Shirts & Dresses


Hawaiian Shirts from Aloha Shirt Shop
Fine Men's and Ladies Casual Island Wear from Reyn Spooner, Kahala, and Tori Richard. Always free shipping!

Welcome to Butigroove Hawaiian Clothing
Butigroove is the only musically driven clothing line in Hawaii. Everyone is born with a natural rhythm keeper --our heart. The red dots symbolize the chambers of our heart....in the womb for months all we hear is our mother's heartbeat..and we are born into a world of rhythm...the seasons, the tides, the beautiful mother nature. so turn it up and boogie down with butigroove! peace.

Under A Hula Moon opened in 1995 in scenic Kailua Town on the windward side of Oahu. We have since earned the reputation as the absolute best, most fun place on the island to shop for unique home decor, tropical souvenirs, and beautiful handcrafted gifts of Aloha! With our one-of-a-kind home furnishings and island flair.

Contemporary Hawaiian Shirts
High quality surf-inspired Hawaiian shirts in cotton and silk plus trendy dresses and cover-ups for the young Wahine. These high quality Hawaiian print shirts start from only $29.00!

Hawaiian Flip Flops and Thongs
Cool comfortable flip flops for both men and women. Brands include Scotts and Havaianas in bold tropical colors.

Grass Skirts, Leis & Pareos
Get LuauWear for your own backyard luau or be a 'Hawaiian Surprise' at your next party. Colorful sarongs (pareos) can be used for the beach or as 'sexy' partywear.

Hawaiian Shirts - Aloha Shirts History

The Precursor of the Aloha Shirt

There are several versions of how the Hawaiian Shirt or Aloha Shirt got started. In fact there are several versions of just what even constituted the original “Hawaiian shirt” or “aloha shirt.”

There is no confusion, however, about the fact that the custom of wearing shirts was a direct result of early 19th century western missionaries who believed that the nakedness of the bare-chested Hawaiian men was somehow “sinful.” The missionary shirts were usually made of plain cloth that was brought to Hawaii by the missionaries themselves or, for the commoners, tapa cloth made from the pounded inner bark of the Wauke tree, often decorated with geometric designs.

In 1852, the first indentured servants arrived in Hawaii from China to work on the haole plantations. The Japanese and Portuguese soon followed, and by 1910 the Koreans, Filipinos and Puerto Ricans had joined them on the plantations. Each group brought with them their own traditional clothing. Lush silk from China, brightly colored Kimono cloth from Japan, and the Barong Tagalog shirts from the Philippines. Despite their traditional cultural differences, they all had one thing in common: working the pineapple and sugar cane fields was hot, hard work and eventually all groups ended up wearing some common form of cool, short sleeve, untucked shirt. These shirts came to be called “Palaka Shirts,” usually of a plaid design. Japanese men wore a shirt of similar style made out of leftover Kimono cloth. These were the precursor of the modern “aloha shirt” or “Hawaiian shirt.”

The Modern Aloha Shirt

Among historians, there are several schools of thought on who originated the “true” aloha shirt. One version says that in 1932 Ti Haw Ho, owner of Surfriders Sportswear began selling something he called “Hawaiian Shirts.”

In another version, during the mid-1930s, local artist Elsie Das was commissioned by Watamull’s East India Store to hand-paint Hawaiian designs that were sent to Japan where they were printed by hand onto raw silk. The material was then returned to Hawaii where it was sown into colorful shirts that were sold exclusively at Watumull’s. Elsie may have designed the material, but she doesn’t get credit for designing the shirt.

A much larger school of thought credits local seamstress, Koichira Miyamoto, known as Musa-Shiya the Shirtmaker, who advertised: "Honolulu's Noted Shirt Maker and Kimono Shop. 'Aloha' shirts or ‘Hawaiian’ shirts- well tailored, beautiful designs and radiant colors. Ready-made or made to order…95 cents up." in the Honolulu Advertiser’s June 28, 1935 edition.

