Beautifully illustrated with more than 700 images, The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands tells the colorful stories behind these marvelous Hawaiian shirts: as cultural icons, evocative of the mystery and the allure of the Islands; as collectibles, valued by professional collectors, and by the millions of vacationers and servicemen who still cherish the shirts hanging in their closets; and as a lifestyle—casual, relaxed, and fun.
Drawing from hundreds of interviews, newspaper and magazine archives, and personal memorabilia, the author evokes the world of the designers, seamstresses, manufacturers, and retailers of the Golden Age of the Aloha shirt (from the ’30s through the ’50s), who created the industry and nurtured it from its single-sewing-machine shop beginnings to an enterprise of international scope and importance. Here are the fun-loving ’60s; interviews with collectors, who preserve these shirts as fine works of art; and insights into the roles of coconut buttons, matched pockets, woven labels, and exotic fabrics in the evolution of the Aloha shirt.
Welcome to this rich collection of stories about a unique time and place—folk histories of the many people who brought Aloha shirts to life, celebrations of the romance and beauty of Hawaii, and the wonderful stories told by the shirts themselves.
