History
of Hawaiian Shirts & Hawaiian Clothing
The Hawaiian shirt (Aloha shirt) is an international symbol
of Hawaii recognized around the world. It has evolved over
the decades from its humble beginnings in the 1930's just
like other fashion trends. There are several types of Hawaiian
shirts as well as other Hawaiian clothing. Here are some interesting
facts you might not know about the Hawaiian shirt.
Early
Hawaiian Wear
Before the
arrival of woven fabrics from China, Japan and the West, native
Hawaiians created their simple clothing from plants and trees.
Men wore a malo, or loincloth, made of tapa cloth, which was
fabricated from the inner bark of wauke trees. Hawaiian women
wore a skirt called a pa`u, which looked like a hula skirt.
A Tapa
for All Occasions
It was tough,
durable and versatile. It was great for clothing and made
an excellent floor covering. And it was a joy to decorate.
Throughout Polynesia, tapa cloth was the artist's canvas and
people hand-painted their tapa creations with beautiful colors
and exquisite designs. The brilliant, colored patterns found
on today's Hawaiian shirts and dresses find their roots in
these wonderful Polynesian tapa prints.
The
Ever Popular Palaka
In the late
19th and early 20th centuries, the Hawaiian Islands emerged
as a powerful plantation economy that produced sugar, pineapple
and coffee for export around the world. Plantation workers
needed a rugged shirt that was suitable for hard labor in
the fields. Within a generation, the checkered blue and white
denim palaka became the standard work shirt of Hawaii. By
the early 1930s the palaka Hawaiian shirts and blue denim
trousers called sailor-mokus had almost become the official
national costume of Hawaii both on and off the plantation.
From
Kimono to Ono
In the early
days shirts were tailored by hand, either in the home or at
custom tailor shops that had sprung up in plantation towns
and throughout Honolulu. Dry goods stores supplied the fabrics:
printed silk from Japan, raw silk, batik, rayon from the U.S.
mainland and cotton cloth made for kimonos and yukatas. Short-
and long-sleeved shirts and women's dresses were based on
Asian garment designs and made from pre-printed fabrics from
China and Japan. These colorful shirts and dresses were the
direct ancestors of modern aloha wear. Here in the islands
we say "ono" to mean deliciously cool.
First
Real Kine Hawaiian Designs
It wasn't
until the mid-1930s that Hawaiian clothing manufacturers decided
to produce cloth that was uniquely Hawaiian in design. Watumull's
East India Store led the way by commissioning artist Elsie
Das to create fifteen floral designs. Her hand-painted designs
were sent to Japan where they were printed by hand onto raw
silk.
Satin
Mistakes and Hollywood Dreams
According
to Hawaiian fabric designer Elsie Das, a Japanese manufacturer
once printed a set of her floral designs on heavy satin…
by mistake. "These started a vogue in Hollywood. Ginger
Rogers, Janet Gaynor and other stars bought bolts of the stuff
and had it made into 'seductive gowns.' The result was an
epidemic of Hawaiian designs, with hibiscus and ginger breaking
out on table cloths, napkins and scarves all over the country."
"Elsie Das, Artist Designer," an article by William
Davenport in Paradise of the Pacific, p 9, 1963.
The
"First" Aloha Shirt
The term "aloha
shirt" may have started as street slang in the early
1930s to describe the growing number of shirts featuring Oriental
and Hawaiian designs that were being produced by Honolulu
tailors. Musa-Shiya, the Shirtmaker first advertised the "aloha
shirt" in the Honolulu Advertiser on June 28, 1935: "Honolulu's
Noted Shirt Maker and Kimono Shop. 'Aloha' shirts - well tailored,
beautiful designs and radiant colors. Ready-made or made to
order…95 cents up." By another account, an advertising
salesperson from the Honolulu Advertiser and Ellery Chun,
the owner of the King-Smith dry goods store, first coined
the term "aloha shirt." In fact Mr. Chun officially
registered a trademark for his Aloha sportswear on July 15,
1936.
