Escondido, California gets a dose of Hawaiian Tahitian Dancing

Aloha, towards the end of each year we try to do something momentous and this year is no exception. It became clear to us last year that our business is growing faster and larger than the current facilities can handle, which includes the additional 950 square feet we added onto our shipping operation. So the decision we made was to add even more square footage and open a retail showroom to showcase our Hawaiian wear.

While the business has already come out of the gate at a very fast pace, we thought that we would kick things up a notch by hosting a free Hula show. Also keep in mind that our showroom is located in the historic shopping district of Escondido, California. We sponsor a hula group out of Palomar College; Directed by Patriceann Mead, and in my own words, this Hula show was simply out of this world.

It was not long after we set up the speaker system that there was a run on Hawaiian shirts for men (even though leis and flower hairclips were also selling at a brisk pace).

The crowd of people soon started to gather in front of the storefront and it wasn’t long before the street was completely filled with onlookers and shopkeepers from some of the local businesses.

I mean there are not many men that can pass up watching beautiful Polynesian girls shaking their booty in public.

Im my opinion I had the best seat in the house, which was dead center of the stage.

But if you look at the picture of the fire knife dancer below, it appears that even Peggy (standing in the doorway) found a moment to enjoy the show while working in the store.

So you think this was a hula performance geared for men? No way dudes, we covered all the bases.

While this show was family friendly, we still managed to take care of the ladies fantasies with a fire knife dancer.

I wont name names but I recieved feedback from more than a few ladies that said they wouldnt mind helping with "putting his fire out" if you know what I mean.

While we took a few hundred pictures of the Hula show, it certainly isn’t feasible to post all of the hula girl pictures in a single blog post, so we hope you enjoyed the ones we have selected for you.

Mahalo!

Designing Hawaiian Print Fabrics

Aloha! Customers frequently ask me how we come up with the designs for the Hawaiian fabrics that we use to make our line of Wave Shoppe Hawaiian shirts.

A ways back I took a stab at answering thise questions with a post titled Hawaiian Shirts, from Conception to the Consumer, but after giving it more thought, I felt that I didn't really start at square one.

So lets rewind a bit and start with the picture of me eating pineapple ice cream whip (hey, I am at Dole).

While I look innocent enough with my ice cream and all, the reality is that I am thinking how cool this pineapple garden would look on a fabric. On one hand it's easy, on the other, its really challenging.

I eventually took out the digital camera (after I finished my snack) and started shooting some pictures of the garden and all of the different varieties of pineapple and surrounding Colors.

Not long after that the wife wandered over and said "whats the matter, you never seen a pineapple?"

Soon it all set in and she said to me "how much is this one going to cost?" (Did I mention how much I love my wife).

So once I got back to the mainland I sent the artist some of the pictures I took while in Oahu.

All I will say at this point is that I am very blessed to have so much talent on my team.

Pictured on the left is the rough sketch made from my photographs. FYI We will usually spend around 3 to 4 weeks on the sketch alone.

This space left intentualy blank (didnt have any more to write)

Pictured on the left is the completed fabric. So there you have it, an example of how I come up with most of my designs, which is now about 60% of our line.
 

Our goal is to produce 90% of our own cotton Hawaiian print fabrics for shirt production, as well as making select fabrics available for sale to the general public.
 

Mahalo for reading! Visit us at www.waveshoppe.com


 

Teleporting Hawaiian Shirts

Manufacturing great Hawaiian shirts is just one component of a successful aloha wear company; the second is exceeding your customers expectations with outstanding customer service.

"I recently bought a shirt that was too big; I returned it and received the appropriate size that I needed. I just wanted to let you know that the turn around was amazing. I bought the shirt to wear at a Jimmy Buffet concert and thought that there would be no way that I would get the new shirt back in time. Thank you for such great service.

Troy"

We go the extra mile for our customers and we guarantee that you will be quite satisfied with your purchase and impressed with the timely delivery. But if for any reason your not satisfied, you could always take advantage of our liberal 30-day return and exchange policy.

P.S. We really cannot teleport Hawaiian shirts, the super fast delivery just makes you feel like we did!

Mahalo everyone!

