# When are Hawaiian Shirts appropriate? (Other than Hawaii) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741 "2010-08-28T00:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/1 "2010-08-28T00:30:46Z")
I saw a man wear an Hawaiian shirt to work at an office environment on casual friday. This ain’t Hawaii. Question: Where and when are Hawaiian shirts appropriate? Besides Hawaii, and the beach in general. Are they “GAY” if not worn at a party or at the beach? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/2 "2010-08-28T00:39:33Z")
They are appropriate at all Jimmy Buffet concerts. I wouldn’t find them inappropriate at work on a casual Friday, but then, I’m the kind of guy who wears my Hawaiin shirts with the tails tucked in. ---
**Author:** ![poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poker_in_the_rear)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/3 "2010-08-28T00:40:34Z")
I am neither “GAY” nor Hawaiian and I wear mine all the time. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/4 "2010-08-28T00:49:07Z")
I wear them almost every day in the summer. I’m in software, so every day is “casual Friday” here, plus we’re near the beach. For me it would be easier to pin down when they’re not appropriate - funeral, job interview, meeting a head of state. (yes, i have worn a Hawaiian shirt to a wedding, but it was in Hawaii) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/5 "2010-08-28T00:49:48Z")
If it’s casual Friday, then it’s appropriate there. It’s not called “Casual Friday but no Hawaiian shirts because this is not Hawaii and no Afghans because this is not Afghanistan.” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/6 "2010-08-28T00:59:24Z")
My husband wore a Hawaiian shirt on an airplane to Atlanta this evening. What is it about them that you think might be inappropriate? This seems like a really odd question. I mean certainly they’re not appropriate attire for a formal occasion, but other than that, why wouldn’t they be any different from any other type of button-down shirt? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/7 "2010-08-28T00:59:44Z")
Always. They are never inappropriate. I haven’t worn anything but in…10 years? I can go an entire semester without repeating a shirt. Not GAY, but if Alton Brown ever asks… eta: A correction. I wore a plain shirt at my uncle’s funeral in deference to my aunt. But I got married in a Hawaiian shirt. I hosted my father’s memorial service in a Hawaiian shirt. My wife has already said she is going to stash my urn on the mantle, decked in a Hawaiian shirt. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/8 "2010-08-28T01:02:53Z")
Depends. Floral or bathing beauties? Are there volcanoes invlolved in the pattern? An aloha shirt is my standard casual summer wear. (I wear polo shirts to the office in summer.) ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/9 "2010-08-28T01:06:16Z")
There does seem to be a stigma against Hawaiian shirts, I don’t really understand it. I find the people who mock me/others most for wearing a (colourful) Hawaiian shirt are people who tend to dress like Communists. C’est la vie. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/10 "2010-08-28T01:18:01Z")
Not only acceptable but required if cosplaying Hoban Washburne or Wembley Fraggle. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/11 "2010-08-28T01:20:03Z")
I have a whole closetful of them from when we lived in Hawaii. Many of the designs are rather close to the batik of southern Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/12 "2010-08-28T01:21:21Z")
It helps if you’re a big fat party animal. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/13 "2010-08-28T01:22:07Z")
Always are appropriate. I need to get some more, most of mine are falling apart. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/14 "2010-08-28T01:22:57Z")
4 years ago I worked at a place and we started Hawaiian Shirt Friday. It wasn’t a huge hit, but it was catching on. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/15 "2010-08-28T01:23:09Z")
> [@poker\_in\_the\_rear](#): > > I am neither “GAY” nor Hawaiian and I wear mine all the time. Worst User Name / Post combination evar. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/16 "2010-08-28T01:27:41Z")
At a ‘loudest shirt’ party. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/17 "2010-08-28T01:32:29Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > At a ‘loudest shirt’ party. The stereotype is that all Hawaiian shirts are loud, but that’s actually not true. There are some really very low-key designs out there. For example, check out some of the designs at [Reyn’s](http://www.reyns.com/), one of my favorite Hawaiian-shirt shops in Honolulu. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/18 "2010-08-28T01:35:08Z")
> [@sassyfras](#): > > Are they “GAY” if not worn at a party or at the beach? I’m gay, but not Hawaiian. The shirts I have were hand-made in Hawaii, not the usual crap that’s sold off-the-rack. I wear them wherever I feel like wearing them. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/19 "2010-08-28T01:35:19Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@Cunctator](#): > > > > At a ‘loudest shirt’ party. > > For example, check out some of the designs at [Reyn’s](http://www.reyns.com/), one of my favorite Hawaiian-shirt shops in Honolulu. They still look pretty loud to me. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741/20 "2010-08-28T01:35:23Z")
…they’re certainly a better choice than a wife-beater. I had a special one I wore to celebrate the beginning of summer. It was mostly red and the rest was comprised of completely hideous clashing colors and weird shapes; I loved it, very summery. It was pretty accident prone tho, the GF managed to drop it in the trash accidentally… 4 times in a row on 4 consecutive days… and then it got torn while in the closet, so it’s gone now. Summers haven’t felt the same since. I really should get a new one for next summer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-are-hawaiian-shirts-appropriate-other-than-hawaii/551741.md?page=2)