1970's Hilo Hattie Goodness!!

OneSpanishFly

Registered Guest
I love me some classic Hawaiian shirts. I was thrilled to find this extraordinarily vibrant Hilo Hattie gem in near mint condition. Who else loves these classic Hawaiian patterns?
 

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Welcome OneSpanishFly! that is a great shirt!

hmmmm...i don't want to burst any bubbles for you, but Hilo Hatties is known for producing shirts with vintage prints ( being produced today). It looks like your shirt has plastic buttons on it, indicating newer rather than older manufacture, as well, although i could be wrong...i'm getting a more recent vibe than 70s on this shirt, though.

do you have a close up of your label?
 
No bubbles to be burst, I'd definitely like to know the true age. Now that you mention it, I have not seen this label on the site. Is it new?! Is it Fake?? Have I been tricked :duh2: Thanks for your help btw :)

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you're very welcome, OSF, thanks for coming to the VFG to check it out. :)

you are correct, your label is not in our Label Resource (yet). I would say that it does look (much) more modern than 70s, with the double hibiscus embroidery...that looks very late 90s at it's earliest... to possibly yesterday, to me. ( I used to work for a small manufacturer in Hawaii in the mid to late 90s).

it's hard to tell from a photo, but that looks like a nice, smooth polished cotton, or maybe a rayon; i imagine it's pretty soft to the touch?

I'm sure your HH shirt is indeed, a Hilo Hattie, not to worry about it's authenticity, as it is is a well respected company with quality apparel for the tourist trade market, although not one that anyone would copy, per se, so you're good with that. :)

as far as determining the age of it, I'd have to say it may be quite recent if not brand-spanking-new. These are difficult to date, especially with the success of the aloha-shirt wearing Hawkeye and Trapper on Mash, (which ran from 72 to 83), overlapped and followed by the wildly popular Magnum PI with Tom Selleck, in which he always wore aloha shirts, as well (from 1980 to 88), both of which helped to spark an enormous renaissance of vintage inspired print shirts being manufactured, both in the US, as well as in Korea and Japan.

keep in mind, too, that when it comes to the condition of aloha shirts, that they are usually one or the other of extremes: it was loved and worn a lot (often with collar and shoulder and armseye wear showing the most) or, it may have been a gift to a mainlander, and ended up never being worn at all. (that's a very good thing).

that is one bright shirt...we'd call that electric blue, which is another reason it seems like a more modern shirt. :) I'm sure you'll have a blast wearing it, it's perfect to wear to VLV in April!
 
Mary you are simply amazing. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your thorough analysis. And your keen eyes are quite right, I'd say it is somewhere between a rayon and polyester blend. Quite soft, with the nicest slight sheen to it. Indeed a quality made shirt, whenever that may have been. :) So being the total noob that I am, I am clueless to this VLV, where can I find more info? Thanks again. And Melanie, the glasses were an absolute necessity haha! :cool:
 
omgosh!! VLV, Viva Las Vegas!! it's an annual event held in LV every April...it is a vintage haven with rockabilly/psychobilly music/cars/clothing....hang on....check out their website:

Viva Las Vegas
 
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