Though Magnum P.I. may have popularized the strategically-unbuttoned, super-relaxed look with his floral-patterned shirts, he's not the only man who threw caution to the wind and decided to cover his top half with bold and bright petals while emanating a certain masculine edge.
Though George Clooney's cuckolded dad in the Oscar-nominated The Descendants can't boast the same levels of rampant testosterone as '80s-era Tom Selleck, he joins the great tradition of dudes donning a very specific article of clothing, made all the more appropriate because his character lives in Hawaii.
With the recent Oscar nomination for his strong performance as an absentee father, where he offers not one studly bon mot and plays against his dashing silver fox persona, it got us thinking about some of the most memorable big-screen instances of the Hawaiian shirt. And thus, a Top 5 list was formed.
Dig in below.
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#5 CHUNK (The Goonies)
This tubby little dreamer was the rag-tag group's teller of tall tales, and the one called upon to execute the Truffle Shuffle when a good laugh was needed but no one should laugh at his choice of shirt, a loud floral that complimented his chatterbox nature. Goonies never say die! |
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#4 TOM CRUISE (Cocktail)
As the naive bartender who learns how to shake and shimmy while tossing mixed drinks, Cruise was undeniably '80s cool -why else would Elisabeth Shue hop into bed with him? When his character Brian movies to Jamaica, out come the tropical shirts, and we have to say, he's making it work. |
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#3 NICOLAS CAGE (Raising Arizona)
As a vocal fan of the unhinged actor, it's no surprise he'd end up on a list for the manner in which he pulled off playing Herbert I. "Hi" McDunnough, all wild hair, overgrown moustache and flamboyant Hawaiian shirt, lazily draped over a tank with a massive amount of chest rug showing. It's equal parts icky, sweet and youthfully careless, which perfectly captures his ex-con with a heart of gold. |
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#2 TONY MONTANA (Scarface)
He may be a drug-addled kingpin of a large mob empire, but Tony (Al Pacino) in that iconic Hawaiian shirt shows a side of him that just wants to have fun. Just kidding. But you can't really leave out the Cuban gun-toting madman when you're making a list like this, now can you? |
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#1 RAOUL DUKE (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)
Maybe because he was spending time in the desert and Hawaiian shirts offer practical breathability or maybe because the effects of mescaline are such that clothing choices become decidedly irrelevant, who can say. But Raoul Duke's (Johnny Depp) unforgettable combo, that included tinted, oversized glasses, omnipresent cigarette plus holder and a fisherman's hat, was certainly made all the better with the addition of a brightly-patterned shirt, modelled after Hunter S.' own penchant for the flowery garb. |
What memorable Hawaiian-shirt wearing character deserves to be on the list? Share below.
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