Hawaiian Shirts Aren't Just For Your Grandfather Anymore

The latest data from TickerTags indicates that the Hawaiian shirt may truly be making a comeback this year among people not yet eligible for Social Security benefits.

TickerTags monitors social media sites to identify trends by searching for words or phrases that appear together in social media content, such as tweets.

The trend appears to have gone beyond the recently-spotted anecdotal evidence of Hawaiian-shirt-clad celebrities like One Direction’s Harry Styles, Justin Bieber and Adam Levine.

There have been several major fashion articles in recent weeks discussing a potential comeback of the Hawaiian shirt this summer, and social media buzz seems to confirm the trend.

Related Link: Kate Spade's Surprise Sale Certainly Got Social Media's Attention

If the Hawaiian shirt trend has legs, it could mean a big summer for Oxford Industries Inc OXM, owner of Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer. Last year, Tommy Bahama made up 68 percent of Oxford’s total sales.

Blog mentions of “Hawaiian shirt,” “Aloha shirt” and “Tommy Bahama” were up 117 percent, 188 percent and 106 percent, respectively, in the month of May compared to a year ago.

In addition, Twitter mentions of “Tommy Bahama” were also up 14 percent year-over-year.

Oxford shares are down 3.3 percent so far in 2016 but are up 1.2 percent in the last month.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.