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The Official Aloha Shirt Thread

Parker

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kurdo

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A dragon motif is not Hawaiian. Almost everyone in the world would recognize that to be true ... except you evidently. By your logic an "Aloha Shirt" can display a picture of Mao Zedong and still be authentically Hawaiian. So, there is only one of us that needs a clue, and it's not me.
http://www.thealohashirt.com/history

https://www.hawaiilife.com/blog/brief-history-of-the-aloha-shirt/

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/tag/musa-shiya/

The shirt I posted is made by Musa Shiya the Shirtmaker, which according to most sources was among the first to design aloha shirts and use that term in its advertising. The design is a reprint from the 1940s, so such designs have existed from the beginning, created by the people who were there from the beginning.
 

Garrister

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http://www.thealohashirt.com/history

https://www.hawaiilife.com/blog/brief-history-of-the-aloha-shirt/

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/tag/musa-shiya/

The shirt I posted is made by Musa Shiya the Shirtmaker, which according to most sources was among the first to design aloha shirts and use that term in its advertising. The design is a reprint from the 1940s, so such designs have existed from the beginning, created by the people who were there from the beginning.
I am not saying that Dragon prints or Ying-Yangs (or Mao Zedong images) are novel or a recent phenomenons. They may have been the seminal shirt. I merely pointed out that the motif is not Hawaiian, and not associated with Hawaiian culture or the Islands generally. It is a motif taken from Chinese/Asian culture probably in order to sell shirts to that market demographic. Most traditional Aloha shirts that pay respect to or, at minimum, allude to Hawaiian culture or the Islands generally would not depict dragons. An honu, yes.

Musa Shiya historically has been associated with what would now be considered racist depictions on their shirts. So, I'm not sure that it using the term "Aloha shirt" is in any way reflective of their effort to pay respect to Hawaiian culture or the Islands -- more likely it's just a term they used to sell shirts "Made in Hawaii" by trying to misappropriate the word "Aloha" in order to garner some cultural authenticity.

Anyway, this is just my viewpoint. Not trying to offend anyone or criticize their "Made in Hawaii" shirts. The shirt depicted looks to be a fine shirt. Wear it in good health.
 
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Has anyone owned a sun surf and thrown it in a washing machine? I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a Sun Surf special edition, but have been hearing things about how fragile rayon is and how prone it is to shrinking while some are fine with it. Please advise 🙏
 

jimney

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I machine wash all my rayon shirts, and they all shrink significantly. I buy them oversize to account for this. I've started washing them inside laundry bags to reduce the wear from washing, since the fabric is delicate-ish.
 

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