Oregon woman spreads aloha from mainland
Despite never having been to
the islands, the seamstress has
attracted an international audience
for her Hawaiian-print shirts
By Susan Goracke
Grants Pass (Ore.) Daily Courier
SELMA, Ore. -- It's a long way from the sleepy, southern Oregon town of Selma to the beaches of Hawaii. Yet the two have one thing in common: They're both great places to buy Hawaiian-print shirts.
Yes, those loud, colorful shirts with tropical scenes that line the shelves of every tourist trap on the islands.
The same ones that, thanks to the recent, meteoric popularity of all things surfing-related, have become best sellers for clothing retailers from California to New York. Of course, Selma may not have swaying palm trees or killer waves, but the town's a popular spot to buy Hawaiian shirts, thanks to the exacting standards of skilled seamstress Judi Taylor.
She's been making Hawaiian shirts since 1975 -- when her then-husband couldn't find one to fit his 6-foot-6, 300-pound frame.
Today, Taylor's shirts come in about 150 eye-popping fabrics and 17 different sizes that fit toddlers all the way up to the big guys who need a roomy 5X. Best of all, her shirts can be shipped right to your door.
"People from here will go to Hawaii, then come back and order shirts from me to give as souvenir gifts," said Judi Taylor, who, with husband Paul, owns Hallelujah Hawaiian Shirts.
For the past 12 years, the enterprising couple have carved out a living creating and selling Judi's shirts and Paul's chainsaw sculptures, plus other handcrafted and imported items in their shop, about 20 miles southwest of Grants Pass. But an injury to Paul's shoulder forced him to give up woodcarving two years ago. That, combined with a slowing tourist trade along the highway, prompted him to delve full-time into marketing his wife's Hawaiian shirts on the Internet.
After teaching himself the basics, Paul set up their Alohaland.com Web site three years ago.
He remembers the time two years ago when Judi drove down to California to visit her mother. "I called her and told her we just got six Hawaiian shirt orders," he said.
"The next day, I called her to say we got another 12 orders. The next day, I called her and said, 'You'd better get home, it's going crazy here.'"
With orders coming in every day, Judi had to hire local seamstresses to keep up. She also maintains an inventory of 300 shirts in the most popular fabrics and sizes.
Paul expects to double production to 2,400 shirts this year. In July, their biggest month yet, the Taylors filled 350 orders.
"We've sent them to every country in Europe, to the Ukraine, to Russia, to Japan and Malaysia. Most of (those customers) tell us they can't get Hawaiian shirts in their countries. We've even sent them to Hawaii, especially for the big guys over there."
However, most of Judi's shirts go to mainland customers -- many of whom collect Hawaiian shirts. "They're almost like addicts," Paul said.
The couple have filled several large orders for families planning reunions and for corporations that want to outfit their VIPs in matching shirts.
To keep her selection of fabrics ever changing, Judi travels to two fabric shows a year, but mostly she orders from four outlets in California and Hawaii.
In addition to traditional themes of tropical flowers and beach scenes, she sprinkles in specialty and novelty designs. Into surfboards, woodies or hula girls? No problem.
Exotic birds and tropical fish? Step right up. Mad for 1950s cars or 1940s pinup girls? You've found the right place.
"There's a whole cult of 'parrot heads' who go to Jimmy Buffet concerts," explained Judi. "We carry six different fabrics for them. In fact, we're becoming known as the parrot-head place."
For gamblers, there's the "casino shirt" decked out in playing cards. For the party-time fool, there's the "beer bash." There are shirts covered with bald eagles, chili peppers or zebra stripes.
"Right now, we're filling a big order from a pizza pan company," added Judi. "They wanted all their employees to have pizza shirts. So we hunted around and found one manufacturer who had this fabric with gooey, cheesy slices all over it. It was perfect."
For someone who's spent the last 25 years making Hawaiian shirts, Judi laughed when she revealed her little-known secret: "People call and ask, 'What island are you on?' Hey, I've never even been to Hawaii."