Famous Women In Hawaiian shirts

Seldom mentioned are the women of Aloha whom often wear Hawaiian shirts as much as men, so we thought we would offer a brief tribute to the ladies of Aloha. First on our list is Clarissa Haili who was born on October 28, 1901 in Honolulu.

While you may, or may not, recognize her by her given name, or have known Clara as a hula dancer or choir singer, you will most certainly recognize the name Hilo Hattie. Clara legally changed her name to Hilo Hattie back in 1941. Amongst her many namesakes, this revered entertainer is the iconic force behind what’s now the Hilo Hattie brand of retail stores.









Next on our list is legendary songstress Karen Keawehawaii shown on the right sporting a pink floral muumuu.

While we could not find a picture of Karen in a Hawaiian shirt, I would venture a guess that she has one in her wardrobe closet.

Karen is an active Hawaii songbird and also operates a website that features handcrafted PUA Melia, Okika, Lilia, Kiele, and Tiare Flowers. According to the website the plumerias are made of foam.









Ah Quon McElrath, an esteemed union pioneer whom served as the social worker for Local 142 in Hawaii.

Every picture tells a story and this one is proof that Hawaiian shirts for women have been in Aloha style for many years and we feel that they are here to stay.

Around 5pm (PT), Thursday, Dec 11th 2008, Ah Quon McElrath passed away at the age of 92. She will be remembered as an active member of the 50th Anniversary Statehood Commission as well as being a strong voice that represented labor and the working people of the State of Hawai’i. She will be missed by many and as we honor her.

Famous Men in Hawaiian Shirts

We can’t think of anyone who better personifies men wearing Hawaiian shirts than the king himself, Elvis Presley.

Editors note: Our own research strongly suggests that the red Hawaiian shirt Elvis wore in Blue Hawaii was created by the late Alfred Shaheen.

But we also know that prop masters frequently modified apparel on location, so its possible that the design was a slightly modified version of the original design.

Many famous men have donned Hawaiian shirts for men including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tom Selleck of Magnum PI fame and why even president Barack Obama has been seen sporting a Hawaiian shirt.

So whether you’re a famous movie star, or a laid back surfer type of guy, be assured that there is a Hawaiian shirt in a design that will match your attitude.

Are you ready to buy? You can get the latest Hawaiian shirts online at the Wave Shoppe Web Store.

Mahalo and have a great summer!

Hawaiian Aloha Summer

The surf culture and Hawaiian shirts go hand in hand, so make sure you have a good stock of Hawaiian shirts for the summer. Good Hawaiian shirts are usually bright enough to be seen from space.

As an added bonus, if you wear a Hawaiian shirt to the beach you stand a better chance of being found by the Coast Guard (if you are swept out to sea by a rip tide).

Plan on hitting the beach to hang 10 this summer and make sure you have the latest Hawaiian shirts from Wave Shoppe, your friends will be completely stoked by your awesome good looks. Who knows, you may even catch the eye of a beautiful wahine surfer.

Hawaiian Shirts Made with American Aloha

I started out with the intent of writing about why you should buy American made apparel and using an American flag image. But I decided that I would use the photo on the left because it is more disturbing (and it should be).

Believe it or not, in this day and age there are still many countries engaging in making apparel with child labor as well as operating adult sweat shops. This is usually an inherent property of developing countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia etc.

But we would guess that if you looked deep enough you would find some examples on the US mainland as well. The Fashion District in Los Angles comes to mind.

Apparel, such as Hawaiian shirts from Wave Shoppe are made in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii. In contrast, Tommy Bahama merchandise is actually manufactured in the Far East (China), though we are sure that they use labor compliant apparel companies for manufacturing. When you purchase Hawaiian shirts we would suggest that you purchase from a company that offers American made Hawaiian shirts. There is a good chance that the money you spend will be re-spent within our own economy and not used to stimulate some county you don’t live in.

For more information on these labor abuses we recomend visiting the Child Labor Coalition

How you can still buy American? MSN offers some good advice and you can visit sites such as Still Made In USA for listings of companies that offer American made products.

If you know of a great resource site that lists companies that sell American made products, please leave a comment with the URL to the site and there is a good chance that we will approve it.