UPDATE (11/18/19): See our blog post about the shirts on Season 2.
We're all familiar with the red Magnum PI shirt worn by Tom Selleck in the original TV show in the 80s. When the new Magnum PI starring Jay Hernandez was announced, we wondered what kind of Hawaiian shirts they would have him wear, if any. We figured they would deliberately avoid the new Magnum from wearing the same shirt from the original series. Instead, the show has given the new Magnum an updated Hawaiian shirt look that is different from the original show, but still tropical and stylish.
Fashion trends today are different than the 1980s. For one thing, most guys don't wear their shirts as unbuttoned as was sometimes that case back then. Also, shorts are not as short or as tight. The new Magnum doesn't wear jeans that are as tight as the original Magnum did. He also wears his Hawaiian shirts untucked whereas the original Magnum almost always had his shirts tucked in. The new Magnum also tends to wear black or dark jeans whereas the original Magnum wore tight blue jeans.
But aside from those differences, the biggest difference we see is that the new Magnum often wears retro Hawaiian shirts with prints inspired by the vintage prints of the 1930s and 1940s. Tom Selleck's shirts were generally contemporary in its day. The shirts that Jay Hernandez wears on the show are based on designs that are 60-80 years old. Almost all of the shirts worn by the new Magnum in Season 1 so far have been Avanti Hawaiian shirts.
So here are the shirts that we carry (or carried) worn by the new Magnum PI and the episodes they appeared in. Please note that some of these shirts are in very limited supply and may permanently sell out prior to or shortly after it airs on TV.
Season 1, Episode 8 (Die He Said) - This awesome Fire Breeze shirt is the first colorful Hawaiian shirt that Jay Hernandez wore in the series reboot. At the end of Episode 7, he received this shirt as a give from Higgins. He went on to wear it in all of Episode 8. The first thing we noticed when we saw this shirt in the show is that it is red. In the original show, Tom Selleck also wore a red Aloha shirt to go with the red Ferrari he drove. So we found it interesting that Jay Hernandez would also sport a bold red Hawaiian shirt to go along with the red Ferrari that he drives in the new show. Perhaps the selection of the new red shirt is a nod of respect to the original show while not stepping on its toes. We may never know for sure, but we really like the new shirt. We're not predicting that it will become anywhere near as iconic as the original Magnum PI shirt. That will never happen. But we do find that the colors of the new shirt make it a little bit easier to wear with different outfits and occasions than the original shirt. Bottom line: we love 'em both!
Season 1, Episode 10 (Bad Day to Be a Hero) - If this shirt looks familiar to you frequent visitors to our website, you might notice that this is the yellow version of the Makai blue shirt that we've carried for a while. This Makai yellow shirt is actually slightly more popular than the blue version, which surprised us a little bit. We usually find that when shirts come in different colors, the colors that do best are the black or blue versions rather than yellow or other colors. Of course, that's not always the case as this shirt proves.
Season 1, Episode 11 (Nowhere to Hide) - In this episode, we see Magnum sporting this 100% cotton Ohia Lehua black Aloha shirt. This shirt is different from the others on this list because it is cotton rather than silk. It also has a sportier "fit" cut which helps it look sleek. Unlike silk shirts that fall and drape gracefully, cotton shirts are not as supple and can appear less flowy than silk. Magnum also wears this black shirt with dark jeans which gives him sort of a stylish ninja black-and-black look. This shirt is also being phased out as Avanti has no fabric left and there are no immediate plans to make more of these shirts. Whatever we have left on our website is all that we will have left.
Season 1, Episode 12 (Winner Takes All) - We used to carry the green version of this shirt which did well during Christmas every year. We didn't find out until after this episode aired that this shirt was in the show. Unfortunately, this Orchid Panel red clay shirt is out of stock and there are no plans for this shirt to be produced in the foreseeable future. That's a bummer because the falling flower panels are a very classic look from the 1930s which we really like.
Season 1, Episode 14 (I, The Deceased) - In this episode, Magnum wore this very retro looking Surfer navy shirt. This shirt has been a very popular seller for us over the years. We think maybe part of it is that the design is a departure from the more common floral or scenic prints as well as the color. We think it's a cool shirt. This shirt is currently sold out and will not be available in the foreseeable future.
Season 1, Episode 16 (Murder is Never Quiet) - In this episode Magnum wore this popular Hula Moon navy shirt through most of the episode. (In our research, we also found that Carl Weathers wore this shirt in an episode of Colony.)
At the end of the episode during the ceremony for the veteran and the new house, Magnum wore a light blue shirt that appears to be the very popular Floral Garden Sky Hawaiian Shirt. Just as Magnum wore this light colored shirt for the new home ceremony, this shirt (and print) is popular with our customers for tropical wedding parties or other Hawaii-themed events. This shirt is a favorite when it comes to happy celebrations and is commonly worn as a matching set.
Season 1, Episode 17 (Black is the Widow) - In this episode Magnum that aired Monday, March 4, 2019, Magnum wore this beige Pineapple Hut shirt. This shirt has sold out and will not be available again in the near future.
So there you have it! Those are the shirts we have from Season 1 of the Magnum PI reboot. If there are any new shirts from future episodes, we will update this post. Season 1 is coming to an end and we don't know what shirts the wardrobe people will choose for Season 2 so we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, enjoy these shirts! Aloha!