A question for visitors to KW

I don%26#39;t want to step on toes and do NOT want to make enemies, but I am extremely curious about this and have been for quite a while.

When you come to KW, do you wear a parrot/Hawaiian shirt? Why? I guess what I am trying to find out is why so many people visit here and seem to think it%26#39;s the ';uniform';? I mean, when a local shows up at the bar dressed like that, he/she is nearly always give a major ration of crap and asked why they are dressed like a ';tourist';. ';Local'; clothes are a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

Not trying to start anything, I just want to know what your mindset is re%26#39; this choice of outfits.

Please enlighten me.

A question for visitors to KW

Nope, not us, don%26#39;t like em and don%26#39;t even own em!! I much prefer a bikini top or tank top %26gt;;-) And we NEVER wear a KW bar shirt in KW, only at home!

A question for visitors to KW

My husband wore one for our wedding, but it%26#39;s not just when we%26#39;re on vacation. He has a couple that he wears at home too. Actually he wears them more at home than on vacation!

We%26#39;re casual people, he doesn%26#39;t own a suit, or even any ';dressy'; clothes. Anything that%26#39;s worn on vacation is something we%26#39;d have on any day at home.

I have so many bar and liquor company sponsored t-shirts, its amazing. Most, I got for free.

I know my husband would never wear one. When we were shopping for KW, I picked one up and said %26#39;how about this%26#39;? He told me that I could wear it.

Sue

Good question - I feel the same way about Northerners (I am one so I can say it). I%26#39;ve seen many move south and start wearing shirts and pants with loud flower motifs.

No tourist dress for us - usually a parir of shorts/capris and a polo shirt with flip flops. Always leave KW with a flip flop tan on my feet!

I don%26#39;t even own a loud Hawaiian shirt. I dress for the tropics. Light weight sports shirt or T-shirt, shorts, light slacks in the evening. I do my best to blend in with the locals.

First let me say my husband does not own one of those shirts. Thank Godness! No offense to the men that out there that do have them. It%26#39;s just not our cup of tea. We are more of a Shorts and t-shirt group.

These are very popular. We have been to about every island in the Carribean and you see them there as well. My brother in law wears one every where. I think he thinks it makes him look cool and prestine.

He does say that they are very light and helps keeps him cool. So maybe there are just a lot of sweaty people in KW just trying to stay cool. Just a thought : )

My first trip down there I did, then I felt eyes on me and figured it would benefit my self esteem to blend. So I dress the standard T%26#39;s and shorts. Althought, you will need to bury me in my loud flip flops, I don%26#39;t care who stares, glares, or points, they I guess are my year round guilty pleaure. (Nick Fanning Reef;s with a bottle opener build into the bottom of each of them) Functional and rather loud.

I actually started combing the internet to find shirts that are ';worthy'; of making the trip with me to Key West.

Oh Boy......challenge flag.

It%26#39;s cuz they WANT to. It helps them feel better, enhance their feeling of being tropical, warm, swaying palms, that vein.

I have a couple and wear them occasionally, not often, but they elevate my mood when I do.

With some girls, it%26#39;s the same with a ';Corona'; bikini or flowery stuff. It just feels better. I don%26#39;t blame tourists at all for the shirts. When I arrived in 89, I wore white long pants and pastel colored jackets, and looked like an idiot, I obviously overshot South Beach and learned Don Johnson was not a fashion statement.

It%26#39;s all good. The best buys for those shirts are in consignment shops, where you can pick them up for a song after idiots like me pay $60 for them. Don%26#39;t pay a lot, there%26#39;s not much use for them in Michigan.

An interesting story about how fans of Jimmy Buffett got to be known as ';Parrot Heads';. Early in his career, the band was backstage waiting for the show to start when one of JB%26#39;s people came back and made the announcement, ';WOW, this place looks like it is full of Deadheads with parrot shirts on';. The term ';Parrot Head'; was born!

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