Early last year when I started working on the spring 2012 Hamilton 1883 shirts, I was looking for some inspiration that would reflect a positive upbeat mood that I had in mind for this current collection. I figured that some all-American optimism could be just the thing.

Fantastic Spring Summer 12 Hamilton logo designed by Austin based firm Frank & Victor
Looking back through the history of American design, a specific style of American architecture called ‘Googie‘ caught my eye. This uniquely American atomic age style originated from Southern California and was popular during the late 1940′s through 60′s. This eye catching feel good style, named after a Hollywood coffee shop called ‘Googies’, was a popular architecture style for restaurants, motels, and gas stations. This seemed like just the ticket, so I started looking for examples of googie style located here in Texas to somehow relate it all back to Hamilton. It didn’t take long:

The famous ‘googie’ style roadside sign for the cool Thunderbird Motel located in Marfa, Texas.

Most of the googie patterns that you’ll see used on the Hamilton websites are actually hand screened wallpapers that are available for purchase from a terrific company called Bradbury & Bradbury. Some examples we used here:

Atomic Doodle pattern

Gee Gee Pattern
Continuing with this idealized image of 1950′s Marfa, the collection came together to reflect this vibe along with found vintage postcards of the West Texas landscape that provided our inspiration for our fabrics colors and patterns. Even the names of the shirts this season are derived from the names of towns located across West Texas.
I think the best examples of this idea is the 1883 Presidio Plaid – which also happens to be my favorite shirt of the season. This subtle plaid in either blue with white or wheat with white reminds me of a 1950′s formica counter top pattern. The deceptively simple looking plaid has a very vintage feel, but actually comes across as very modern when made up into a shirt. We show it here worn with jeans, but it looks equally great for a day at work or a night out dressed up with a jacket. The super soft and lightweight Italian cotton is also perfect for the warm late spring/summer days ahead of us. See the 1883 Presidio plaids here:

The Presidio Plaid in blue.

The Presidio Plaid in wheat.
Filed under: Hamilton Shirts, Houston, Style, Texas by Stephen : No Comments »