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Tommy Bahama

Seattle-based manufacturer of casual, men's and women's sportswear and activewear

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ3531299 ↗
Source-derived summary

Tommy Bahama Group Inc. trading as Tommy Bahama, owned by parent company Oxford Industries is an American multinational lifestyle brand, manufacturer of casual men's and women's sportswear and activewear, denim, swimwear, accessories, footwear and a complete home furnishings collection. Tommy Bahama is available at US department stores including Macy's, Nordstrom, Dillard's, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Belk and Von Maur, along with resort locations around the world. There are over 160 company-owned Tommy Bahama retail stores worldwide, 14 of which include a Tommy Bahama restaurant and bar.

History

Tony Margolis, Bob Emfield, and their wives dreamed up the idea of "Tommy Bahama", a lifestyle of never leaving the beach. In 1991, Tony and Bob discussed their concept with Lucio Dalla Gasperina. From the outset, the three envisioned the kind of upscale casual apparel Tommy would wear: printed silk shirts and tailored pants for island living. Basing clothing on the concept, they founded Tommy Bahama Group, Inc. in 1993. The first retaill store opened in Naples, Florida in 1996.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Tommy Bahama” as seattle-based manufacturer of casual, men's and women's sportswear and activewear. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tommy, Bahama and Seattle-based.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1991, 1993, 1996—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Tommy, Bahama and Seattle-based providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Tommy Bahama”, the useful work is to connect “seattle-based manufacturer of casual, men's and women's sportswear and activewear” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3531299. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991, 1993 and 1996.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Tommy Bahama”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Tommy Bahama primary sources, Tommy Bahama archive and Tommy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tommy Bahama”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Tommy Bahama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.