Iconic vintage Hawaiian shirts and how they live on

Hawaiian short sleeve shirts have been around for decades, the modernized term summer camp shirt is what the fashion industry is using these days. I guess it does sound cooler.

I suppose the stigma in the United Kingdom is a wacky cheaply made shirt to be donned by the Britons on their lads on tour outings. 

I suppose Dave and his gang do look pretty funky, but does this ruin the reputation of the shirt? Of course silly hats and Hawaiian lei's don't help the cause, but don't let this put you off wearing one this summer.

Let's take a look at some of the iconic shirts used by recognised stars in  film and in day to day life.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

When we think of Hawaiian shirts one of the first ones we think of is the Sacred Heart shirt Leonardo DiCaprio wore in his role playing Romeo Montague. This is a beautiful shirt, a rich blue colour with sunflowers all over. In the vintage scene these are very hard to come by. Sought after by fashion enthusiasts and movie lovers together. If you do find one available though, you'll be looking on paying £100+ to add this to your collection.

Scarface (1983)

Al Pacino in Scarface is arguably his most memorable and forever quoted role. "Say hello to my little friend." In this case though say hello to this beautiful shirt. Trying to scope this specific shirt out would be hard work, however there are lots of cool red short sleeve shirts out there. A real tropical vibe, a rags to riches story, however in this one his rags are still fashionable today. 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Johnny Depp and Benico Del Toro both sport beautiful Hawaiian shirts in this movie, brilliant in their own right. Depp's a black with vibrant yellow floral patterns. Black Hawaiian shirts have always been in circulation, but as times have gone forwards they are becoming forever more popular. Black in colour with a colourful floral pattern is always a great look. 

Del Toro's is quite similar to Tony Montana's, red with a tropical vibe, are we seeing a pattern here?

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Elvis Presley is probably one of the coolest people to ever walk this planet, subject to opinion of course.

Wearing another red Hawaiian shirt which is ironic, the movie is called Blue Hawaii and the most iconic photo to come through that is Elvis donning a red Hawaiian shirt.

Missed opportunity? Probably not, I suppose red is a powerful colour, shows dominance, energy and strength. I'm sure we've all done English at school so you get the drift. He's also wearing an Hawaiian lei and can actually pull it off. Sorry Dave and Co. maybe in another Life you'll be the king of rock and roll.

True Romance (1993)

Christian Slater is also another member of the cool red Hawaiian shirt crew, for anyone who hasn't seen True Romance by the way, definitely give it a watch. One of the best movies of the 90's! 

Now if these iconic shirts haven't give you inspiration to get yourself a Hawaiian shirt this summer, I don't know what will! 

You can find our collection here: https://www.arkidvintage.com/collections/vintage-summer-camp-shirts

We hope you've enjoyed some of our favourite picks and hope you recognise them as well!

Thanks so much for reading and have a great summer!