Hawaii|Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi

Royal Hawaiian

Origins of the Hawaiian Shirt

The Hawaiian Palaka shirt’s fascinating beginnings, a Hawaiian staple using a unique material named Tapa.

Think of Hawaii and the first thing that comes to mind is the Hawaiian shirt. This well known garment is the Palaka shirt and has a long history. Little has changed throughout time including the material used. One cliché that comes to mind is ‘styles always come back’, for this shirt style has never gone out. One wouldn’t think of trees being used to make clothing, but for centuries it has been and still is used.

Used for ceremonial and functional use, the Tapa cloth is also found used for the ever popular Palaka shirts as well as wall tapestries in many Hawaiian homes. The Palaka shirt that uses this unusual material has an interesting story in itself. Coming from other countries in Asia such as China and Japan, the Hawaiian field laborers found in their hands shirts with tails. To help protect them from the hot sun the workers improved the shirts for more practical use by taking off the tails and making them of light loose fitting material instead of the rich embroidered silks they were originally made in.

These now traditional Palaka shirts are sometimes seen with the darker print on the inside showing the faded patterns on the outside. It appears the shirt is worn the wrong way, but this is really the way they were created to show the muted pattern. Usually found in traditional basic colors such as black or brown, but are also made in a multitude of colors and fabrics. Tapa fabric is not a very sturdy fabric and tends to be used more for the higher ceremonial purpose and special occasion. It is seen sometimes worn by government officials, chiefs and in weddings.

This material can be found in about every home usually on shirts, decorative quilts or wall ornaments. Tapa’s that are given by a chief or royal family holds more value and most often time will be displayed in the home. Because the process is completely made of and with natural sources it is friendlier to the environment. Even the brushes used to apply the natural dyes and paints are made from sticks with frayed ends. Simplistic and beautiful from a culture that respects nature and tradition in an ever changing modern world it’s good to know that with tradition the old customs of Hawaii still find a place in today’s society.

About the Author

Having visited the Hawaiian Islands many times and owner of Wave Shoppe Hawaiian shirts, it is my lifelong pursuit to share with you my long distance romance with Hawaii.

what is a good general theme?

i need a good general theme for my friends and I's cosplay. we were debating doing a Christmas party theme or a royal court theme. we already ruled out hawaiian, sleep over, alice in wonderland, and halloween town. i wanted lolita but my friends said no. any other suggestions?

I can see why your friends didn't want to use the theme lolita because lolita isn't cosplay; it may be a little out there, but it's a fashion since wearers aren't portraying a character from a show, film, (graphic) novel, etc. Normally I associate cosplaying as dressing as a character from an anime/manga or comic book, and for a convention, but this doesn't seem to be the case (unless I'm mistaken).

Personally, I would have liked the royal court theme since it's flexible - anyone can dress as a king, queen, prince, princess, man or maid servant, jester, knights, etc.

Have you thought about looking up different time periods? European Medieval period, Italian/English Rennaissance, the Rococo Period, Victorian/Antebellum era, Edwardian era, Roaring 20s, 1950s (portrayed by shows from that time), mod 60s, punk or hippie 70s, 1980s (you've also got musical themes in there like disco, hip hop, and new wave)...things like that.

Have you guys also thought about doing something like a "Deck of Cards" (someone could dress up like a queen and the dress has a card symbol like hearts or spades), or Fairy Tales? In Fairy Tales, there could be people dressed in the light hearted Disney versions or the dark Grimm's Brothers versions of characters.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel Video - Waikiki Beach - Pink Palace Gay Hawaii 2011

Tags: blossom, cologne, hawaiian, hotel, royal, royal hawaiian heritage jewelry, royal hawaiian hotel, royal hawaiian movers, royal hawaiian shopping center, royal hawaiian surf academy

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Hawaii. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.