help with vintage hawaiian shirt

M

monstertown

Registered Guest
Hello everyone!
I don't know a thing about Hawaiian shirts, except that collectors love early rayon ones. But I found this very unique shirt and I wonder if anyone has ever seen one like this before, or would have any advice as to the value and pricing of it.

It is cotton canvas with an all over psychedelic screen print of naked women and flowers and mushrooms. The maker is Tahiti Exports. The label also says "Kauai-Oahu-Maui-Hawaii".

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/monstertown/124387754/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/44/124387754_e4c4777a8f.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="crazy vintage hawaiian shirt" /></a>

here's a detail (warning---has naked ladies on it!)

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/monstertown/124387797/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/46/124387797_0ecdf2aaf7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="close up of hawaiian shirt" /></a>

What do you think?

thanks,
meredith
 
I would say 70s.
Brings to mind the dress Lin had/has that looked like a cross between Gustav Klimt and the Breck girl. Also reminds me of those black felt posters that come with the magic markers that kids color in.
I would definitely put pinup and risque in there somewhere. The gals about the right hand facing pocket look like they are supposed to be Hawaiian princesses or something or other.

I see a lot of potential green with this one if the right folks see it.
 
This is dynamite! I agaree with 70s, too, and also see the $$$ here! I did pretty well with a batch of 60s & 70s Hawaiian shirts this week, and none were anywhere near as interesting as this! I'd make sure to put 70's in the title. This is worth the subtitle package, too; with "psychedelic" in there! At the risk of being sexist & crass, if it were mine, I might use the term "girlie" too. Vintage 70's Men's Hawaiian Girlie Pin-up Print Shirt.... Or, as it is very artsy, "artistic" or "stylized" could go in there. This should appeal to a wide range of customers & their interests!
 
Thanks you guys! I suspected that I had found something good. Subtitle is a good idea too, because it's both psychedelic and a girlie pin up kind of thing.

It makes me wonder about the guy who brought this home from Hawaii.
 
I had posted about this shirt on the ebay forums too, and I got some useful information this morning from an ebay member, and thought I'd share, the company that made this , Tahiti Imports, is still in business today, and they were widely known for their "far out" prints in the 60's and 70's. They have a website too !

I'll let you know when I list this item on ebay, and how it does.
 
I would change the gallery photo to be a closeup of one of the girls. Even if you are not comfortable showing a nude in a gallery, even a close up of the head and long wavy hair of one.

The gallery photo as it is now doesn't really command as much attention.

It is also a smaller size, so there will be fewer guys able to wear it. It would probably best fit a guy who takes a size 38 jacket. But it is not impossible that this could still go high if you have patience and change the gallery photo.

If it doesn't sell this time out, i would be tempted to feature it next time and list a lot of other items at the same time as it IS unique.

Still..with 4 days to go that is a LONG time as far as ebay goes and a LOT could happens between now and then and in the final hours of the auction
 
hmmm....I was thinking the same thing about the gallery photo. Do you think that I should cancel the listing and try again next week when I have more auctions up? I would love to see this shirt go for lots of money because I just love it and wouldn't really want to let it go for that much.


Thank you so much for helping me out on this!

Meredith
 
I really love this shirt, and I agree to change the gallery photo! I'd use the one you have as second in your listing--the close up of the gal with her arms over her head! I would use more words descriptive of the print in your title and add a subtitle with the mfgr name in it. Well worth the extra 50 cents to be able to more definitively describe this, I think. Also, you may want to take the package with the listing designer as it's cheaper than just gallery & subtitle alone!

I think if you get enough folks looking at this, it will skyrocket! I might use the term "pinup-girl print" instead of just "pinup" as it gives more of a hint as to what the print actually is. Or something like "Vintage Psychedelic Artistic Nudes Hawaiian Shirt" with a subtitle like "60s/70s Pinup-Girl Print by Tahiti Imports."

I think your buyer of this shirt will probably want it more for the print than for the mfgr.
 
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