Aloha shirt
The aloha shirt, also called the Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt that originated in Hawaii: collared, buttoned, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric, traditionally worn untucked. Its story begins with Japanese cloth, and in our reading Japan is where its best modern reproductions are made.
Definition
An aloha shirt is printed, mostly short-sleeved and collared, with buttons running the length of the front or at least to the chest. It usually has a left chest pocket, often cut so that the printed pattern runs on without a break, and a straight hem made to be worn outside the trousers. Traditional designs use Hawaiian quilt patterns, tapa designs and simple florals in muted colours; later prints added drinks, palm trees, surfboards and other island scenes. A reverse print, printed on the inside so that the outside looks muted, was a local preference.
In Hawaii the shirt is casual wear and informal business dress, and the custom of Aloha Friday, now known widely as casual Friday, grew out of an effort to promote it. When the shirts first appeared, locals tended to shy away from their garishness as too wild, while tourists embraced the bright colours; in the 1950s the shirt was allowed as business attire for aloha week, but only if worn tucked in.
Origin
By some accounts the shirt can be traced to the 1920s or early 1930s, when the Honolulu dry-goods store Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker, run by Koichiro Miyamoto, began making shirts from colourful Japanese prints, especially kasuri. The store had been founded by his father, the Japanese immigrant Chotaro Miyamoto, in 1904. Another account credits the Chinese merchant Ellery Chun of King-Smith Clothiers in Waikiki, who may have been the first to mass-produce the shirts; his company registered aloha sportswear as a trademark in 1936 and Aloha Shirt in 1937.
Kamehameha and Branfleet, later Kahala, both founded in 1936, were notable makers of the period. After statehood in 1959, the designer Alfred Shaheen raised the shirt's quality, and Elvis Presley wore a Shaheen red aloha on the cover of Blue Hawaii.
Key facts
| Origin | Hawaii, 1920s or early 1930s |
|---|---|
| Early makers | Musa-Shiya (Koichiro Miyamoto); Ellery Chun, King-Smith |
| Trademark | Aloha Shirt, 1937, Ellery Chun's company |
| Construction | Collar, buttons, left chest pocket, straight hem |
| Local preference | Reverse print |
How to identify it
- The pocket. In our handling, a well-made aloha shirt matches the print across the chest pocket so it nearly disappears.
- The cloth. In our handling, rayon drapes and has a slight sheen; cotton is crisper; silk is lighter. The label usually says which.
- The buttons. In our reading, coconut shell, wood and coin-style metal buttons each point towards a different maker or era; read them with the label.
- Reverse print. In our handling, a shirt printed on the inside shows a softer, chalky face; turn a cuff or the placket to check.
- The print. Japanese subjects, koi, tigers, ukiyo-e scenes, read as a nod to the shirt's origin; our entry on wagara explains the patterns.
Where it appears in the collection
Aloha shirts sit on the aloha, wagara and kimono remake shelf. Examples include a Dry Bones Rockin' Jelly Bean Tiki Baby rayon shirt, a Wacko Maria shunga shirt in monochrome and a Karl Helmut shirt with an ukiyo-e snow scene. For the Japanese makers, see our guide to Sun Surf and Toyo Enterprise.
Related entries
- Kimono remake: shirts cut from old kimono, as the first aloha shirts were.
- Ukiyo-e: the prints behind many designs.
- Sukajan: the souvenir jacket, its Japanese-American cousin.
Sources
- Aloha shirt, encyclopaedia entry, design and history sections. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.