Hawaiian shirts under the spotlight of rubbish theory
Martin Gardiner in Improbable
Research
Question: Are Hawaiian shirts ‘rubbish’? For answers, see: ‘From Kitsch to Chic: The Transformation of Hawaiian Shirt
Aesthetics’ Clothing
and Textiles Research Journal, 2003 21: 75. In which professor Marcia A. Morgado (Apparel Product Design &
Merchandising, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of
Hawai‘i) explains :
“An analysis of the transformation
of the shirt – from tourist kitsch to highly valued collectible, and from
collectible to global fashion – is framed on rubbish theory.
The transformation is
traced to an assortment of myths that reconstitute the souvenir commodity as an
indigenous ethnic art form and a scarce relic of Hawai‘i’s romanticized past
and to a surfeit of publications that position the shirt as a collector’s item.
The merits of rubbish
theory as a framework for the analysis are assessed, and apparel scholars are
asked to consider the influence of myth and scholarship on changes in the
aesthetic codes of other fashion and appearance-related commodities.”
“In the land of aloha,
funny kine clothes is a pidgin expression that refers to a peculiar form of
dress. The Hawaiian shirt is funny kine clothes.“
Note: the scholarly journal Paideusis (Saint Mary’s University, Canada)
should not be confused with the scholarly journal Paideusis (Simon Fraser University,
Canada)
Further reading: Michael Thompson’s original groundwork on Rubbish Theory
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