Exhibit cruises through historic fashions in Hawaii
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In a photograph taken on the SS Lurline in the late 1940s, the woman on the left played cards in a white halter-necked dress with a subtle sweetheart fold-over neckline. The woman on the right modeled a Hawaiian-print dress with a slit neckline and deep cap sleeves, accessorized with matching white cowrie shell choker and bracelet.
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A beachboy, right, at the Royal Hawaiian wove coconut palm fronds into fashionable hats. The beachgoer, left, wore a tapa-print cabana set. The woman wore shorts and a men’s buttoned-up aloha shirt in the late 1940s on Waikiki Beach.
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Matson salesgirls in Honolulu dressed in Hawaiian holoku and muumuu. The holoku is a graceful and regal gown with a long train; the muumuu is shorter and designed for comfort.
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A woman donned a halter-necked striped bathing suit made from light, waterproof Lastex (latex-coated yarn) in Waikiki in 1935. At right, a woman modeled a Joseph Magnin Co. strapless maillot swimsuit on the deck of the Matson Lines cruise ship SS Lurline, en route from San Francisco to Honolulu in late 1940s.
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In Spring 1941, Matson Lines and the Royal Hawaiian hosted a fashion show in Honolulu at Liberty House department store. The program, “Aloha Hawaii, A Fabric Fashion Show,” included 26 fashions. One of the gowns, Dancing at The Royal, left, showcased a sheer bolero with long soft ripples of Celanese rayon for the skirt of the dress.
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