floral stairs

So I know for some of you, as soon as you hear floral shirt your mind jumps to the “Hawaiian” shirt your grandfather had. You know the one; coconut buttons, some artistic interpretation of a hibiscus flower and surfin’ USA sewn in to each stitch.

Well…this is not your grandpa’s floral shirt.

This shirt by J.Crew is the moody grandchild to that shirt. Yes it’s floral. Yes it is short sleeve, but it’s darker tones and slim fit set it apart from the more historically vibrant shirts. Speaking of history why don’t we touch on the history of the “Hawaiian” Aloha shirt briefly.

Would you believe me if I told you these statement tops are over 100 years old? To the millennial in me this is shocking as I only associate them with tacky fashion choices in the 90s. Hawaii was a land full of Asian immigrants due to plantation work in the 1880s. The Japanese brought with them their bright kimonos and the Filipinos their barong talongs. The fusion of these items for work purposes is considered the beginning of the Aloha shirts. In 1931 a recent Yale grad Ellery Chun returned to his families store in Honolulu and just five years later had marketed his tropically designed shirts officially as Aloha shirts.

The shirts still remained a lucrative business through the great depression and World War II. After endorsements by presidents, pop stars and the military itself the shirts would find no slowing as they carried on through the decades.

Additionally,  you owe “casual friday” to the Aloha shirt. In the 60s Operation Liberation sought to allow officials to wear lighter attire around the Hawaiian offices even giving out free shirts to members of the Senate and House of Representatives. This soon caught on in the other states and now you too are afforded such relaxation.

Alright, now that we have emerged from the time capsule. The year is 2016.final (2 of 5)

The shirt is awesome, but in order to appropriately style it without looking like we are attending a luau we must consider our other pieces.

A pair of light wash denim is a great way to downplay the shirt and make it feel effortless. If you are in the mood of embracing the darkness you could throw on black pants and change the look entirely. There are a good variety of options for this shirt! Cuff the denim a bit and forget the long socks to add an even more nonchalant attitude. Sticking with the lighter tones I chose the suede chukka boots. Don’t be afraid of the short sleeve shirts! I know that they have a long history in very unappealing style but find a nice fitting well considered shirt and give it a whirl.

Next time you’re enjoying a casual friday think of how it all started and maybe you won’t hate your grandpa’s shirt as much.floral wallfinal (1 of 5) floral Street floral Street look back floral floral alley desert boots final (2 of 1)

Photos by: Andrew Neel ( @andrewtneel)

Read more on the history of the Aloha Shirts here: http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=66921

Share: