Matinée:
Hawaiian print or “aloha” shirts first appeared in the midst of the Great Depression, when whimsy and bright colors were in short supply. By the late 1940s and through the 1950s, as tourism in Hawai‘i grew so did the worldwide popularity of the aloha shirt. Today there is probably no better-known item of apparel that captures a land’s “sense of place.” What began as a business to produce shirts for the booming visitor industry morphed into something more kama‘āina, something totally local, weaving the aloha spirit into a garment that would convey that spirit to the wearer. The evolution of this iconic style is exquisitely illustrated and described in the expanded, second (2016) English language edition of The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands.
Kama‘āina author Dale Hope, with a lifetime of experience in the Hawaiian garment industry, shares the pictorial history of this fashion statement and art form on two occasions: Monday evening, September 12, and a “matinee” on the following afternoon, Tuesday, September 13. Wear (or bring) your own eye-catching, historic aloha shirt! This stunning book makes a wonderful gift for those who love our Islands; copies will be available for purchase and Dale will be happy to inscribe them.
Free to Lyman Museum members; $3 nonmembers.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for evening public programs.
Limited seating; first come, first seated.
Additional parking next door at Hilo Union School ON MONDAY EVENING ONLY!
