What to Wear to a Luau Party: Attire & Styling Guide

Short answer: If you are figuring out what to wear to a luau party, aim for comfortable, breathable “aloha attire”: a collared button-down aloha shirt (or a breezy sundress or blouse) paired with chinos, linen trousers, or tailored shorts and flat, sturdy shoes that can handle grass or sand. Whether you are attending an authentic evening lūʻau in Hawaii or hosting a backyard celebration at home, treat island wear as real resort clothing rather than a novelty outfit. If you are hosting or going as a group, custom Hawaiian shirts with faces or a party emblem let everyone dress the part while keeping a shirt they will wear all summer.

What is a lūʻau, and what does “aloha attire” mean?

Understanding the setting makes getting dressed much easier. In Hawaiian history, men and women originally ate separately under the strict religious kapu (taboo) system, until King Kamehameha II ended the restriction in 1819 by sharing a meal with women, ushering in the period known as ʻAi Noa and giving rise to traditional feasts called pāʻina or ʻahaʻaina. By 1856, the gathering had taken on the name lūʻau, named after the young taro leaves cooked with coconut milk and octopus or chicken served at the feast. Today in Hawaii, families hold graduation lūʻau, wedding lūʻau, baby lūʻau, and birthday lūʻau alongside the commercial evening feasts hosted for visitors.

In Hawaii, semi-formal functions such as dinners, birthday celebrations, and weddings frequently specify “aloha attire.” Rather than requiring heavy mainland evening wear, aloha attire sits right in the middle between business casual and festive resort wear: men wear collared aloha shirts, and women wear tropical prints, sundresses, or a traditional muʻumuʻu.

What to wear to a luau party for every setting

The right outfit depends slightly on whether you are walking onto an oceanfront lawn on Maui, attending a hotel banquet, or stepping into a friend’s backyard:

Luau setting	Top recommendation	Bottoms to pair	Footwear
1. Outdoor Oceanfront Lūʻau in Hawaii	Short-sleeve button-down aloha shirt or floral sundress, plus a light cardigan or wrap for the evening breeze	Tailored khaki shorts, linen pants, or a mid-length skirt	Flat sandals, loafers, or sturdy flats (skip high heels on grass)
2. Resort Banquet or Cruise Ship Luau Night	Collared Hawaiian shirt with a point or camp collar	Chinos, dress slacks, or linen trousers	Closed-toe loafers, boat shoes, or dressy flat sandals
3. Backyard Graduation or Birthday Luau	Custom Hawaiian shirt (with the guest of honor’s face or pet)	Neat chino shorts, dark jeans, or linen shorts	Clean sneakers, leather sandals, or slip-ons
4. Office or School “Hawaiian Day”	Button-down aloha shirt worn buttoned up, or open over a plain crew-neck tee	Chinos, dark jeans, or a knee-length skirt	Standard office shoes, loafers, or clean casual sneakers

How to wear an aloha shirt (and what to wear with a Hawaiian shirt)

Two of the most common searches before an island trip or summer party are how to wear aloha shirt styles properly and what to wear with Hawaiian shirt prints so you look put-together. Here are the practical rules:

• Tucked or untucked: Traditional aloha shirts are cut with a straight bottom hem and are meant to be worn untucked so air can circulate in warm weather (a style historically influenced by Filipino immigrants in Hawaii who wore untucked shirts called bayau). Tucking an aloha shirt into trousers is also acceptable for business or dressier settings, much like a polo shirt.
• Camp collar vs. point collar: A camp collar lies flat and open at the neck for a classic, relaxed island silhouette. A point collar stands up a bit more around the neck and looks slightly dressier for evening dinners or office events. On every shirt we sell, you can choose either a camp collar or a point collar, and choose with or without a chest pocket, at no extra cost.
• Keep the bottoms solid: Because an aloha shirt already carries a bold pattern, pair it with solid neutral bottoms: khaki, stone, navy, olive, white, or dark denim. Avoid pairing a floral shirt with plaid or floral shorts.
• Footwear on grass and sand: As longstanding Hawaii venues like the Old Lahaina Lūʻau advise guests, wear comfortable, sturdy flat shoes and skip high heels, which sink straight into coastal lawns and uneven pathways.
• What to wear for Hawaiian day at work or school: If you are searching what to wear for Hawaiian day on a Friday at the office, wear your Hawaiian shirt with long chinos or dark jeans rather than beach shorts, and layer it over a solid white or navy t-shirt if the building’s air conditioning runs cold.

