in the Honolulu Advertiser for Chun's Hawaiian shirts was published in June 1935. Local residents, especially those in the surfing community as well as tourists descended on Chun's store and bought every shirt he had. Within just a few years, major designer labels sprung up all over Hawaii and began manufacturing and selling Aloha shirts en masse. Retail chains in Hawaii, even mass produced aloha shirt designs to use as their employee uniforms.

After World War II, many servicemen and servicewomen returned to the United States from Asia and the Pacific islands with aloha shirts that had been made in Hawaii since the 1930s. Then as tourists started flocking to Hawaii post WW2 in the 1950s, the tropical-print shirts for men and sundresses for women became standard souvenirs for travelers.

ALOHA FRIDAYS IN THE WORKPLACE

2010-01-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

"Aloha Friday" the common tradition of celebrating the end of the workweek by wearing more casual attire on Fridays, initially grew out of an effort to promote the Hawaiian shirt, which is also known as an Aloha shirt.

The Aloha shirt is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii and is currently the premier textile export of the Hawaii manufacturing industry.

In 1962, a professional manufacturing association known as the Hawaiian Fashion Guild began to promote Hawaiian shirts and clothing for use in the workplace, particularly as business attire. In a campaign called 'Operation Liberation' the Guild delivered two aloha shirts to every member of the Hawaii House of Representatives and the Hawaii Senate. This was a success because soon a resolution was passed in the Senate recommending that aloha attire be worn throughout the summer, beginning on Lei Day. The wording of the resolution spoke of letting "...the male populace return to 'aloha attire' during the summer months for the sake of comfort and in support of the 50th state's garment industry."

In 1965, Bill Foster, Sr., the then president of the Hawaii Fashion Guild, led a campaign lobbying for an official "Aloha Friday", a day when all employers in the USA would allow their staff to wear Hawaiian shirts on the last business day of the week for a few months of the year. In 1966 Aloha Friday officially began and a whole generation embraced the style, replacing their formal business wear for casual multicoloured shirts.

Hawaii's custom of Aloha Friday slowly spread east to California, continuing around the globe until - by the 1990s - it became known as Casual Friday. Today in Hawaii, aloha wear is worn as business attire for any day of the week, and "Aloha Friday" is generally used to refer to the last day of the work week.

Isn't it time your office or workplace had Aloha Fridays?

HAWAIIAN PRODUCTS MIX

2010-01-28T02:49:00.001-08:00

Is your Hawaiian shirt making you feel sufficiently chilled...
or do you need a bit more?
Do you need a hula girl bobble head on your desk to make your Aloha Fridays more....well, Aloha...or do you need to accessorise your Hawaiian shirt with a complementing hat,neck chain or... coconut bra?
Scroll the store above to see many 'add-ons' to finish off your Hawaiian look and feel.

HAWAIIAN FANCY DRESS COSTUMES

2010-01-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

Going to Hawaiian themed party and need a Hawaiian shirt or a whole Hawaiian costume?

These outfits are fun and cheap and will soon

have you looking like a Honolulu local!

Click on the outfit you like best and you'll be taken straight to the store that stocks it.

...and even your dog can have his or her own Hawaiian shirt!