Aloha shirt
Aloha shirts are casual button-front shirts associated with Hawaii, often made with short sleeves, relaxed cuts, and colorful prints.
Miyamoto Shoten: A Honolulu clothing shop associated with the early commercial production of aloha shirts. It is linked to the shirt’s emergence as a locally made garment in the 1930s.
Camp shirt: A relaxed button-front shirt, usually with a straight hem and an open, notched collar. The aloha shirt belongs to this broader style of casual shirt.
Aloha Friday: A Hawaii workplace custom of wearing casual aloha attire on Fridays. The shirt became a symbol of the shift toward relaxed office dress.
Aloha: A Hawaiian word expressing affection, compassion, greeting, and mutual regard. The shirt’s name connects its commercial image to a central Hawaiian cultural value.
Ellery Chun: A Honolulu merchant credited with popularizing the name “Aloha Shirt” in the 1930s. His retail branding helped turn a local garment into a recognizable product.
Rayon: A regenerated cellulose fiber valued for its softness and fluid drape. Rayon became a popular fabric for vivid, lightweight aloha shirts.
Business casual: A workplace dress code that combines professional clothing with less formal garments. Aloha shirts entered offices as locally accepted business wear.
Hawaiian sovereignty movement: A movement seeking greater self-determination and recognition of Hawaiian political and cultural rights. It complicates the shirt’s use as a simple, commercial symbol of Hawaii.
Hawaiian textile industry: The businesses and labor that produce and sell textiles in Hawaii. Local garment makers adapted imported fabrics and sewing traditions into a distinctive shirt.
Hawaiian print: A textile pattern associated with Hawaii, often depicting tropical plants, landscapes, or cultural motifs. Its imagery gives many aloha shirts their instantly recognizable visual character.