Main Types of Hawaiian Shirts

Basic All-Over Print Hawaiian Shirts

Most Hawaiian shirts can be broken down into a few major categories The most common ones are the basic all-over print and the scenic print. But there are variations within these types well as several other styles. We'll also cover some of the terminology used for Hawaiian shirts. All of our shirts are made in Hawaii with great care and with special attention to the details like matched pockets.

Basic All-Over Print Hawaiian Shirts

These shirts are probably the most common shirts. They are characterized by a repeating print that appears all over the fabric in a uniform manner as illustrated to the left. These shirts can be worn tucked in our out. These shirts typically do not match up perfectly to create a seamless image at the buttons.

Scenic Print Hawaiian Shirts

The scenic shirts are similar to the all-over print shirts in that the details in the print repeat in a uniform matter. The only difference is that these shirts contain scenery rather than just a simple repeating image of a flower or leaf. For some people, the scenic prints conjure up feelings of freedom and being on vacation.These shirts typically do not match up perfectly to create a seamless image at the buttons.

Panel Hawaiian Shirts

Some shirts have prints that are laid out in vertical panels, usually flowers and/or leaves. Like the basic all-over prints and the scenic prints, the panel designs have repeating patterns, but they repeat as you go from one side of the shirt to the other, rather than all over the shirt. These shirts typically do not match up perfectly to create a seamless image at the buttons.

Border Hawaiian Shirts

Shirts that have a design going across the shirt are called border Hawaiian shirts. Most of these shirts have a design in them that repeat every 10-12 inches as you go from one side of the shirt to the other. If the design happens to go across the bottom of the shirt, they may be called a Bottom Design Hawaiian shirt. The shirt illustrated at left is a border shirt that also happens to be a bottom print. Border Hawaiian shirts are meant to be worn untucked.

Engineered Hawaiian Shirts

Engineered Hawaiian shirts have a seamless image from one side of the shirt to the other. The image usually repeats every 18 inches, which is greater than that of most border print shirts. The shirts also have a seamless image that is uninterrupted at the buttons. These shirts are usually the priciest shirts for any given quality of fabric because it requires the most fabric to manufacture. Engineered Hawaiian shirts are meant to be worn untucked to show off the entire design.

Matched Prints

Some border or bottom print Hawaiian shirts have a seamless image at the buttons. The shirt to the left, unlike the one right above it, is perfectly matched at the buttons creating a seamless image as you go across the shirt. Notice how the turtle crosses the seam uninterupted.These shirt are harder to make and require greater skill and attention to detail. Many border print shirts do not match at the buttons like this one does.

Matched Pocket

The better Hawaiian shirts have a matched pocket. That means the pocket exactly matches the print on the shirt making it nearly invisible. In the picture to the left, you can see that the palm tree leaves on the pocket precisely line up with the leaves on the shirt. The result is a seamless image created by the pocket on the shirt. Creating matched pockets requires the use of more fabric and more precise cutting and sewing. All of our Hawaiian shirts come with a matched pocket.