Around that same time, seamstress Ethel Chun Lum sewed about a dozen brightly colored, floral, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirts from left-over kimono fabric, and offered them for sale at King-Smith Clothiers, which was owned by her brother, Chinese merchant Ellery Chun. Mr. Chun placed one of the shirts in his shop window with a sign that read “Aloha Shirt.”

The shirts sold quickly and (according to local legend) a salesman at the Honolulu Advertiser eventually suggested that Mr. Chun trademark the name. While that part of the story may be true, it is unlikely that Ellery Chun needed to be instructed in shrewd marketing by a newspaper salesman. A Punahou School alumnus, Chun had graduated from Yale University with a degree in Economics in 1931. He returned to take over his father’s Chinese community dry goods story located at 36 North King Street. Despite the depression, Ellery renamed the store and expanded his clientele to attract non-Chinese businessmen and tourists. According to interviews he gave before his death, Chun reported producing ready-made casual shirts from imported fabric for the local market as early as 1933.

What is important, however, is that Ellery Chun officially registered a trademark for his Aloha sportswear on July 15, 1936, thus legally owning the phrase “Aloha Shirt” and “Hawaiian Shirt.” We will never know if the first “true” aloha shirt was made by Koichira Miyamoto, Ethel Chun Lum, or even Ti Haw Ho, none of whom ended up with credit for pioneering the modern aloha shirt.

Ellery Chun died in 2000 at the age of 91, having officially secured his place in history as the “inventor” of the aloha shirt. Ethel Chun’s original aloha shirt designs were donated to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Textile Collection in 1998, where they remain today.

Hollywood Discovers the Aloha Shirt

The 1942 20th Century Fox musical “Song of the Islands” is the first Hollywood film to include the square bottom “aloha shirts” as part of the wardrobe. By the time “From Here to Eternity” was shot in Hawaii in 1951, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Cliff, Jack Warden and Ernest Borgnine were all sporting colorful Hawaiian “silkies,” bright shirts made from that hot new fabric: rayon. The trend continued throughout the 1950s as stars like John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Robert Stack, George Stack and Tom Ewell all were photographed wearing Hawaiian-print aloha shirts. Even President Harry S. Truman was featured on the cover of Life Magazine, wearing an aloha shirt.

Elvis Presley liked them so much, he regularly wore them back in Memphis, and Tom Selleck’s signature “Magnum PI” aloha shirt now rests in the Smithsonian Institute, although in a different collection than that of Ethel Chun.

The Aloha Shirt Becomes the Official Shirt of Hawaii

Despite the gaining popularity of the aloha shirt during the late 1930s and early 1940s, the vivid rayon shirts never really caught on with the locals. Suits and ties were still considered the only appropriate business attire. However, during WWII, with the interruption of normal shipping to Hawaii, locals were finally induced to wear aloha shirts, albeit a more subtle, conservative variation. Without the advent of air conditioning, residents discovered how much more comfortable and practical the attire was, especially during the summer. In 1947, the Honolulu Board of Supervisors passed a resolution whereby City & County employees were allowed - actually, they were encouraged - to wear Hawaiian shirts from June 1 to October 31 each year to beat the summer heat.

In 1966, the Hawaii Fashion Guild, of which Reyn McCullough (a partner in Reyn Spooner) was an active member, convinced local businesses to allow aloha wear to be worn to work on what is now called Aloha Friday. Although it would be nice to think that this was for the comfort of the local employees, it was actually part of a marketing plan promoting Hawaiian apparel. For whatever reason, it was the beginning of a national movement. “Casual Friday” is now a part of company policy all across the United States.

But not every tropical shirt is necessarily an aloha shirt. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, in the 1960's, declared that aloha shirts "must be made in Hawaii." If the shirt was not made in Hawaii, the shirt is not an authentic aloha shirt. There’s now even a local term coined “aloha formalwear” for weddings and such, which signifies pressed khakis and your aloha shirt tucked in.

Tourist or local, it’s impossible to be part of the mood of Hawaii without owning at least one aloha shirt. The acceptance of aloha wear in everything from casual weekends to business attire is a natural part of the aloha spirit.