Cultural respect and lei etiquette at a lūʻau

Whether you are visiting the islands or hosting a luau-themed party on the mainland, a few small details show respect for Hawaiian culture:

• Treat aloha wear as real attire, not a costume: Skip plastic grass skirts, fake coconut tops, or caricature props. A well-made aloha shirt or floral dress is genuine island attire worn daily across Hawaii by residents of every background.
• Receiving a lei: In Polynesian and Hawaiian culture, a lei (a garland traditionally crafted from fresh flowers such as plumeria, tuberose, or orchids, or foliage like maile and tī leaves, or kukui nuts) is given as a symbol of affection, honor, and friendship. When someone offers you a lei, accept it graciously by bowing your head slightly so they can drape it over your shoulders, as raising hands directly over someone’s head or touching their face is traditionally considered disrespectful.
• Wearing and caring for a lei: Wear the lei draped evenly over your shoulders down the front and back. Out of tradition, only an open-ended lei (rather than a closed circle) is given to a pregnant or nursing woman.
• Never toss a fresh lei in the trash: Because a lei represents the love and goodwill of the giver, throwing it into a garbage bin is considered disrespectful. Traditional practice is to let it dry in a window or return the natural flowers and leaves to the earth by hanging it in a tree or burying it.

Hosting a backyard luau, birthday, or graduation party?

In Hawaii, the concepts of “lūʻau” and “party” blend naturally into milestone gatherings like graduation lūʻau, birthday lūʻau, and wedding lūʻau. If you are hosting your own luau party for a 40th birthday, a retirement, a family reunion, or a graduation, custom Hawaiian shirts make it easy to bring the whole group together:

• Three ways to customize: Put the birthday guest’s or graduate’s face on every shirt, put each family member’s own face on their individual shirt, or weave a custom party badge or logo into the floral pattern.
• Every adult size at the same price: Mix sizes S through 6XL in the same order for the exact same price per shirt, with no minimum order quantity.
• Mix collars and pockets for free: Let guests pick between a camp collar and a point collar, with or without a chest pocket, inside the same shirt design at no extra charge.

Order size	Price per shirt	How pricing works	Estimated delivery to your door
1 to 10 shirts	$39.90	Standard site price	Around 3 weeks
11 to 24 shirts	$35.90	Written group quote	Around 3 weeks
25 to 49 shirts	$33.90	Written group quote	Around 3 weeks (up to 40 shirts); 4 to 5 weeks (41+ shirts)
50+ shirts	$31.90	Written group quote	4 to 5 weeks (up to 200 shirts)

Group discounts for 11 or more shirts are provided via a written quote rather than applied automatically at checkout. Submit your details on our bulk orders page and we will reply with a written quote within 1 business day. Shipping is free on orders from $99. Orders of up to 40 shirts take about 3 weeks to reach your door, and orders of 41 to 200 shirts take 4 to 5 weeks (allow extra time in November and December).

How to get your luau shirt ready

1. Browse tropical patterns in our shop or explore our shirts with faces collection.
2. If you are adding a face or party emblem, check our photo guide. We accept JPG, PNG, and WebP files up to 8 MB, and background removal is automatic and free.
3. Upload your photo on the design page to check the live print preview on the site before you pay.
4. Use the size guide to select sizes from S to 6XL.

Getting ready for an upcoming luau? Pick a tropical print in our shop, test your own photo on the live print preview, or visit our bulk orders page to request a written group quote within 1 business day.