Aloha
from Hollywood
Movie stars,
crooners and politicians did a fine job of promoting Hawaiian
clothing. Montgomery Cliff Burt Lancaster, Ernest Borgnine
and Frank Sinatra all wore beautiful Hawaiian shirts in the
movie From Here to Eternity. Ginger Rogers wore seductive
satin gowns of Hawaiian designs while Bing Crosby sported
his unique combination of Hawaiian shirt and porkpie hat.
And Betty Grable did a promo pin-up shot wearing a gorgeous
Hawaiian-style swimsuit in the 1940s. In the 1980s, Tom Selleck
often wore the signature "Magnum PI" Hawaiian shirt,
which is now in the Smithsonian Institute.
Border
Hawaiian Shirts
By modern
standards, border Hawaiian shirts were a luxury because so
much fabric was wasted in making them. These shirts featured
wonderful designs that were so well thought-out that sleeves,
sides and hems were identical. Pockets sometimes matched the
shirt pattern perfectly. And some designs never repeated themselves
on the same shirt. Border Hawaiian shirts tended to be longer
to show off the fabric images (you never, EVER tuck in a border
shirt). The same tailoring approach was used to create beautiful
sun dresses. The border shirt is very similar to the Engineered
print Hawaiian shirt. The only difference is that the engineered
shirts' image are even wider than the border shirt, often
stretching from seam to seam.
Muumuus
and Tea-timers
The Hawaiian
muumuu started out as a loose-fitting dress designed for women
of all sizes. It was the result of missionaries who sought
to cover the bodies of Hawaiian women, who traditionally wore
nothing more than a skirt. As the muumuu morphed and mated
with traditional Asian designs, a unique series of women's
garments emerged. For informal entertaining, the pake muu
featured long, wing-like sleeves based on a Chinese design.
The popular tea-timer was a tight-fitting, tailored, sleeveless
top with a short mandarin collar. The holomu was a fitted
garment for more formal evening wear while the holoku was
a full-length dress for formal affairs. Over the years, women's
Hawaiian clothing has tended to feature floral designs: ginger
blossoms, plumeria, hibiscus, orchids and birds-of-paradise.
Casual
Day Finds Its Roots in Honolulu
In 1947 the
Honolulu Board of Supervisors passed a resolution whereby
City & County employees were allowed - actually, they
were encouraged - to wear Hawaiian shirts from June 1 to October
31 each year to beat the summer heat. This single act by a
local government has had a powerful influence on businesses
and civil servant departments around the world, especially
where summers are unbearably hot. Today, many corners of the
globe adopt more casual clothing styles for hot weather.
Aloha
Friday
In Hawaii
every Friday is Aloha Friday. It's the day when you wear your
favorite aloha dress or aloha shirt with pride. On each and
every Friday, downtown Honolulu is a sea of aloha wear, especially
at lunch time when you can usually catch a free concert in
the plaza at the corner of King and Bishop streets. Hawaii's
aloha spirit can be found in many business offices. Companies
that offer a "casual" day on Fridays need only look
to the Aloha State for the source of this wonderful tradition.
Aloha
Week
The first
annual Aloha Week festival was held in 1947. By 1948's celebration,
the local residents were enthusiastically wearing Hawaiian
shirts and dresses to help promote local products. And today,
after more than 50 years, Aloha Week is still going strong
today. It's a great excuse to dress up in your favorite aloha
wear, enjoy "ono Hawaiian kine grinds" (local cuisine),
and immerse yourself in the music and arts of the islands.
Cruisin'
Among several
luxury cruise ship companies that promoted travel to exotic
Hawaii, the Matson Line commissioned artists to create enchanting
Hawaiian images for use as menu covers. Some of these distinctive
images were used for fabric designs on Hawaiian shirts and
dresses.
Made
in Hawaii
In the 1950s
manufacturers began adding the magical phrase "Made in
Hawaii" to their garment labels. (the idea allegedly
came from a trade commissioner from Los Angeles during a visit
to Hawaii in 1950). This new label increased the value and
desirability of authentic Hawaiian shirts and dresses on the
mainland and across the world. "Made in Hawaii"
allowed true aloha wear to stand out in a market that was
being flooded by cheap imitations and mail order garments.
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