That first Aloha shirt

Ok, so I've decided to make the plunge into collecting vintage Aloha shirts. I am sort of new to the game but my other hobby of collecting Tiki mugs helps to some extent. Yes, I know Tiki is Polynesian Pop while Aloha Shirts are true Hawaiian culture. But being able to find and identify Midcentury items is a nice skill to have when looking for shirts.

I decided to collect Aloha shirts about four months ago after being inspired by a trip to Hawaii. I did buy a couple of old Aloha shirts some years ago while hunting for Tiki. One is a polyester Sears shirt from the 1970s. Yeah, I know, polyester. But I liked the old label so I grabbed it for a couple of bucks. The other shirt is a barkcloth one but it got stored away somewhere and I haven't been able to find it. I also have some newer shirts that I've purchased for wear while on trips to the islands.

So my first 'official' shirt is this baby. I went to a thrift store the first day I decided to collect and found a vintage Kramer's. What are the odds? The first thrift store on the first day I started looking and found this. A beautiful barkcloth piece that I'm guessing is from the 1950s. Two of the original metal buttons have been replaced with plain brown ones, but the shirt is otherwise in impeccable condition.

The purpose of this blog is to document my learning experience to find and identify vintage Aloha shirts. The term 'vintage' is so overused that it is really meaningless anymore. But I'm looking for shirts that pre-date the 1970s (although there are always exceptions). I expect to make a lot of mistakes and to make some great finds. This should be quite and interesting adventure.