Sell to Us · Aloha Wear

Sell the Hawaiian shirts that came home from the Pacific.

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California Vintage Buyers buys vintage Hawaiian shirts, from 1940s and 50s rayon and the great labels to border prints and whole tropical closets: a free visit and a cash offer, no obligation. Call or text photos to (949) 449-1255.

The great aloha shirts came through Southern California: sailors bought them in Honolulu and wore them down the gangway in Long Beach and San Diego, and the California makers answered with rayon of their own. The best of those shirts, silky cold rayon with coconut buttons and prints like paintings, now sell for hundreds and sometimes thousands.

Most families have no idea. The shirts sit in cedar closets smelling faintly of the fifties, labeled with names collectors recite like incantations. We know the labels, the fabrics, and the difference between a fifty-dollar shirt and a thousand-dollar one, and we pay accordingly, in person, in cash.

Aloha wear we hunt

1940s-50s rayon

Cold rayon crepe with matched pockets and coconut or bamboo buttons: the golden age.

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The great labels

Kamehameha, Duke Kahanamoku, Shaheen, Kahala, and the Catalina California lines.

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Border and photo prints

Scenic borders, pictorials, and the prints that read like postcards of the Pacific.

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Crew and souvenir shirts

Military-marked aloha wear and the shirts that crossed on troop ships.

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Whole tropical closets

Muumuus, cabana sets, and the matching wardrobe of mid-century vacations.

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Check the label, then call us

The quick test: a label that says made in Hawaii or made in California, rayon that feels like cool silk, and buttons that are not plastic. Any of those is reason to photograph the shirt flat and send it over before it goes in a donation bag. Navy towns gave Southern California some of the deepest aloha closets anywhere, and we have pulled four-figure shirts out of garment bags in Long Beach, San Pedro, and Coronado alike.

Sam and Jake of California Vintage Buyers at a house call, surrounded by a wall of guitar cases they are buying
Sam and Jake at a house call, buying a lifetime's guitar collection.

A Recent Find

A 1940s Levi’s Type 1 jacket, sold to us by a former dealer who knew exactly what he had. We paid $12,000 in cash, the same day.

From the Shop

Loop Collar Shirts: The 1940s to 60s Button-Ups Worth Pulling From a Closet

Read the transcript

Hey guys, what do we have here? Just some button-up shirts. Not just some button-up shirts, some pretty cool ones, some kind of old ones. Key distinguishing factor, these are loop collar shirts. What's that mean? There's a stinking loop on the collar. Pretty simple, right? Now, a lot of shirts that aren't really that old might have a loop on the collar. So it's not just you see a loop, you're seeing really good stuff. Not necessarily the case. But it is primarily, if you're finding yourself cleaning out a property or what have you, and it's like there's some of these, you're looking at something probably from the 40s to the 60s, right? So loop collar shirts are not to be despised. You pay good money for these kind of guys. See a loop collar? Pretty straightforward. Plaid ones are great. Where's the loop? There she is. This kind of stuff. Yeah, so late 50s, early 60s. Great stuff. If you're seeing loop collared shirts, don't just take them to the thrift store. Just because they're not old Levi's or old military stuff or whatever doesn't mean that they don't have value. So give us a call. 949-449-1255. We'll even buy your old button ups.

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How it works

01

Call or text photos.

A real conversation about what you have, no pressure to sell.

02

We come to you.

We look at everything, at your pace. We know what we're seeing.

03

Cash offer, same visit.

A fair price on the spot, or a full estate sale run for you.

Common questions

How can a shirt possibly be worth a thousand dollars?

Scarcity, condition, and art: the great rayon prints were small runs eighty years ago, and collectors worldwide compete for the survivors. Top labels in top condition routinely clear four figures at specialist sales.

The shirts have small holes and smell of cedar. Ruined?

Not necessarily: collectors expect age, and minor flaws are priced rather than disqualifying. Do not wash or dry-clean anything first: rayon punishes amateur care, and original condition is safest.

Do you buy the rest of the vintage closet too?

Always: aloha shirts usually share a closet with denim, gabardine, and the rest of the era, and one visit covers everything.

The buttons on these shirts look like wood or shell rather than plastic. Does that tell us anything?

