Hawaiian shirts come in designs as literally as diverse as the colors of a rainbow. But they can be generally categorized by type according to the physical layout of the prints on the shirt.

All-Over Print Hawaiian shirts: These Hawaiian shirts are the simplest and most common. Their design repeats all over the shirt in an apparently random way. They usually include scenic or floral designs, but can include pretty much any design element. Because of the apparent randomness of the design elements, these shirts are usually not seamless at the buttons the way other shirts do.

Panel Hawaiian shirts: The design of a panel Hawaiian shirt is laid out in vertical columns or panels. Typically, the panels contain flowers strung together, but could include just about anything. Some Hawaiian shirts may include some qualities of both panel and all-over prints in a single design.

Border Hawaiian shirts: The border shirt usually contains some sort of large scene of 12 inches across the front of the shirt. The well designed and manufactured border shirts will contain a seamless uninterrupted image across the front. Border shirts cost more to manufacture because of the extra skill needed to make them and because they use more fabric per shirt than other shirts. Sometimes border shirts are called “bottom design shirts” if the image appears to run along the bottom of the shirt. Tucking in a bottom design shirt will usually hide part of the design so it is best to wear these types of shirts untucked. Tucking it in would be like hiding a piece of artwork from view.

Engineered Hawaiian shirts: Engineered shirts are similar to the border shirts except that the design repeats every 18 inches, rather than every 12 inches. These are the most difficult shirts to make and require the most fabric. A good engineered Hawaiian shirt is definitely seamless at the center and should be worn untucked to show off the design in all its glory.

While we’re on the subject of quality, another thing to look for in a Hawaiian shirt is the matched pocket. A matched pocket is made so that the design elements on the pocket fabric exactly match up with the design on the shirt where it is placed. The result is that the pocket appears somewhat invisible because the pattern is perfectly uninterrupted. Because of the way the shirt pieces are cut, more yardage of fabric is required to make such a shirt resulting in more waste fabric. Hawaiian shirts with matched pockets therefore cost more than shirts with non-matching pockets because of the increased material, skill, and time that go into producing each shirt. All of the Hawaiian shirts we offer come with matched pockets.