[trip style = beach + sun]
Who's to blame for the Hawaiian shirt's bad rep? Tommy Bahama? Magnum P.I.? Dads everywhere for their dressed-up vacation look? Kitsch is back, and this time it's not just for dads or the tropics. If we believe GQ Magazine, Oahu might be the new capital of fashion.
Chief Trip Stylist Trish, who's currently camped out on Maui, has seen her fair share of island fashion. She met a couple on the ferry to Lanai last week who own more than 50 matching sets of aloha wear. They loved visiting the Islands so much that they moved to Kauai, where they match their palm fronds and hibiscus flowers in peace every day. And aloha, as it happens, translates to peace.
Trip Styler Tip: Look for Trish's favorite locally designed beachwear brand, Otaheite Hawaii {see photo above}, at their flagship store in Wailea, in boutiques across the Islands and online.
Now for a little history lesson: Made iconic in the 1950s when Elvis took Hawaii—and the rest of the world—by storm, the Hawaiian shirt goes further back than America's tiki craze. Hawaiians went without shirts altogether before missionaries came to the Islands and introduced them to bark cloth shirts and muumuus. Then, when the tourists came in the 20s, small tailors made them custom pattered shirts to bring home as souvenirs, and Hawaiians began to wear the shirts for special occasions. In the 30s, a native Hawaiian with a Yale business degree became the first mass producer of the shirts and gave them the name by which they're still called by locals today, aloha shirts.
Say "Aloha" to aloha wear.
Men
Clockwise from top left: Gitman 3-D short sleeve shirt, Burkman Bros hawaiian scenic printed shirt, Sandro printed poplin shirt, Gitman aloha camp shirt, Freemans Sporting Club slim-fit floral-print shorts, Ovadia & Sons palm-print shirt
Women
Clockwise from top left: Mara Hoffman cutout tie back dress, Brave Soul hawaii tropical 2-piece set, Ted Baker tunic dress, Otaheite Hawaii hulali mini, Daisy Street crop top, House of Hackney giant canvas tote, Mikoh printed bikini
This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.
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