Customer Reviews

The Hawaiian Shirt: Its Art and History (Recollectibles)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Unfortunately, many of the dates presented in this book are wrong, and this book has perpetuated several myths and inaccuracies with regard to the history and evolution of the Aloha shirt. I am a historian who does research on Hawaii, and am curator of the world's largest collection of Hawaiian apparel. It is sad to say that this book and others written by collectors have proven to be a real problem because whatever research Mr. Steele did, was not only incomplete but flawed. As the first book published on the topic of Hawaiian clothing, this book is often cited and the inaccuracies are accepted as correct when they are not.

Apparently the author was a collector on the US mainland since he apparently did not do much historical research in Hawaii. The dates are usually off about ten years. Also from his book you'd think all Hawaii produced were rayon shirts when cottons, in Asian prints, have been most common!

While the photos of the classic "silkies"
are fine, and most of the text is correct,
there are some historical inaccuracies.

I agree with the other reviews so I won't duplicate that. The author really should've gotten his facts -- and spelling -- right before publishing. He had a great opportunity to put out a good and useful product, but he blew it. I was thinking maybe it's better than nothing, but no, I'd rather have nothing. Thank goodness there are more things available now. If the author just wanted a book with pretty pictures he should have done that and left out his "history." It's better to give no information than bad information.

I've been told Steele's take on history is somewhat spotty; I'm not an expert so I can't confirm or deny that. To be honest, I've never even read the text. But the photos are numerous and great; there are over 125 full shirts in full color, many of them full-page as well. That makes the book perfect as an painting resource, which is what I use it for. If you're a fabric designer, costumer or artist, or just dreaming of the islands in their jet-set days of Lana Turner and Elvis Presley, this book is a good resource.

While this book does show some nice photos, it fails to deliver accurate information. The dates on MANY of the shirts are off by about 10 years or so and the book does very little to help the serious collector or anyone with more than just a passing interest. A much more informative book is 'Hawaii Unbuttoned' by Craig Callaway.

This is a beautiful collection of shirts and photos. I think the people who are overly critical just don't get what the author was going for. Love this book. A must have for anyone who loves Hawaiian shirts.