Aloha Shirts

[Sprocket]

I collect aloha shirts.  I love vintage rayons and cottons the most.  I've have 68 so far.  I'm fortunate that I'm able to wear them to work too.  I began collecting them about 7 years ago and soon discovered one in a thrift store...from that point on, thrifting for shirts has been my favorite way to acquire them.

-Will

[Jay2TheRescue]

I collect aloha shirts.  I love vintage rayons and cottons the most.  I've have 68 so far.  I'm fortunate that I'm able to wear them to work too.  I began collecting them about 7 years ago and soon discovered one in a thrift store...from that point on, thrifting for shirts has been my favorite way to acquire them.

-Will

I have a couple of vintage Hawaiian shirts.  They're cool.  My favorite is one I have from the 50's.  I won't even wash it.  I only dry clean it because I am trying to make it last as long as possible.

-Jay

[ChrisMiss]

Tropical shirts are the greatest.  I've been looking for those for my hubby too.  He really loves the silk shirts that I've found for him.  I haven't run across any vintage ones yet, though I probably couldn't tell if it was vintage if I saw one.

It's funny how tropical shirts are very popular in some places and in others I never find any.  When we were in Tucson there was a large amount of tropical shirts at the thrift stores.  Unfortunately, none were in the right size for hubby.  But the prints were really great, I was oohing and aahing and then groaning when I found the size wasn't right.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Well, Chris, you could always sew a couple into cool pillows, to go with your nifty beach theme caravan!

[ChrisMiss]

LOL, that's true I could do that.  I'm so weird though.  I wouldn't feel right buying it to reuse unless it had a hole or something like that.  If it's unwearable then I'd feel it was okay to recycle it.  If it's still wearable but the wrong size I would just bypass the great print leaving it for someone else to enjoy. 

Wouldn't a quilt made from these tropical pints look great, especially silk.  Throw in a some squares of velvet and wow that would be some quilt. 

[Sprocket]

Very crafty ideas!  I had a bright orange print cotton aloha shirt once that was a little snug...I made a laptop sleeve out of it.  Most of my shirts aren't vintage...like Jay, the few really old ones I have I never wash so I rarely wear them.  They look great hanging in the closet though =)

[Jay2TheRescue]

Very crafty ideas!  I had a bright orange print cotton aloha shirt once that was a little snug...I made a laptop sleeve out of it.  Most of my shirts aren't vintage...like Jay, the few really old ones I have I never wash so I rarely wear them.  They look great hanging in the closet though =)

If it wasn't for the fact that I am a drycleaner by day I wouldn't dryclean as much as I do (although I own a discount drycleaners, makes it more affordable for everyone else.)I wear my vintage shirts on a regular basis, but I make sure they are drycleaned afterwards. 

-Jay

[Sprocket]

Very crafty ideas!  I had a bright orange print cotton aloha shirt once that was a little snug...I made a laptop sleeve out of it.  Most of my shirts aren't vintage...like Jay, the few really old ones I have I never wash so I rarely wear them.  They look great hanging in the closet though =)

If it wasn't for the fact that I am a drycleaner by day I wouldn't dryclean as much as I do (although I own a discount drycleaners, makes it more affordable for everyone else.)I wear my vintage shirts on a regular basis, but I make sure they are drycleaned afterwards. 

-Jay

That's awesome...I need to get my 1954 shirt dry cleaned.  I take mine in after I've worn them a couple of times.  I wear my newer, cheaper ones every day though.  I love the colors and it really breaks up the 'oatmealization' of my co-workers attire.

[ChrisMiss]

How do you know a vintage shirt from a more recent one?  I can safely assume anything saying Made In China is a more recent one.  Do you go by manufacturing label, country made in, what?

Thanks

[Sprocket]

How do you know a vintage shirt from a more recent one?  I can safely assume anything saying Made In China is a more recent one.  Do you go by manufacturing label, country made in, what?

Thanks

I always go by the design and the fabric.  Rayon shirts tend to be the most prized.  Labels are good clue.  Manufactuers like Liberty House, Artvogue and Waikiki Sports are good too.  There are several websites and books about aloha shirts too.  Happy hunting.  I love my vintage ones, but I especially enjoy wearing my regular ones each day as well.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

The quilt idea would be fantastic. I don't think I've ever seen anyone try it. I agree, I'd only want to reuse one that's got some structural issues, as fabric. No sense ruining a shirt someone can actually use. But the idea is really fun.

[ChrisMiss]

Well I hit four of the many thrift stores here in Las Vegas today.  I scored 2 shirts for hubby.  One was from Hawaii, the Pineapple Juice Brand.  I found on line that Pineapple Juice brand, created in 1985 specializes in reproduction of vintage Hawaiian aloha shirts that are MADE IN HAWAII using 100% rayon fabric. The reproductions represent Hawaii's golden years, 1940S-1950S.  The fabric is so very aloha!  When I can I'll modify this posting and add a picture of the fabric.  Oh yeah, I paid $4.98 for the shirt.

The other shirt I got has a Club Room by Charter Club label.  It's made in China but I loved the design on the fabric.  It's 62% silk too.  I paid $4.00 for it at halfprice.

I did see plenty of wonderful shirts but of course most were the wrong size or they wanted too much for them.  I felt like Goldilocks, this ones too small, this ones too big, aah this ones just right. 

I'll keep my eyes open for those manufacturers and also do some research on line on aloha shirts.  It sounds like a fun collection to have.

I'm surprised that you have so many.  I wouldn't think there would be that many in North Carolina. 

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Chris, I can't wait to see a pic of that fab shirt!  My husband loves those shirts, too. We find modern-day repros in stores for 50-60 bucks a pop, then wait to snag them in thrifts for 2-5 bucks.  Understand about the size stuff, too, as it seems that most of them are never his size But when we do find one--how sweet it is!

Will, how vintage are you talkin'?  From the 50s?  Those would be a killer find at a thrift nowadays, yes?

[Sprocket]

Awesome finds!  I have a handful of Pineapple Connection brand shirts that sound similar to what you have.  Repro prints on Rayon...they're yummy in the summer!  Nice and cool.  My oldest is a 1954 Rayon long sleeve 'Christmas' Aloha.  It rocks! 

-Will

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Ya know, Chris, do you have any area in the caravan-- walls, ceiling-- where you could display one or two Aloha shirts with particularly good prints?

When I get a chance, I definitely want to go through your online travels site-- it's such a great idea, I'm glad you did it.