THE ART OF THE ALOHA SHIRT

by Desoto Brown & Linda Arthur

Island Heriatge Publishing US$13.95

The Aloha or Hawaiian shirt originated in the mid-1930s as a commodity for the tourist market and it remains pretty much the same today although if you are prepared to pay a little more you may get some unique elements in its design, including tropical print motifs with brilliant colours.

This appealing, lavishly illustrated title provides a history of the transformation of that shirt - from tourist tack to global fashion item sometimes with an element of indigenous ethnic art from Hawai‘i’s greatly romanticized past .

I especially enjoyed the pictures of advertisements featuring the shirt over the past 70 years. And of course there is a shot of Elvis sporting an aloha shirt from a scene in the third of his Hawaiian movies, "Paradise-Hawaiian Style" from 1965. Not a memorable movie, but I wouldn't mind his shirt!

A fun book, a great souvenir of a brief but highly enjoyable visit.