Info and age of this black and white dress from Honolulu Hawaii

hello, Ineke ~ yes, Malia HAS been around since the 60s, and this dress certainly has some 60s elements, however, that care label is much more recent.

your dress is adorable, i love the print and the colorway, however, in the 90s there was a huge resurgence of retro styling in the Hawaiian apparel industry; i would date this dress to that time period, the 90s at the very oldest, and it could very well be newer than that.

 

that is NOT a 70s dress. a 70s Malia dress would either be a maxi, or a mini, not street length. That care label is NOT a 1970s care label.

 

This is a difficult one to id as I have seen similar labels dating it to the 70s but not with the sizing indicated in this fashion.

I wonder if you tried to contact the actual company which still exists but only makes uniforms now, if they may have info about exactly when the
dress production ended. I know I have seen that sort of ribbed cotton used in the 70s but they may have continued to use it a later time as well.

I could not easily locate a website url link to them.

Uniforms By Malia Inc

98-019 Kamehameha Highway # 2
Aiea, HI 96701
Phone: (808) 487-5399

Also meant to ask, do you think there is any chance that it was shortened?

 

Bonnie's shows that cardboard sizing label...thanks for posting your dress & label.

 

Regarding the length, perhaps it used to be a maxi and was shortened.

 

Even though the label is the same, it's the red lettering on the OP's tag that is giving me a later date than 70s for her dress, it is completely different from tags in 60s-70s dresses.

 

I did actually find a little more info on the company through the Better Business Bureau site.

the company started in 1959 - and a file was opened up with the BBB in 1989, this info found is using the Uniforms by Malia, Inc. name.

another site states the uniform company has been in business for 19 years

 

I found that the name Uniforms by Malia, Inc was incorporated in Hawaii in 1992 which would be 21 years. However, according to several articles that I have read about the company, Malia of Hawaii or later Malia, Inc. started in 1961. I also read that by the mid to late 1980's Malia had begun making "identity wear" in response to the market and it's not clear if they made women's fashion items in the late 1980's or early 1990's. I have the impression they did not.

I have the same question as Brenda about the size 14 sizing. My "gut" feeling on this dress is that it is older rather than newer - probably 1970's. It may have been shortened from a midi or maxi dress - or what Malia called "patio" dresses. How long is it?

Malia did branch out and make one line of Mu'u mu'u's but primarily they made sportswear, patio dresses and street wear. Most of their sales were outside of Hawaii.

Aloha,

Linn

 

That will be an American size 14 right?