CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ATOMIC PRINT IS AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SHIRT? I HAVE THIS HAWAIIAN SHIRT AND NOT SURE IF IT IS ATOMIC OR NOT .
Can you show us a photo of the shirt? I am sure you would get some honest opinions. Atomic is often mis-used as a descriptor and hard to define, but generally "you will know it when you see it" applies.
Not seeing the shirt as a whole, it is a bit difficult to say, but I am not getting atomic from what I can see. But maybe others will see it differently.
I am not getting "atomic" from it either. I think of this type of print as atomic: I think that originally the term referred to prints that reminded people of the atomic blasts - so patterns that radiated but has come to mean mid-century abstract patterns. I did a VERY quick search and "some" but not all of these are what I think of as "atomic." http://www.barkclothhawaii.com/abstracts.html Hope this helps. Linn
I've always thought it referred to atomic diagrams, rather than the atomic bomb and blasts. Therefore inspired by this kind of image:
Ross Sutherland is a good quality Hawaiian shirt maker. Tthose metal buttons (often petrogyph or royal crest motifs) and tapa inspired print indicate 1960s vintage. and i agree, that small star burst effect isn't really enough to qualify as "atomic" imo. cool shirt. Aloha!
... and last one I promise! To me these kind of graphics used for scientific diagrams, that are associated with the 'atomic age' are what are the inspiration behind atomic prints. These are all more modern, but I think the idea is sound. This one apparently is a diagram of "Dilepton production from a nuclear collision"
There was an interesting exhibition a couple of years ago at the Wellcome Collection in London, who specialise in scientific exhibitions, called "FROM ATOMS TO PATTERNS: Crystal structure designs from the 1951 Festival of Britain" The link below has details, and if you click on image galleries, there are lots of good images of both design patterns and the original scientific drawings that inspired them. http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/from-atoms-to-patterns.aspx Ruth
