You thought mugs were expensive, try shirts!

I was watching this cool shirt on Ebay and would have paid $20-30 for it. But wow. And then I looked at the high bidders feedback, and, sheesh, vintage clothing goes way beyond our silly little ceramic mugs!

You can't really judge all Aloha shirts by that one, it's a Holy Grail shirt for LOTS of people. And that one has all the bells and wistles! On top of being in EXCELENT condotion, it's from "The Kahala" (early) AND it's a LARGE! Very hard to come by. Somebody got a really good deal!

That one is cheap. The high bidder spent $2,500 on another one and has spent maybe $8-10,000 in the last month on shirts and vintage jackets. Makes tiki mug high bidders seeem tame.

On 2005-11-08 20:13, Swanky wrote:
That one is cheap.

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-15 15:20 ]

Ill keep to buying my shirts in thrift stores...

Ive seen some shirts go for a thousand and more! Thats why I always check the men's shirts at the thrifts for hawaiian shirts... though I have no idea what Im doing. I need to take a course in Shirtology.

Note to self: Write the difinative book on Hawaiian shirts!

someone beat you to it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582700346/103-9940752-6493450?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

[url=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2003&item=7720047892]This is just one of the shirts bought by that high bidder...

I'm with Hewey...there's soooo much stuff out there for the digging.

Oh, that shirt went for cheap! Not only was it EXTRA big, and in good condition, but the drink theme! Scorpion bowls, my goodness. It was SO perfectly nifty it almost looked like a too-good-to-be-true uber-retro item :wink:

The big bucks are almost always to be found in rayon/silk territory, but lucky for me I love the cotton shirts. I've found some deals.

I found a fascinating Duke Kahanamoku shirt recently for two bucks. It's not a traditional Hawaiian print, or even cool drinks or anything. It's literally this total 50's modern pattern, abstract greens and browns. Looks like curtain fabric that would go perfectly in a room full of Danish modern furniture, teak and butterfly chairs and all that.

It's actually easier shopping for women's clothing. Although sarong/50's dresses and the older rayons are expensive and hard to find, almost everything else is happily SO underappreciated and reasonably priced!

I love the way I can always find something new and interesting, even in the thrifts...though if I see that same Ui Maikai pattern again I might scream.

man, this ww-ranch person just won (or should i say sniped?) a dress i had my eye on. maybe it's a celebrity, or someone really really rich. he/she has spent AT LEAST $5k in the past MONTH!

On 2005-11-10 10:09, heelgrinder wrote:
someone beat you to it!

DOH!
Story of my life... day late and a dollar short.
Or should I say "dollar shirt"?

Lucky for me I tend to lean towards the "less popular" patterns and usually wear a Large so I generally don't get outbid.

Totally bitchin' shirt right n'hyar:

Diamond Head Tropical Drinks

I'd be bidding on this my own self, but alas, it's a medium. Now, if it were a size "Fat Tub O' Goo", I'd be all over it like a Marine on a chubby high school girl. Such is my lot, husky me. I know a few folk who could really use this garment. Ya know, they're at a drinking hole, in their usual state. Well, this thing is perfect for them. Just point and order, as in, "Mongo want this (point)....burp!"

Seller is a well-respected Tiki connoisseur of the highest order.

Happy New Year all you passionate monkeys,
midnite

Nice specimen! Also, see ad from 60s Playboy mag on page 171 of BoT.

Newer members might like to see this thread from two years ago about a headhunter shirt that went for over $3,600 on Ebay!
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4793&forum=5&start=0

(pics on page 2. Here's one of them:)

Sabu

PS: Did anyone save the pics from this thread's original auction?

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2005-12-31 01:40 ]

I found a matson menu design hawaiian shirt from the early 50s last year at the goodwill. It was missing a a button and had a few little holes in it. I paid a $1.99 for it and sold it on ebay for $917.00. That was pretty cool considering my wife wanted to make a throw pillow out of the material.

If I'm not mistaken, the guy who wrote that Aloha Shirt book was featured on a show (Discovery Channel maybe?) on Hawaii that I saw some months ago. The guy had an amazing collection of vintage shirts in his closet. Loads of 'em. I can't imagine what the whole lot would be worth. The same show went to a vintage hawaiian shirt shop where they said the most expensive shirt sold was 5 grand. I can't imagine anyone would actually wear a $5000 shirt!

Wedding dresses can be outrageously expensive, as can suits.

I say wear it and enjoy it, or sell it and enjoy the $$$ :)

This beautiful tiki shirt seems reasonable priced - currently at $15.00 (Unfortunately, too small for my "brudda" frame):

http://cgi.ebay.com/Reyn-Spooner-Eddy-Y-Hawaiian-Shirt-XL-w-Tiki-Carvings_W0QQitemZ8370634024QQcategoryZ57990QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem