Once a touristy faux-pas the vibrant Hawaiian shirt has become a perennial summer favorite.



Aptly dubbed the &quot;Aloha Shirt,&quot; Hawaiian Shirts have become a cheeky wardrobe staple. Despite the garment&#39;s sunny demeanor, it has a fairly complicated history. Some believe the garment was created when a college student crafted a collared button down out of&nbsp;yukata&mdash;the cloth used in Japanese kimonos. Despite this probable origin, Dolores Miyamoto claims it was Hollywood actor John Barrymore who custom ordered a floral button down&mdash;in the style of a Hawaiian shirt&mdash;from her garment shop. No matter the origin, Hawaiian shirts highlight the luscious flora and fauna of the sunny island through Japanese-influenced colorways and prints. By the mid-1930s, retailers across Hawaii began to widely produce variations of the colorful shirts in an attempt to appeal to natives, tourists, and to highlight the natural beauty of the island.&nbsp;

When servicemembers returned to the mainland United States from Hawaii after World War II, the garment became increasingly popular across the country. Commemorating the &quot;Aloha&#39;&#39; spirit of the island, the shirt became a stylish way to sport a carefree attitude and a welcoming aesthetic. With Hawaii&#39;s subsequent statehood in 1959, the tropical shirt was featured across mainland retailers and in pop-culture&mdash;<a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/pop-culture/discover-Elvis-and-Priscilla-Presley-house-in-beverly-hills-now-sold-for-13-millions">Elvis Presley</a>&#39;s 1961 album&nbsp;Blue Hawaii&nbsp;features an eclectic Hawaiian shirt.&nbsp;

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<img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/39109/1622581568-bluehawaiired-main1.jpeg?auto=format%2Ccompress" title="&quot;Blue Hawaii,&quot; 1961" />

&quot;Blue Hawaii,&quot; 1961

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By the 1970s and <a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/Fashion/blazers-with-shoulder-pads-trend-of-the-season">&#39;80s,</a> the Hawaiian shirt began to be mass produced across the United States&mdash;allowing for widespread sale and consumption. With many workplaces adopting &quot;Aloha Fridays,&quot;&mdash;employees could opt for a more casual outfit on the last day of the workweek&mdash;the Hawaiian shirt became forever embedded in fashion&#39;s style lexicon. Though the original iterations were often made in rayon and synthetic fabrics, cotton and linen became a popular choice for the garment during this period. Making cameos in cult favorites such as<a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/pop-culture/friends-the-reunion-what-is-the-wage-of-protagonist">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/pop-culture/friends-the-reunion-what-is-the-wage-of-protagonist">Friends,</a> Ace Ventura, and Romeo + Jiuliet , the garment was a natural sartorial choice for pop-culture&#39;s biggest players.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Despite the garment&#39;s rapid success throughout the mid 20th-century, its original flair and appeal slowly began to diminish in the new decade. Becoming widely associated with cheesy Dad outfits and overzealous tourists, the shirt evolved into more of a campy costume than a breezy fashionable statement.&nbsp;

With fashion&#39;s love for everything nostalgic reemerging in recent years, the Hawaiian shirt has seen a subtle comeback. This time, however, the shirts are strutting down the runways of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/Fashion/prada-pumps-the-most-desidered-shoes" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Prada</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://preview.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/dioriviera-pop-up-boutique-rosewood-miramar-beach-santa-barbara" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Dior</a><a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/Fashion/dior-haute-couture-dress-spring-summer-2021-movie-matteo-garrone">&nbsp;</a>rather than sitting on department store shelves. Below,&nbsp;L&#39;OFFICIEL&nbsp;explores the most stylish modern iterations of the beloved garment through the lens of fashion&#39;s biggest brands and our favorite celebrities.

How the Hawaiian Shirt Became Cool Again

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