So what’s the story behind the Aloha shirt?

The history of the Hawaiian shirt can be traced back to the western missionaries who arrived in 1820. Shocked by the lack of attire, missionaries convinced the native Hawaiians to adopt a dress code. Missionary seamstresses created shirts out of various fabrics available at the time to clothe everyone. The world had to wait until the 1930s for the Hawaiian shirt to evolve to what we are more familiar with.

So who originated the Aloha shirt?

Born and raised in Hawaii, Ellery Chun attended the prestigious Punahou School in Honolulu, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in Economics. He returned to Hawaii to help take over his father’s dry goods shop during the Great depression. To help revamp and revitalize the family business, Chun did some brainstorming. Out of old remnant Japanese yukata (summer kimonos made of cotton) fabrics, Ellery and his sister, Ethel Chun Lum, sewed brighly colored, square-cut, short-sleeved collared shirts for tourists. On June 28, 1935, the first advertisement placed in the Honolulu Advertiser coined the official name, “Aloha Shirt”. With the growing popularity of the his shirts, Chun expanded his collection to include fabrics printed in the USA, Japan, China, and Tahiti, featuring designs of palm trees, hula dancers, and exotic fruits.

Chun moved on to become a member of the Board of Directors for American Security Bank in 1945. He closed the King-Smith Clothiers shop soon after and became the Vice President for American Security Bank until 1966. He passed away in 2000, at the age of 91. Chun’s original shirts are now featured in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Textile Collection.

However, Chun was not the only manufacturer of these famous shirts! Ellery Chun of King-Smith Clothiers & Dry Goods owned the shop in Waikiki to which many associate the origin of the Aloha Shirt. But there are a few pioneers who had just as much of a hand in the creation of these shirts as Chun!

Koichiro Miyamoto, owner of a dry goods shop at the corner of River and King streets in Chinatown accidentally ordered too many bolts of British-made cloth. In an effort to salvage the fabric, Miyamoto hired a seamstress to turn them into dozens of striped shirts. When the shirts continued to sit on his shelves, Miyamoto turned to an advertising agency for help. Ad-man George Mellon created the character of “Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker”, a cheerful, kimono-clad Asian man who spoke in pidgin-English, fashioned in Miyamoto’s image. The ad campaign worked wonders and Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker garnered clientele from Hollywood who purchased his many silk shirts, robes, and pajamas.

In 1933, Miyamoto was credited with creating the very first “aloha shirt”. That same year, he sold his River Street shop to the Fujii family and opened his shirtmaking business. He retired in 1968, passing away in 1986 as the age of 90.

As a side note, the name Musa-Shiya may not be as well known outside of Hawaii these days, but for many long-time local residents, it brings back memories to an older, simpler time. Musashiya was one of Hawaii’s longest surviving fabric shops, reaching its 100 year anniversary in 1996. Known for carrying top of the line fabrics at the largest outdoor shopping mall in the United States, Ala Moana Shopping Center, Musashiya catered to both locals and tourists alike. Sadly, Musashiya closed its doors for the final time in 2001.

Ti Haw Ho, owner of Surfriders Sportwear Manufacturing, also created his own style of “Hawaiian shirts” in 1932.

It may never be known as to who the originator of the Aloha Shirt, but each and every one’s contribution indefinitely helped to mold the image of what define as the Aloha Shirt today!

The popularity of the Aloha Shirt spread quickly after the end of World War II. The age of jet-set travel had just began and the Aloha Shirt became synonymous with Hawaii, representing a casual, laid-back lifestyle.

However, as the Aloha Shirt grew in popularity, other manufacturers outside of Hawaii started to craft and sell their own style of shirt. The products of these companies were bright, garish, ill-fitting and tacky to most local Hawaiians, best suited for tourists. The renaissance of the Aloha Shirt came about in the 1960s when manufacturer Reyn-Spooner pioneered the first reverse-fabric, pullover, button-down shirt. These new shirts emulated the style of well-worn, sun-bleached shirts worn by local beach boys. The muted colors and clean-cut style of the Reyn-Spooner shirts helped to create a great alternative to the usual men’s business attire, thus ushering in the idea of “casual Fridays” nationwide.

Now, the Aloha Shirt has become a part of everyday life in Hawaii. To island residents, the modern Aloha Shirt is considered a form of business wear, and regarded as an equivalent to a shirt and tie. Traditionally worn neatly pressed and untucked by locals, the Aloha shirt is Hawaii’s dressy attire for men. The style conveys a relaxed and laid-back feeling, reminding folks to kick back and let the day pass you by, on Hawaiian Time.

To continue its lasting legacy, Governor Ben Cayetano declared 2000 as the “Year of the Aloha Shirt”. The campaign helped to bring awareness and interest to the long-lived Aloha Shirt, its history, and its contribution to the culture of the islands.