Hawaiian Shirts - Aloha Shirts

[Lone_Ranger]

Speaking about, looking like a tourist. I remember reading an account, of a group of Navy SEALs, in Central America, in the 1980's. They met with the local CIA officer, who gave them Hawaiian shirts, with some "Q" like modifications.

The shirts were tailored to hide a shoulder holster, and the buttons were sewn on with a snap, or Velcro backing, so that they would look buttoned, but could be ripped open to get to your pistol.

Sounds like a cool idea. Except, in true Lowest Bidder style, the CIA guy produced a shirt for each of the SEALs, all with the same identical print. Bravo! :eusa_clap

Nothing blends in like three Gringos wearing identical Hawaiian shirts.

 

[dr greg]

oxford tuck

Well, as a serious collector of aloha shirts I'm firmly in the camp of NEVER tuck them in, but look what I found, a classic era shirt that not only is meant to be tucked in, but has a button down collar.....

 

[Hugh Beaumont]

I must amend my above comments.

There are TWO styles of Aloha shirts in Hawaii.

One is for tourist and what the world considers the Hawaiian Shirt, and subject of this thread.

The other is the Aloha shirt worn by most business men in Hawaii and tucked in to your slacks.

The designs are different, usually muted colors with very generic floral or tapa patterns and regular collars. The main difference is these are made using the backside of the fabric.

Here is a good site with a large variety of the business Aloha shirt:

http://www.alohashirtsofhawaii.com/lg.htm

 

[Chasseur]

Hugh,

Right on! You said what I what I was trying to say earlier, but you said it much better than I!

 

[thunderw21]

Got this a little too late for summer!

1950s, fabric has a rough texture, feels like acetate. Interesting scene.

 

[Solid Citizen]

Sun Surf PRICES

Since there are SO FEW outlets in the USA to acquire Sun Surf shirts hence the $130.00+ price per shirt. I've been told since they produce minimal runs of all their shirt designs they want to keep the prices UP! Solid Citizen

PS IF you order a Sun Surf or other high end Hula shirt have the dealer give you tape measurements of the actual shirt your buying BEFORE your order is final

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Hawaiian shirt reference book

Can someone point me to the best Hawaiian shirt reference book? I'd prefer one with lots of images of the very old patterns. I really am clueless about the history of these shirts and how to date them, except for having an "eye" for finding vintage. They're the kind of thing i really like, and pick up when i find an old one ('50s or earlier), but haven't really put the effort in yet to finding out about them.

Bringing out my summer wardrobe has unveiled some real summer treasures.

Anyone heard of "Hollywood Sportswear"? They are the maker of one of my oldest Hawaiian shirts. Island print w/ waterfalls. May wear it today as the weather's looking quite nice. And as a bit of homage to our friendly Icelandic volcano.

bk

 

[dr greg]

tome

This is pretty much the bible, and I have most of the major publications in the field
http://www.lastgasp.com/d/34677/

 

[Miss 1929]

When that book came out, I was working at a fine vintage store called La Rosa. Overnight, we raised our prices to about 4 to 600 a shirt. I thought the boss was crazy, but they sold like hotcakes!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This is pretty much the bible, and I have most of the major publications in the field
http://www.lastgasp.com/d/34677/

Thanks for this. I'll be grabbing a copy ASAP in an attempt to identify some of mine.

bk

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I'm hoping some of you with experience in vintage Hawaiian shirtdome might be able to tell me if I got a vintage Hawaiian shirt here or not. [huh]

Rough texture but very light weight. Is this what they mean by Rayon crepe...?

under collar

 

[Quigley Brown]

I'm hoping some of you with experience in vintage Hawaiian shirtdome might be able to tell me if I got a vintage Hawaiian shirt here or not. [huh]

Rough texture but very light weight. Is this what they mean by Rayon crepe...?

under collar

It has all the markings of a vintage shirt. Are the button holes horizontal (not necessarily on all vintage)? Where's the white button located? Cool shirt, though.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

It has all the markings of a vintage shirt. Are the button holes horizontal (not necessarily on all vintage)? Where's the white button located? Cool shirt, though.

Thanks, Quigley! The button holes on this one are vertical (but I got two other aloha shirts that day which have the horizontal style - pics to follow). The little white button is under the right collar flap; the loop attaches to it.

I've got a bunch of contemporary 'flowery' shirts, but this one has a very different vibe about it.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The label design and attachment looks good for late 50s/early 60s.

bk

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Here's the second of three shirts I got at Goodwill the other day. I check frequently and these went out together and are all size Medium. Leads me to believe they came from the same donor. Kinda' tells a story; as if the Paradise shirt above was the '50s/'60s honeymoon, the Myrna shirt below was the '60's/'70s anniversary trip, and the third one I'll post was a revisit in the '80s/'90s.

This one is heavier crepe style fabric. It has horizontal button holes, a pouch pocket and wide collars.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Here's the third one. Hard to photograph. The color is like the close-up of the button and the feathers are black with gold accents around them.

Horizontal button holes, more of a cotton feeling fabric but it sure takes on a sheen when I attempt photos. [huh]

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I also noticed that the Paradise and the Holo Holo only have four front buttons. The Myrna has five. All my modern 'flowery' shirts have five, six or sometimes seven (!) front buttons.

This is interesting stuff. Thanks, Baron, for weighing in!

 

[avedwards]

My father was given this shirt by Tanzanian locals whom he helped as a volunteer. He found it too flashy and was going to sell it on a car boot sale until I quickly decided to keep it.

As it's hand made there are no labels of any kind on it. It's made of some sort of rough (but very comfortable) cotton and hand dyed (as I find out when one of my white shirts ended up with purple marks on it ).

It's far too big on me sadly, but is it possible to have shirts sized down by a tailor?

By the way, sorry if this is fftopic: as it's technically not a proper Hawaiian shirt. The vibrant design made me think it still belonged into this thread.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I dunno' avedwards; that might just be best kept as a family memento or sold/passed along to someone who can fill it out. Not me, though - I'm built about the same as you.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

OK, those in the know, whaddya' make of this one?