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The Aloha shirt, often mistakenly called the Hawaiian shirt by non-natives, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawai'i. It is currently the premier textile export of the Hawai'i manufacturing industry. This page traces the shirt from its missionary-era beginnings, when New England settlers imposed strict dress codes and quick-sewn shirts on native Hawaiians, to its commercial creation in the early 1930s by Ellery Chun, and explains the lasting split in the market: brightly colored floral shirts exported for casual wear, and muted, quilt-patterned shirts that count as formal wear for local residents.
Aloha shirts manufactured for local Hawai'i residents are often dull in tone, if not uniformly colored or color-coordinated, and are adorned with traditional Hawaiian quilt designs or simple plant patterns in muted, non-flashy colors. Aloha shirts manufactured for local consumption are considered formal wear in business and government.
The shirt's origins are traced back to the early years of the Kingdom of Hawai'i upon the arrival of Congregational and Presbyterian missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands. These early Christian settlers from New England imposed strict dress codes on the native Hawaiians and forced many to wear quick-sewn shirts made of various fabrics available to the missionary seamstresses at the time.
The modern Aloha shirt was first manufactured commercially in the early 1930s by Chinese merchant Ellery Chun of King-Smith Clothiers and Dry Goods, a store in Waikiki. Chun began sewing brightly colored shirts for tourists out of old kimono fabrics he had leftover in stock. The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper was quick to coin the term Aloha shirt to describe Chun's fashionable creation. Chun trademarked the name. The first advertisement in the Honolulu Advertiser for Chun's Aloha shirt was published on June 28, 1935. Local residents, especially surfers, and tourists descended on Chun's store and bought every shirt he had. Within years, major designer labels sprung up all over Hawai'i and began manufacturing and selling Aloha shirts en masse.
The popularity of the Aloha shirt boomed in the United States after World War II as major celebrities sported the Hawaiian wear. President of the United States Harry Truman wore Aloha shirts regularly during his tenure in the White House and in retirement. John Wayne and Duke Kahanamoku endorsed major designer labels while Bing Crosby, Arthur Godfrey and Johnny Weissmuller entertained while wearing them.
The corresponding Hawaiian wear for women is the muumuu. Like the Aloha shirt, muumuu exports are often brilliantly colored with floral patterns of generic Polynesian motifs designed for casual, informal wear. Muumuu for local Hawai'i residents are more respectful in tone, adorned with traditional Hawaiian quilt designs in muted colors.
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The Aloha shirt's double life is its most distinctive feature. After the Second World War its popularity boomed in the United States as celebrities wore it — President Harry Truman wore Aloha shirts regularly in the White House and in retirement, and John Wayne, Duke Kahanamoku, Bing Crosby, Arthur Godfrey and Johnny Weissmuller all endorsed or entertained in them — fixing its mainland image as relaxed vacation wear. In Hawai'i itself, the muted local version holds a different status: adorned with traditional quilt designs or simple plant patterns in non-flashy colors, it is accepted as formal wear in business and government. The corresponding Hawaiian wear for women is the muumuu, which follows the same pattern of bright exports and more respectful local tones.
The modern Aloha shirt was first manufactured commercially in the early 1930s by Chinese merchant Ellery Chun of King-Smith Clothiers and Dry Goods in Waikiki. Chun sewed brightly colored shirts for tourists from leftover kimono fabrics, and trademarked the name Aloha shirt.
The first advertisement in the Honolulu Advertiser for Chun's Aloha shirt was published on June 28, 1935. Local residents, especially surfers, and tourists bought every shirt he had, and within years major designer labels across Hawai'i were manufacturing Aloha shirts in volume.
No. Shirts exported to the mainland United States and elsewhere are often brilliantly colored with floral or Polynesian motifs for casual wear. Shirts made for local Hawai'i residents are often muted or uniformly colored, with traditional Hawaiian quilt designs, and are considered formal wear in business and government.