Wear Your Words: 5 Statement Shirts That Support Women and Girls

Check out these tees with sayings that are as tough and beautiful as the women (and guy) wearing them.

September 6, 2017

Stacey Makiya,

Photos: Aaron K. Yoshino

Recently my daughter got bullied at school. To say I was initially furious—and heartbroken—would be a severe understatement. But, what I learned from this experience was that my daughter is pretty badass. She held her own, didn’t retaliate and informed me of what happened in a calm, mature manner. I was a proud, less angry mama bear.

Bullying is not something I take lightly, especially when it’s geared toward girls and women. Our office is 70 percent women, and you better believe we kill it. Every. Day. But, we couldn’t do it without the support of one another and the hardworking men of HONOLULU Magazine—shout out to Jeff, Louis, Thomas and the Don, who show us unconditional respect and appreciation.

Now, more than ever, the world is encouraging women to stand strong, be ballsy and empower each other. Fashion leaders including Alice + Olivia, Tory Burch and Prabal Gurung have shown their love with lines of feminist logo tees, which inspired us to hunt down a few trendy sisterhood shirts.

One day, we hope we won’t need logos to encourage us to treat all humans equally with kindness, generosity and respect. Until then, we’ll wear our hearts on our tees and remind each other that what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger. My daughter proved that to me.

“Forget trends, ignore social pressure—there’s nothing more liberating than wearing what you want.”

—Enjy El-Kadi, web producer.

Girls Support Girls T-shirt, $14.99, H&M, Ka Makana Ali‘i, (855) 466-7467.

“I am who I am because of the women who have been there for me.”

—Louis Scheer, art director.

Top Shop Females of the Future T-shirt, $28, Nordstrom, Ala Moana, (808) 953-6100.

“Start complimenting your daughter, girlfriends, any woman in your life on her character, kind deeds and accomplishments, instead of complimenting her for having a good hair day or choosing the perfect shade of lipstick.”