Snakes and Hawaii

Snakes and Hawaii

I have heard it said that there are no snakes in Hawaii. Since I do not like snakes, Hawaii could very well be the paradise it is called just for that reason alone. I am not sure why some people bring their snakes into my Hawaiian shirt store. They have them wrapped around their arms, shoulders and neck like a living, breathing scarf. I never knew so many people owned snakes before we moved into our downtown Escondido location that is around the corner and a few doors down from a reptile house.  I have seen some huge ugly lizards, many types of snakes, all sorts of bug eyed lizards, chameleons etc and one guy even walks some type of baby dragon on a leash. They all prance around with their reptiles like they are so proud of them.  You would think they would have the common sense not to bring them into my store but OH NO they come right on in to show me their scaly pets.  

One day I had an elderly lady looking over some of our colorful muumuus and I was helping her find her size. I remember the customer coming into the store and said “Hi let me know if you need any help” I glanced his way and smiled but then turned back to speak to the lady I was helping. I found a couple of muumuus in her size and was halfway to the dressing room to hang them up when she started screaming her head off. She had one hand around her throat and was pointing in the direction of the guy who was the only other customer in the store.

At this point I am thinking he must have a gun he is going to rob us but even worse than that was when I turned to look at him I saw that he had a huge snake wrapped around his neck that snake was so long it hung down his back to the backs of his knees and was wrapped around his neck and down his arm and he was holding the head with his hand. I am thinking 8 feet for sure and of course those beady black eyes were looking right at us.

I guess you can tell my level of comfort with snakes considering I thought a snake was worse than having a gun wielding robber in my store, so during this commotion the man was slowly backing away from us trying to reassure us his snake was harmless. While my customer was doing some kind of weird dance and hiding behind me while holding onto me I yelled “Get that snake out of here now!” That man took off down the street and I have not seen him or his pet since then.

Really owners of large reptiles need to have their heads examined in my opinion. Don’t they watch all those shows that end up with the big snake overpowering the owner and killing them or the shows where snakes get out of the enclosures and kill children in the house? Can’t blame the snake, that’s what they do, they wrap around you and try to eat you.

So I am now curious how they can claim there are no snakes in Hawaii, are you telling me that not one snake lover has ever slipped a snake in a suitcase on board a plane?  So my question to the readers of this blog is…. Is it true there are no snakes on the islands? Let me know if you have ever seen or heard about encounters with snakes in the lush vegetation they have over there.  I did notice when I visited the island of Oahu there were a lot of mongooses over there perhaps that is why there are no snakes?  

Peggy

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4th

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to believe that the 4th of July is a little over a week away. I mean what happened to April, May and most of June? There’s even a month long gap in my Blog posts, maybe I have lost track of time or maybe it’s just that I have not had much to say, probably the latter. I was thinking that I might research and write about Hawaiian Independence Day, but I think I will save that for a later post.

For most people the 4th of July means a long weekend, fireworks and lots of BBQ and increased alcohol consumption, for some that is. Myself I relish the patriotic displays but I also have a penchant for history and all the little mysteries that come with it, but don’t lump me in with the confused conspiracy theory people, ok.

So speaking of history… below are a few forgotten or little known facts about the 4th of July that you may not know, courtesy of wikipedia

‘Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4, 1872, and thus was the only President to be born on Independence Day’

I would also like to point out that if you’re a superstitious politician, the 4th may not be your luckiest day. Myself I think I am going to keep it simple, though I do have a nifty and quite loud fireworks shirt (shown below) that I am going to wear for the holiday weekend. I also have an additional patriotic shirt that I will be wearing that’s pretty cool but I don’t have a picture of it yet. Maybe I will add it later on, my wife picked out the design and I must say that she has excellent taste.

Before I forget, while Wave Shoppe offers a lot of unique Hawaiian shirts in the stores and on the Website, many of the shirts I wear are “one of a kind shirts’ which are not available for purchase.

Hot New Summer Dresses Under $40

Summer is not all that far off and we wanted to introduce you to 2 really hot Hawaiian print dresses in two popular color combinations. These dresses are one size fits all, also known as smocked dresses, and they are the latest rage at the beach and casual Hawaiian themed events such as luaus. These Hawaiian dresses are very comfortable to wear and the elastic top means you don’t have to worry about obtaining a good fit.


