Princess Ka'iulani Festival

Princess Ka'iulani was a tragic figure - one of many - in the history of Hawaii royalty. She was a beautiful young woman who was destined to become the queen of the islands after the reign of Queen Lili'uokalani, but who died while trying to restore the monarchy after the overthrow of the Queen in 1893. She is highly regarded as a great beauty as well as patriot by many in the islands.

Each year there is a festival on Maui in her honor, and one of the events in the celebration this year was a sweeping fashion show of the various eras beginning in the early 19th century and proceeding to the present.

Say fashion show and Caren is very interested. She had purchased a beautiful period dress from the racks at the Salvation Army store nearby, not really knowing what it was exactly. Turns out it was a replica of a dress worn by the Princess and produced by Princess Ka'iulani Fashions - the most prestigious line of women’s aloha apparel in the islands for years.

Well, needless to say, Caren determined that she would be welcome to model the beautiful dress in the fashion show along with the professional models at the Festival.

She was a highlight of the show and, because she wore the dress throughout the day, she attracted a lot of compliments and added greatly to the gaiety of the event.