1970s Hawaiian shirts
One of the fun things about a garage or white elephant sale is that you are sure to be taken back to years and maybe even decades past. So as I headed to a senior bazaar white elephant sale, I was excited to see what kind of aloha shirts I'd find.
The first shirt that caught my eye was a "reverse print" shirt that is still quite popular in Hawaii today. A reverse print shirt is one where the shirt is manufactured with the "inside out" side of the fabric on the outside giving it a faded look. I grew up in Hawaii in the 80s and for as long as I can remember, the reverse print shirts have been a part of Hawaii's fashion. Though perhaps not quite as popular today as it was back in the 80s and 90s, many men still go to work in reverse print shirts today. I think the shirt below is from the 80s.
faded reverse print Hawaiian shirt
As I dug deeper into the pile of Hawaiian shirts, braving the dust and old-clothes smell, I found many shirts that look like they're from the 70s when polyester was king. Another thing that struck me is that many of these Hawaiian shirts contained Asian-inspired designs. Interesting. Maybe one reason is that the 1970s were a boom-time for Japanese tourists in Hawaii. As a kid in Hawaii, our stereotypical image of a tourist was a Japanese male wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt with a giant camera.
I am not sure if these shirts are from the 70s because I was too young to really get out and about during those years and don't remember what people wore. But they look like 70s to me.
Smooth, shiny, polyester 1970s Hawaiian shirts
The best thing about these shirts is that I got them for $1 each. That's right! A buck apiece! Many people I showed these shirts to say they like the shiny brown one on the right. Anyways, I look forward to finding more shirts and adding them to my collection.