First in line is this beautiful black Hawaiian tube top dress with red hibiscus flowers, which is going to be a big seller this year.

Priced at just $38.95 you can afford to get more than one.

Next up is another black Hawaiian dress with turquoise hibiscus flowers. We introduced this color combo last summer and it sold out in less than 2 months, nuff said. Psst this is also priced at $38.95

While you are at it, take a moment to check out the many new designs we have added to our line of Hawaiian shirts for men (men like gifts too) as well as new additions to our lineup of authentic muumuu dresses (think Mothers Day), styled after the most popular designs worn in Hawaii.

Mahalo from all of us at Wave Shoppe Hawaiian Shirts and Apparel

Wave Shoppe in Teen Vogue

Last month me and my wife were at the Womens Wear In Nevada (WWIN) Show and the MAGIC Show. MAGIC is the preeminent, most comprehensive trade event in the international fashion industry.

These types of trade shows involve a lot of walking and taking lots of breaks, so while on a short break at Teen Vogues booth we grabbed a copy to see if a design we submitted many months ago had made it into the March issue.


While we knew we were being considered there was never an official “yes we choose you for the shoot”, so it was quite cool to be flipping pages and actually seeing one of our Hawaiian shirts on a model in the magazine.

If you can’t guess it’s the purple Hawaiian shirt with yellow flowers.

Ironically when we returned to San Diego there was a package and personalized letter from Vogue congratulating us on our accomplishment. Its now framed and hanging in the Wave Shoppe Escondido store.

So while at a glance you see that we sell Hawaiian shirts and dresses, we are also heavy into designing textiles and traveling deeper into the fashion jungle with each passing day.

I was just getting ready to click the “publish post” button and I was thinking that I failed to mention that for me, making it into Conde Nast’s Vogue would be like dying and going to heaven. Recently I learned that I have the dying part all dialed in so now all I need to do is come up with a design before then.

To Whom It May Concern

"To Whom It May Concern:

I don’t think a company gets much feedback or credit when they do something right and I wanted you to know that I couldn’t be more pleased with the merchandise that I received and how quickly I received it. I placed my order on a Friday and received it the following Monday! What great service! I will be in Maui next week wearing my shirt I purchased which, by the way, fit perfectly.

Thank you again for the great product and the outstanding service your company provided. I will definitely recommend you to anyone.

Ken L

South Sioux City, NE"

Customers who purchase Hawaiian shirts from Wave Shoppe tell it best, adding that our company and products receive praise on a daily basis. Ken recently purchased our big mens Maui Hawaiian shirt which is one of our latest designs.

Hawaiian Apparel Wedding Planners

In conventional Hawaiian weddings, both the bride and groom wore all white, and the groom wore a painted sash around his waist and a maile lei around his neck. Many grooms dressed for a San Diego beach wedding wear Hawaiian shirts and light colored pants. Mainland wedding couples also prefer to dress themselves in formal bridal gowns and tuxedos, which creates beauty and a romantic contrast on a sandy beach.

After a lot of years of planning weddings here in San Diego we can tell you that we've had requests for just about every style of Hawaiian wedding attire at our Hawaiian apparel store. If you need help selecting attire fit for a wedding, just stop by the Kalmia St showroom and our expert wedding planner Peggy will help you choose the wedding attire that is appropriate for the two of you.

Pictured above is another happy couple that had recently utilized our expert wedding services wearing Wave Shoppe Hawaiian apparel for their special day.

One Turtle Two Turtle Green Turtle Blue Turtle

As much as we would like to tempt you with a freewheeling plot about a boy and a girl, and the many amazing creatures they have for friends, we cant.

But what we can do is show you a picture of our new blue Hawaiian shirt with turtles in which we have in 2 wonderful colors. Of course we are just going to show you the blue one and ask you go look at the green Hawaiian shirt with turtles, for which we also provided a convenient link.

These hawaiian shirts are made from cotton poplin (which has a high thread count) and are priced at just $45.95 and like all Wave Shoppe apparel, made in the USA. By the way, that $45.95 price point is well under the price of most imported shirts, which are clearly of lesser quality.

Honu Honu or is that Nanu Nanu?