It tells us a lot. Coconut, shell and carved wood buttons point to the 1940s and 1950s, the period collectors want most, and they often appear alongside a loop collar, a single chest pocket matched to the print, and single-needle stitching. Plastic buttons do not rule a shirt out, since some fine early shirts used them, but non-plastic buttons are a strong reason to set that shirt aside. If a button is missing, leave the gap alone rather than replacing it with a modern one.

We have a closet of old aloha shirts headed for donation. Which ones do we pull out first?

Check three things on each shirt. Read the label for made in Hawaii or made in California and for a maker name, feel the cloth for rayon that runs cool and slippery against your hand rather than dry like cotton, and look at the buttons for coconut or shell. Any one of those is reason enough to stop, lay the shirt flat, photograph the whole front, the label and the buttons, and send the pictures over before the bag goes to the curb.

Does it matter whether the shirt is rayon, cotton, or polyester?

Considerably. The golden-age shirts collectors pay most for are 1940s and 50s rayon, cold and slippery against the hand, with prints that read like paintings. Cotton shirts can still be vintage and are worth a photo, but the strongest money follows the rayon. A shirt that feels dry or synthetic is usually a later one and more modest. The feel test costs nothing: rayon runs cool where other cloth does not.

Which labels should I look for on old Hawaiian shirts?

The names collectors recite: Kamehameha, Duke Kahanamoku, Shaheen, Kahala, and the Catalina California lines. Read the whole label, not just the big name: Duke Kahanamoku ran from the 1930s into the 1980s across several makers, so the maker line under the name dates the shirt, and the Kamehameha label was revived in the 1990s, with revival shirts bringing under $50 in documented 2025 sales. Condition and the print still carry their share. Photograph the label straight on along with the full front.

Are the 1940s and 50s rayon shirts really worth more than later Hawaiian shirts?

Yes, and the spread is wide. The golden age means cold rayon crepe, matched pockets, and coconut or bamboo buttons, and the best of those shirts still sell for hundreds and sometimes thousands, while recent documented sales of ordinary labeled 1940s and 50s rayon ran roughly $85 to $340. An ordinary later shirt is fifty-dollar territory however cheerful the print, and 1990s revival-label shirts bring under $50. Knowing which one is hanging in the closet is what a free read from photos settles.

Could a Hawaiian shirt from a thrift store rack actually be valuable?

It happens, because most families have no idea what they are donating. The checks take under a minute at the rack: an origin label reading made in Hawaii or made in California, rayon that feels like cool silk, and buttons that are not plastic. Be honest with yourself about the odds, since nearly every aloha shirt out there is modern and modest. When one passes those checks, photograph the front and the label and text (949) 449-1255.

My father brought shirts home from his Navy years. Are those the ones collectors want?

That is exactly the story behind the great Southern California closets. Sailors bought aloha shirts in Honolulu and wore them down the gangway in Long Beach and San Diego, and military-marked crew and souvenir shirts crossed on troop ships. Navy towns hold some of the deepest aloha closets anywhere, and four-figure shirts have come out of garment bags in Long Beach, San Pedro, and Coronado. Tell us the story when you send the photos.

What photos do you need to value a Hawaiian shirt?

Three, in daylight: the shirt laid flat showing the whole front and the print, the label close enough to read, and the buttons. If there is damage, photograph that too, straight on, because flaws are priced rather than hidden and surprises help nobody. Send the shirt exactly as found. Text the set to (949) 449-1255 for a same-day answer, or upload it at californiavintagebuyers.com/sell.

Can I sell vintage Hawaiian shirts to you from outside Southern California?

Yes, from anywhere in the United States. We look at the shirts together on a video call, agree the price while you are still holding them, send payment through PayPal before you pack a box, and pay for the shipping. If the number is not right, you simply do not ship. Aloha shirts travel light, so a whole closet can move this way as easily as one shirt.

Does the print itself matter, or only the label?

The print carries a full share of the price. The golden-age shirts were prints like paintings, and the ones collectors compete for read like postcards of the Pacific: scenic borders, pictorials, whole landscapes across the cloth. Scarcity, condition, and art set the number together, so a striking print on an unfamiliar label is still worth photographing, and a famous label around a plain print will not reach the top of its range.

Know what it’s worth before you sell.

Our field guides explain how the market actually prices these things. No fishing, no hype: real ranges and the details that move them.

One call. We’ll take itfrom there.

(949) 449-1255
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