The 1930s through the 1950s was considered the golden age for Aloha shirts. Dale Hope, author of The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands, explores the history and folklore associated with this unique art form.
The radiant-hued, boldly printed shirts were the unofficial uniform of the legendary Waikiki beach boys and eventually every mainland tourist. Most historians trace its roots to the 1920s and 30’s, when local Japanese women started using kimono fabric for men’s shirting. But their exact origins have been debated now for over 90 years.
Koichiro Miyamoto, a Honolulu tailor who worked under the label Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker, is believed to have run the first newspaper ad for an Aloha shirt in 1935. His shirts were crafted from brightly colored Japanese Kabe Crepe fabric and custom-ordered by stars like Shirley Temple and John Barrymore. Hawaiian surfer Rube Hauseman began creating Aloha shirts in Hawaii in 1935, using vivid fabrics from Musa-Shiya’s store. He and his surfer friends garnered attention wearing these shirts at Honolulu’s popular Rathskeller Bar.
Ellery Chun, of King-Smith Clothiers, was the first to register the trademarks, “Aloha Sportswear” and “Aloha Shirt” in 1936 and 1937. His sister, Ethel Chun Lum, was one of the early textile artists who pioneered island-inspired tropical shirt designs. Traditionally Japanese styled motifs, such as Mount Fuji, decorated the imported fabrics. Artists and designers eventually began to create patterns informed by their island surroundings. Thatched huts with ocean scenes and surfers, canoes on waves, fish and flowers replaced bamboo, cranes, tigers and shrines that characterized the first prints from the Orient.
These shirts are far from just a plain solid garment, they are made with artistic patterns that evoke a spirit, feelings, a rainbow of colors, memories, and places. No matter where in the world you wear one, they are a reminder of the relaxed, carefree island lifestyle and provide a connection with a magnificent chain of Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
My Dad had started a small business making aloha shirts and ladies garments in Kapahulu. When I was in the third grade he brought me an al oha shirt. For me it captured the spirit of the Beach Boys and their iconic lifestyle all the way down to the color of the “Makaha’s” Turquoise board shorts that the beach lifeguards wore. This shirt probably set the hook for me with aloha shirts. As I got older the best surfers in Hawaii, Duke Kahanamoku, Fred Hemmings, Joey Cabell, Butch van Artsdalen, Paul Strauch, Rabbit, all wore Aloha Shirts. These shirts are far from just a plain solid garment, they are made with artistic, thoughtful motifs, they evoke a spirit, feelings, a rainbow of colors, memories, and places. And anchor the wearer to a connection to a magnificent chain of Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Dale Hope is Author of The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands
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