Things You'll Need:
Wear the Hawaiian shirt casually - untucked and hanging loosely.
Keep accessories to a minimum. Leave your cummerbunds, suspenders, belts and bow ties as far away as possible from the shirt, preferably in their respective drawers.
Try not to mix patterns with a Hawaiian shirt. Prints of surf scenes, flowers, and tropical fish rarely go with paisley, tweed or plaid.
Wear a Hawaiian shirt with plain, unassuming pants, such as khakis. This will provide a neutral background for the craziness that is the Hawaiian shirt.
Tan, if possible. Tropical prints look best on a body that's been to the tropics. If you are quite pale, avoid hues that emphasize your pallor.
Avoid wearing a Hawaiian shirt around those who are easily startled or prone to motion sickness.
Wear your shirt with confidence. Let people know you're wearing a Hawaiian shirt and that you're 100 percent proud of it.
Straw hats go nicely with Hawaiian shirts, as do Bermuda shorts and sandy beaches.
Hawaiian shirts are a great way to be on vacation. Also widely known as aloha shirts, perhaps as a reference to the most popular Hawaiian word, Hawaiian shirts make informality an artform, and as a general rule, flaunt bold and bright patters all over,with short sleeves, and a collar and chest pocket that comes in the same pattern as the rest of the shirt.
You might worry about how to pull off such a bold and joyous piece of clothing; but when styled right, Hawaiian shirts can make you the highlight of your holiday. And here’s how you can go about styling it right.
Get your fit right
Your best bet is to get yourself a Hawaiian shirt that fits snugly. This way, you can show off those toned muscles that you’ve been getting ready especially for the vacation. Even if the gym didn’t make it on your holiday to-do list, there’s a world of difference between a baggy shirt and a shirt that’s correctly fitted to give you the space you need: just wearing a shirt that is a size or two too large can make you look and feel too baggy, and that’s one of the reasons that these shirts end up on the fashion faux pas list. Look around to find a big shirt with the right fit.
Pair it with the right shorts
Since we’re talking beach-time, let’s assume that you’ll want to pair your Hawaiian shirt with some beach shorts. The most basic rule that you need to keep in mind is that you’re going to needs shorts in a solid color, because your Hawaiian shirt has enough patterns for both of them, and you’ll want to pick a color that’s in the background of the shirt. For example, if your shirt has red and brown autumn leaves set against a beige backdrop, you may want to go in for a pair of beige shorts. Another trick you could use is to pick a color that is used as accent in your shirt and get your pants in that shade. For instance, if you have a shirt with orange flowers and golden highlights against a black background, you can pull off a pair of khaki shorts.
Bring in an undershirt or t-shirt
If the idea of wearing a Hawaiian shirt still seems a bit intimidating to you, you can take the safer route and pair it with an undershirt. This works pretty much like how other t-shirt pairings play out – you wear a solid colored shirt inside, (preferably white or black, because those colors go with all other colors and every pattern there is), then pull a Hawaiian shirt over it. Wear the shirt open and finish the look off with some solid shorts or pants.
And if you’re a risk-taker who wants to pair a Hawaiian shirt with patterned shorts, remember the first rule of pattern-on-pattern wear – the two patterns need to be of different sizes. So, large patterns on the shirt means small ones on the pants. Aloha!