Not all Hawaiian Shirts are Created Equal

Normally we just do our own thing, which is making Hawaiian shirts, but having received so much feedback about the "other shirts" from our customers we decided we would write about some of the differences in Hawaiian shirt patterns and construction.

Now it’s not our place to police the Hawaiian shirt industry, but consumers really do need to know that Hawaiian shirts are not created equal. Lets use some feedback from a first time customer as a talking point.

"Hi. I received the shirts last night. They washed up great, and the
fabric is fabulous. Thanks a lot!!

(P.S. these are a million times better -- fabric, cut AND sizing) than
the ones I recently ordered from Honolulu which look like "old lady"
shirts.

Thanks again!!"

An authentic Hawaiian shirt will have a printed or woven Hawaiian design with a button up or loop collar, and short sleeves. Ones Hawaiian shirt should also fit very loosely, its all about comfort. If the Hawaiian shirt doesn’t have a button up collar or a loop collar the garment really needs to be classified as a tropical shirt or resort apparel, such as the shirts offered by Tommy Bahama (don't get up in arms, we really like Tommy Bahama shirts).

Loop collar's with button closures were most popular in the 1940's & 50's. Famous labels from that era are Duke Kahanamoku; Kahala; Kihi Kihi; Surf N Sand and so on. The Hawaiian shirt patterns utilized in the manufacture of Wave Shoppe Hawaiian shirts follow in the same footsteps of what we consider to be some of the greatest great Hawaiian shirt companies ever.

Tropical shirts and Hawaiian shirts (Aloha shirts Hawai'i) are not the same as palaka shirts. The palaka apparel was primarily made from a woven, heavy-duty cotton twill fabric referred to as tapa cloth, not Rayon, as used in the production of today's tropical shirts.

Palaka shirts (shown on the left) were worn by Japanese migrant field workers in Hawaii had little more than a simple checkerboard design. It is not a print, but is a plaid with a particular texture. The palaka was originally a jacket and somewhere in the 30s it became a shirt --the palaka shirt was in steady production by Arakawa's until about 10 years ago.

Currently we do not cut or sew palaka style shirts, but one day we may do so. Wave Shoppe brand womens Hawaiian shirts are constructed of 9 pieces and our mens Hawaiian shirts are constructed of 11 pieces (12 pieces if you count the shirt pocket). Compared to a tropical shirt that has 7 pieces in its makeup (8 if it has a pocket). Obviously with less components its much cheaper to produce a tropical shirt vs. a true Hawaiian shirt (Aloha shirt).

While a tropical shirt may have some practical application, its not a style that we would recommend for wearing in a casual office, especially if you have a hairy chest. Not to mention that your shirt will look like everyone else's. There are just a few actual tropical shirt manufactures, in fact most of the Hawaiian shirt stores online re-sell the exact same tropical shirts that their competitors do. We wont even comment on the flood of cheaply made tropical shirts from China, Taiwan, and of course Vietnam.

We want our customers Hawaiian shirt to look good for years to come. we manufacture in the USA and we even take construction one step further by adding interfacing to all of our shirts. Interfacing is a fabric that has heat activated glue on one side that is applied to the collar, the under collar, and shirt openings with a heat press. This process guarantees that the key components of the shirt will retain their original look and feel even after 100s of laundry cycles.

So the next time you are shopping for a Hawaiian shirt, stop and think for a moment, do you really want to sacrifice individualism and quality just to save a couple of dollars?

[ Hawaiian Shirts ]

This site was last updated 11/11/08

Hawaiian Shirt Construction