Sell to Us · Aloha Wear
Sell the Hawaiian shirts that came home from the Pacific.
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.
The great labels
Kamehameha, Duke Kahanamoku, Shaheen, Kahala, and the Catalina California lines.
Border and photo prints
Scenic borders, pictorials, and the prints that read like postcards of the Pacific.
Crew and souvenir shirts
Military-marked aloha wear and the shirts that crossed on troop ships.
Whole tropical closets
Muumuus, cabana sets, and the matching wardrobe of mid-century vacations.
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.
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
Sell Vintage Clothing in Orange County. We Buy in Bulk and Pay Cash
Read the transcript
Hey guys, Sam here from California Vintage Buyers. Not only do we deal with all kinds of estates and auctions and property clearouts, but we also own Orange County's biggest vintage clothing store, called Old 44 Vintage, down in San Juan Capistrano. Therefore, we are a bulk buyer of all kinds of vintage clothing, 1990s and previous. We want to see it all. How do you know if something's vintage or not? Glad you asked. Here's a tell to know it's not vintage: printed tag. If you see that it looks like a stamp went on there and just made the tag, not vintage. Physical tag, it has a higher probability of being a vintage garment, especially if it says Made in USA. That's the main tell. But we buy leathers, military kind of stuff, western wear, sports, and most of all, graphic t-shirts. It could be a pink Harley-Davidson to a 1979 Pink Floyd concert tee. We love it. We want to see it all. Give us a call, 949-449-1255, or text photos to 949-449-1255.
How it works
Call us.
A real conversation about what you have, no forms, no waiting.
We come to you.
We look at everything, at your pace. We know what we're seeing.
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.
One call. We’ll take it
from there.
(949) 449-1255Mon-Sat 6 am-8 pm · Sun 8 am-5 pm
A real person answers, Monday through Saturday. Photos sent today are usually answered the same day.
Prefer photos? Text them straight to the same number · or send them here