Aloha Alternatives: Hawaiian Shirts Leave the Tropics

June 23, 2026

Question: When is a Hawaiian shirt not a Hawaiian shirt? When it becomes a canvas for your imagination! We love traditional aloha prints and so do many of our customers. They’re classic for a reason! However, sometimes you’re looking for something different, and Candor Threads can help with that too: our Hawaiian shirts are 100% custom printed, so the possibilities are endless. If you dream it up, you can wear it too.

We collected some of our favorite customer shirt designs that opened our imaginations to something we hadn’t seen before. Read on for our suggestions when you are seeking a unique look for your custom shirt.

Play With Pattern

We can design a pattern of any kind, so you aren’t limited to just tropical flowers and leaves. Archaeological Research Institute took us back to ancient history with their print of ancient tools and vessels. Joyful and whimsical patterns brought fun to branded shirts for Community Transit and Tulane University.

Tulane University Custom Shirt Design

Archaeological Research Institute and Community Transit Custom Shirt Designs

Think Outside the Beach

Not headed to the beach? No worries; make your shirt to match your locale. Aloha shirts met the desert in 461st FLTS’s cactus motifs. iTrvl were safari ready in their shirts, which featured African animal silhouettes in addition to warm tones. Aeromotion’s atmospheric cloud pattern said “the sky’s the limit!”, while Scaled Composites went out of this world with a starry space background.

iTrvl Custom Shirt Design

461st FLTS, Scaled Composites, & Aeromotion Custom Shirt Designs

The Shirt is Your Canvas

If you’re looking for a design option that extends across the entire shirt instead of a repeating pattern, we create full shirt designs as well. A full shirt design is a great way to make a big impact as well as showcase a large pattern. Golden Empire Transit got groovy with a tie dye pattern and position prints. Polypack’s large-scale pattern in a pastel palette had total Miami Vice vibes!

Golden Empire Transit Custom Shirt Design

Polypack Custom Shirt Design

Swap the Style

Guess what? A Hawaiian shirt can also transform into a totally different style of shirt! Tesla Austin kept the cowboy spirit in their design with a western-style shirt. The Princeton 1978 Reunion and Samuel Bell Memorial Foundation served vintage bowling chic with bold color blocking.