Circa Vintage Clothing
Alumni
I received an enquiry from Christy, who has this Hawaiian print playsuit by Kahala - it's made of a printed cotton and has coconut shell rings. Christy's looking for an accurate dating.
She wrote to Kahala and they sent this response:
"Kahala was incorporated in 1936 here in Honolulu and the label’s first use was that year.
The above said, unfortunately our archives are incomplete. We do know the block lettering label seen on this garment was used from 1936 through the 1950s in various forms...Judging from the fabrication and the style we would estimate this to be mid to late 1950s. The cotton jacquard/pique’s were not in use until postwar. Most, if not all, of Kahala’s fabrics came from Japan after the war and Japan did not have jacquard machines until the boom years in their textile industry started in the 1950s.
Hope this helps,
Kahala Sportswear.
We stand corrected. The fabric appears to be a plain weave poplin not a dobbie or jacquard. Could be older, perhaps even prewar...There are little to no records of any Kahala from 1942-47. So this is likely either 1950s or perhaps late 1930s, but we will never know for sure unfortunately."
Now, I would date this as about 1939-1941, but would like second opinions
as well, there's some useful info here that could be added to the Label Resource - I shall post it there, along with a copy of the label once we can agree on a date for it.
Thank you! Nicole
She wrote to Kahala and they sent this response:
"Kahala was incorporated in 1936 here in Honolulu and the label’s first use was that year.
The above said, unfortunately our archives are incomplete. We do know the block lettering label seen on this garment was used from 1936 through the 1950s in various forms...Judging from the fabrication and the style we would estimate this to be mid to late 1950s. The cotton jacquard/pique’s were not in use until postwar. Most, if not all, of Kahala’s fabrics came from Japan after the war and Japan did not have jacquard machines until the boom years in their textile industry started in the 1950s.
Hope this helps,
Kahala Sportswear.
We stand corrected. The fabric appears to be a plain weave poplin not a dobbie or jacquard. Could be older, perhaps even prewar...There are little to no records of any Kahala from 1942-47. So this is likely either 1950s or perhaps late 1930s, but we will never know for sure unfortunately."
Now, I would date this as about 1939-1941, but would like second opinions
as well, there's some useful info here that could be added to the Label Resource - I shall post it there, along with a copy of the label once we can agree on a date for it.Thank you! Nicole
I would agree with the late 30s, early 40s.
