Tag Archives for Hawaii

Christmas in Hawaii with Vans

vans

If I gave you a pound for every time I mentioned Hawaii, I’d have even less money than I do already and even less chance of getting my hands on the Vans Christmas collection.

HAWAII

HAWAII

HAWAII

HAWAII

HAWAII

The Van Doren Christmas release for 2013 features a vaguely Hawaiian, 90s-inspired print in purple, mint and black and, actually, that other one is pretty Mexican-looking… so maybe these could be the ultimate souvenir of our trip? The bookends that make me finally shut up about it?

They’ll be available at the end of the year and the images come courtesy of Hypebeast - although that gif-ing is all on me.

 

What I bought up the biggest mountain in the world

Mauna Kea Clearly the Best tote and Vans Era Leopard Black

You’re damn right it was a shopping opportunity.

Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the biggest mountain in the world. Take that, Everest. Actually most of it is under water which is why it doesn’t usually get a look-in, but at 13,796′ above sea level (it’s 33,500′ including the underneath bit) it’s still a beast.

The combination of height, the remoteness of the Hawaiian islands and its position means that Mauna Kea is one of the best stargazing sites in the world – and the fact that you can just drive on up and take it all in makes it even better.

You can read more about our adventures up the mountain here, but here’s what I bought in between drooling over space – no, not the Vans.

I was seriously taken with the design on all the Mauna Kea merch – ‘clearly the best’ is a loltimate catchphrase but the logo is just a really nice design, isn’t it? I’ll concoct a prize of some sort for anyone who can identify the stars on the print.

The Vans do have a bit of a story behind them too. I spotted this design ages ago and figured I’d just pick them up on the cheap somewhere in the US during our travels. I think I must have gone in every Vans store and skate shop in every city we went to, but no joy.

I eventually ordered them from Office when I got back… after a week they hadn’t shown up, but the last time I ordered from Office it took ages, so I wasn’t duly worried. After a while longer I did start to get slightly concerned and when I got in touch on Twitter we discovered the order had got ~lost in the system~. What kind of mysterious excuse it that, eh?

Credit where it’s due, their customer service team were pretty exceptional and not only did the shoes show up in a day but I got money off too. Thanks, Office!

Anyway, these two things are my favourite accessories in the world at the moment and if trainers and space don’t say ‘grown-up wardrobe‘ I don’t know what does.

A little bit of aloha

3.1 Philip Lim SS14 Menswear - aloha printPrada SS14 Menswear - Aloha print 2Prada SS14 Menswear - Aloha print

See, now I promised not to keep talking about the lolidays but here we go again – although truth be told, I’ve always been a fan of aloha print.

Big, bold Polynesian prints aren’t just a Hawaiian stereotype, they’re a way of life – everyone seems to have an aloha shirt or two on the islands and they’re certainly not just worn by tourists or staff in novelty restaurants on Waikiki. Aloha shirts are actually considered as formalwear – something you’d wear to a wedding or to work in a bank or something, you know?

Anyway, you can read a much better Hawaiian shirt history lesson here if you’re so inclined, the point of this post was to admire the aloha prints on the catwalks in the men’s spring/summer 2014 collections. At 3.1 Phillip Lim and Prada, we were treated to some excellent aloha-print bags and floral-festooned outfits that would put even the most flamboyant Hawaiian to shame.

I think it can be tricky to take an aloha print out of context and not have it look tacky, but the Philip Lim pieces feel extremely elegant and, obviously, Prada makes everything work always. If you check out the close-ups on Charlie Porter’s backstage blog you will undoubtedly fall in love with them even more. SWOON.

Porter x Atmos aloha print

I’m mighty glad those two decided to show aloha prints, because it gives me an excuse to post this bag of dreams from a collaboration between Porter and atmos which I’ve had bookmarked for about four months. Don’t you just hate those exclusive Japanese streetwear collaborations?

Alternative name for this post: seven bags that I would really like, but will never be able to afford.

(That’s the Hawaiian version of a sad trombone.)