I loved this book, it is helpful to my collecting and my selling. It has wonderful pictures, and I love the section on '60's makers and just the way it is arranged in general is helpful and makes for fascinating reading. The only thing I would like to see with this book is a name index; this would make it so much more helpful as a reference. I do highly recommend it though, as a reference or just as a coffee table book.

Wow, what a book!! Having been previously lightly infected by the `Aloha Shirt' bug, after having read this beautiful book, I became incurably and terminally struck down. Profusely illustrated from the collections of many well-known and extremely lucky collectors, this book has become my bedside bible. The research is also first-class, following the development of the Aloha shirt from a fun thing, to a full-blown industry. I now live and breath THE shirt. Buy this book and like me, change your life.

If Hawaii or the aloha shirt has ever gladdened your heart, you'll want to own THE ALOHA SHIRT. Dale Hope conveys the TRUE SPIRIT (colorful, soft, peaceful, flowing) of the Hawaiian Islands by presenting both the fascinating history of the aloha shirt and 500 or so beautiful illustrations. These illustrations are so varied and exquisite that you'll get high just by perusing them. They also help you see how the aloha shirt can be an art form in and of itself. Hopefully, this book will inspire people to wear their aloha shirts more often -- not just when they visit Hawaii -- and to buy the new ones that are being created by the best artist designers.

Dale Hope grew up in the Hawaiian garment industry, taking over his father's clothing business at the age of 26. As the art director of Kahala Sportswear, Hope oversees the creation and manufacturing of 150 new Aloha shirt designs annual. In The Aloha Shirt: Spirit Of The Islands, Hope collaborates with writer Gregory Tozian to offer a magnificent, coffee-table artbook dedicated to the history of the unique and famous Hawaiian shirt style. This impressive treatise covers the history of Hawaiian clothing, the evolution of the tailor shop into the modern clothing factories, the designers, textiles, printmakers, and retailers that made the Hawaiian "aloha shirt" famous around the world. There are chapters focusing on Duke Kahanamoku, celebrities, shirt makers of the 60s, labels and buttons, and aloha shirt collectors. Profusely and beautiful illustrated, the text is informative, at times fascinating, and highly recommended for students of American clothing history and fads in general, and Hawaii's contributions to the garment industry and American popular culture in particular.

The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands is unique, as a historical and artistic book documenting the Aloha shirt, from its historic beginnings as a cottage industry, to the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. This definitive text has been extensively researched, with textile artists, designers, garment manufacturers and their families and friends all contributing to the consistency of the history as researched by Dale Hope. An educational and artistic book bringing over 500 aloha shirts with their Hawaiian inspired origins paralleled with the history and times of Hawaii. For those who have memories of Hawaii, and for those who share their memories to others, this elegant coffee table book is a "must have" for all!