I own several Hawaiian shirts, but none came from Hawaii. I have bought a couple from Target and who knows where they were originally made. My favorite is from St. George. It was a second hand shirt, presumably found along the beach and I think I paid five or so dollars for it. I take it with me every vacation down there. Amy and I were browsing in a department store last week and we looked at a nice selection of Hawaiian shirts, but they were all in the $100 price range – no thanks!

Recently I learned of a shop that sells vintage Hawaiian shirts (in Hawaii of course). It is called “Bailey’s Antiques and Aloha Shirts” and is evidently popular with the rich and famous. Jimmy Buffett, guru of all things laid back, allegedly bought one for $4000! And I thought a hundred bucks was a ridiculous sum. I will stick with the ones washed up on the beach or if I must have a new one Target will be sufficient. 

I like the idea of moving from power suits to swim suits, from starched shirts to Hawaiian shirts. Chilling out, as my teenagers put it, is just a contemporary reordering of the words of the Psalmist: It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. (127:2) Taken to the extreme it is a recipe for laziness, but understood properly God would have us, I believe, chill out more and stress out less. 

How about it? Do you need to trade your tie in for a tie-dyed?

Peace,
Greg