Hawaiian Baby Shower

Recently I was invited to a Hawaiian themed baby shower. One of my best friends was about to become a grandmother for the first time. The baby is going to be a girl so one of my gifts was our pink Hawaiian baby dress then I went to a local store and bought the baby some essentials like onesies, booties, blankets etc…. I just love baby showers! Charles and I are the proud grandparents of 2 grandchildren the eldest is Ava Rose she just turned 4 years old then we have our grandson Kaleb who is almost 2 and our third grandson (not yet named) is due June 13^th 2014 and yes it is a Friday the 13^th & my mischevious daughter jokingly says she will name him Jason J

Anyway I digress….so I walked into the shower and saw the usual things; palm trees, baby is coming banners, blue balloons, grass skirts surrounding several tables loaded with food and gifts but what caught my eye was the beautiful purple cake sitting in the middle of the table, it was decorated with white hibiscus and it said “Welcome Baby” but surrounding the cake was a beautiful icing lei.

Sample cake

It was just an eye-catcher and looked absolutely stunning in fact she used the lei that I gave her when she visited me last week. My friend is a baker and she made that cake stand out! I am trying to get a picture of the actual cake and will post it when I get one. The sample cake should get the message across.

So that is something others can do if they decide on a Hawaiian themed baby shower. We sell all sorts of men, women's and children’s Hawaiian clothing and colorful simulated silk leis at our store located in Downtown Escondido on Grand & Kalmia Street.

I love getting invited to tropical themed parties because I just have to lock the showroom door and can pick an appropriate outfit from the store.

I chose to wear our purple Hawaiian women’s shirt and paired it with a pair of white capris and white sandals. I had a great time and the Mommy to Be got a lot of much needed items including the first Hawaiian dress for her baby or should I say her “keiki”.

 

 

 

Mysteries of Spring Fashion, Solved in Seconds

With spring upon us men are yet again faced with that age old question on what shirts to wear in the spring.

Myself, I enjoy wearing mens Hawaiian shirts from a company called Wave Shoppe, largely due to them being loose fitting and that the colorful shirts they offer have short sleeves that look good on my longer than normal arms. Fit is important to me, I like my Hawaiian shirt short-sleeves to fall about one inch up from the crook of my elbow. Wave Shoppe Hawaiian shirts are cut with good proportions, and if your sleeves are much shorter (or longer) than what they offer online or in-store, you're getting into fashion territory that you may not want to tread in.

When wearing a collared dress shirt under a sweater; you always want to make sure that the collar is in and not out. But never, ever, wear a sweater over a Hawaiian shirt; if you’re cold don a light jacket or something.

And now we come to a point whereas we have to discuss long sleeve shirts with Hawaiian prints. In my opinion this is a fashion mistake, Hawaiian Aloha shirts have never been long sleeve, only the piecemealed long sleeve shirts worn by early plantation workers in Hawaii had actual long sleeves.

The workers long sleeved shirts were most often referred to as Palaka shirts (the prints often resembled a checkerboard) and had long sleeves to protect the workers during long periods spent working in the full sun.

So stay away from the often trumpeted "latest fashion" trends like long sleeves or pullover shirts look polo shirts etc. Do so and you wont look like a complete dufus.

Of course after years of almost collecting the brightly colored tropical themed shirts, I often find myself thinking about recycling. Ha not my shirts but recycling all of the empty cans lying around the house!

Whenever I buy a new garment from Wave Shoppe Hawaiian shirt, I never get rid of one to make room for another one. The one-in, one-out policy that applies to apply to a lot menswear does not (and never should) apply to tropical Hawaiian shirts and similar types of spring and summer clothing.

 

 

Hawaiian Souvenirs

Managing a Hawaiian shirt store in downtown Escondido certainly has its’ perks. The highlight of my day is interacting with our customers. Have you ever noticed that people who wear Hawaiian clothing can be funny and out-going? I often get to hear the good, bad and ugly highlights of their Hawaiian vacations & somehow the topics always turned to souvenirs and hands down, the ABC stores over there has the largest selection of souvenirs and they are one of my favorite places to go for Hawaiian souvenirs.

When Charles and I took our first trip to Waikiki of course I had a huge list of family & friends that I wanted to buy souvenirs for so even though Hubs hates shopping he was in his opinion kindly being patient (not really) and even walked into the first couple of stores with me.  It was after we entered the third store that he says to me “This stuff is the same stuff we saw at the last store, I going to sit on the wall and look at the beach”~!  When you translate it to “man-speak” that meant he was going to go looking at the bikini babes!  “Good Riddance” I replied.

