Books

Item Description

The most colorful and complete book published on the most enduring souvenir ever invented: the Hawaiian shirt.

Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of images, this book recounts the colorful stories behind these marvelous shirts: as cultural icons, evocative of the mystery and the allure of the islands, capturing the vibe of the watermen culture and lifestyle — casual, relaxed, and fun. Valued by professional collectors and by millions of vacationers and fashionistos, these shirts are enjoying a fashion revival.

Drawing from hundreds of interviews, newspaper and magazine archives, and personal memorabilia, the author evokes the world of the designers, seamstresses, manufacturers, and retailers who created the industry and nurtured it from its single-sewing-machine-shop beginnings to an enterprise of international scope and importance and its revival today.

The Aloha Shirt is both a dazzling, fun-to-browse art book, and a fascinating chronicle of the world’s love affair with Hawaii.

The Aloha Shirt provides a stunning pictorial history of the evolution of the Hawaiian shirt as an icon of relaxation, casual dress, and the allure of life in the Islands. With over 400 images of Aloha shirts, Hawaiian motifs, labels, and rare historical photographs, The Aloha Shirt features images and insights never before presented. A special feature of the book is the gallery of shirts, which shows the best collection ever assembled of rare and valuable shirts currently owned by private collectors. The colorful graphics are accompanied by a history spanning the 70 years of Aloha shirts, and drawing on dozens of interviews with industry pioneers, artists, retailers, and collectors. The book covers cultural influences on the Aloha shirt; tailors, seamstresses, designers, and celebrities who have popularized them; fabrics and printing processes; and invaluable information about Aloha shirts as collectibles.

This is copy has been signed by the author.

Item Special Note

Proceeds benefit Kona Historical Society, a 501c3 nonprofit. Winning bidder is responsible for shipping and Hawai`i State tax (4.166%). We try our best to ship items as economically as possible. Most are shipped flat rate but larger or unusually shaped items may need to be shipped priority. Winning bidder is also responsible for postal insurance if the item’s value is over $500. As with all auctions, item is sold “as is” with no refunds available.