Waikiki Beach has beautiful sidewalks

One souvenir I saw a lot of people picking up was the Hula Dashboard Doll. So I spoke to the store manager and bought 8 of them at wholesale and when I returned from vacation I put them in my store. About 2 weeks later I had a couple run into the store in a panic because they had been to Hawaii and forgot a souvenir  for one of their brothers.

It literally made their day to get their hands on a Hula Dashboard Doll. So in addition to some beautiful Hawaiian Shirts, Hawaiian Muumuu Dresses and Tropical Hawaiian dresses. I also now have a Tiki Hut whose shelves are stocked with Hawaiian souvenirs for those who didn’t get their list quite right.  Top sellers for me are mugs, hula dashboard dolls, candles, incense and any darn thing that has a turtle on it! What types of souvenirs do you buy when you go to the islands? 

 

 

When is a Hawaiian Shirt not a Hawaiian Shirt?

You can purchase Hawaiian shirts for men and women from Wave Shoppe Hawaiian Shirts, Tommy Bahama, Reyn Spooner, Tori Richard, Kahala, Go Barefoot, Paradise Found etc. But when is a Hawaiian shirt not a Hawaiian shirt? Is it the design, the cut or the material that classifies it as a Hawaiian shirt? there are tons of shirts that have no Hawaiian or Polynesian designs on them at all. In example we have seen camp shirts with images of bears, hot air balloons, boats, airplanes, and even Hawaiian shirts with cars on the Internet and offline in many department and specialty stores.

Then we have the ugly (yet creative looking) Hawaiian shirt on the left. The shirt incorporates Hawaiian prints throughout yet looks like it was made by Dr. Frankenstein

Here is where you can purchase this ugly Hawaiian shirt which would indeed make a great gag gift for someone. I am thinking bachelor parties and birthdays for old Hawaiian shirt collectors that have everything. Your thoughts?

Hawaii, a Shoppers Paradise

Aloha,

I was giving thought to some information I read on Shop Hawaiian and noticed that it didn’t have a place to add comments so I will post them here. I mostly wanted to mention that while people do indeed shop at the factory outlet mall in Mauna Loa, a lot of people prefer the mom and pop shops dotting the roadways and small 4 store strip malls.

And of course a shopping trip in Waikiki would be incomplete without a visit to the International Market, an open-air market full of food, craft, and souvenir booths.

But I have to say that I absolutely will not buy my vacation apparel after I have arrived. I love to coordinate my wardrobe before I pack and always take an ample (well an oversupply) amount of shirts from Wave ShoppeHawaiian shirts, I like their apparel because the cotton does not wrinkle much and the shirts travel well in a suitcase.

If I see a decent Aloha shirt on the island I will certainly buy it, but like I said I like to bring my clothes with me. I also pack a decent amount of snacks for the plane ride as well as enough to occupy me during waits at the airport. Mahalo

Travelers Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to Hawaii

Do you find yourself asking things like "what is the time difference from the continental US and Hawaii"? or perhaps you are packing your Hawaiian shirts and planning on going on vacation in Hawaii and need tips on what to wear on your Hawaiian vacation?

Well then we suggest that you check out Island Shirts information packed piece on Travelers Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to Hawaii

You can learn all you need to know from that page and more. If we missed something that can help others, then please come back here and post it in a comment.

Like many people that work way too many hours, I don’t get out all that much, not to mention not taking many vacations. So this summer I am going back to Hawaii and hanging 10 at da beach for a while, maybe most of the summer.

My Hawaiian vacation will be all about flip-flops, Hawaiian shirts, pretty hula girls and food. If you have never traveled to the Hawaiian island I would suggest that you read our tips on what clothes to wear in Hawaii so you will at least be properly dressed for the momentous occasion. Oahu is my favorite island, but I may hop over to Maui for a bit, it all depends on water clarity and what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Yes, food has a lot of influence on what I do and where I go. Pretty much any good recipe for Spam fried rice or garlic shrimp will catch my attention. Leave a comment and share your favorite island food or fashion statement with us. Mahalo

Hawaiian Shirts Form the Basis of Hawaiian Dress.

Hawaii earned its status as a vacation spot because of its perennially warm weather. While many people assume that tropical humidity dominates the islands, parts of Hawaii are arid or semi arid, and the highest peaks actually feature an alpine climate. Temperatures average about 85 degrees in the summer months and 75 degrees in the winter. Those temperatures drop about 10 degrees during evening hours. Rain comes only occasionally, typically during the winter months.

Hawaiian shirts are a staple of Hawaiian dress and make appropriate clothing regardless of the occasion. Read more: Tips on selecting Hawaii shirts and women's wear