- Video
- Image
The shirts of APEC meetings past 1:14
- Play video
The ghosts of old APEC meetings live on in these photos of various host country outfits. Enjoy!
- news.com.au
- 11 Nov 2014
- News
Politicians of the world unite ... Prime Minister Tony Abbott joins other world leaders in Beijing for the traditional “silly shirt” picture. Source: News Corp Australia
THE silly shirt is back.
In keeping with the APEC custom, world leaders have posed for the family photo. And compared to previous years, the 2014 ensemble at the Beijing summit is positively subdued.
A traditional Chinese silk shirt in dark purple and blue, it’s the epitome of Maoist chic, even if it copped a pasting on social media.
How we laughed ... Bill Clinton and other delegates attempt a Mexican wave while wearing Barong shirts in the Philippines. Source: AP
It’s a far cry from the headache-inducing shirts donned by leaders at the 1998 conference in Kuala Lumpur. Those technicolour batik dreamboats were really something to behold.
Hippy look ... the APEC leaders come together for their 1998 portrait in Kuala Lumpur. Source: Supplied
Then there was 2005, the year then PM John Howard rocked a glorified mumu in Pusan, Korea. It’s long, flowing and hides a multitude of sins — a great garment on hand when you’ve been overindulging in the food and wine on offer at all those stately banquets.
Buddy love ... Dubya and John Howard work the mumu in Pusan, South Korea. Source: News Corp Australia
Cut to four years later and it’s 2009, the year of the Singapore sling — colourful, silky designer shirts that hung loose and cool in the insufferable humidity. Prime Minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, looked fetching in his tunic as he and the other leaders were ferried by rickshaw to a glittering event at Singapore’s waterfront.
Bear hug ... then PM Kevin Rudd hangs out with Peruvian president Alan Garcia and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at The Esplanade in Singapore. Picture: AFP Source: Supplied
You can blame Bill Clinton for the silly shirt tradition. Bubba thought it would be a hoot if the leaders donned the traditional dress of the host nation so he handed out leather bomber jackets at the 1993 summit in Seattle.
In 2010, king of cool Barack Obama banned the “silly shirt” tradition at the summit in Hawaii. Shame really, we would love to have seen Tony Abbott sporting a Hawaiian shirt and board shorts, for a change.
Silly shirt ban ... Canadian PM Stephen Harper and then Opposition leader Tony Abbott join other APEC leaders for the traditional family photograph in Hawaii in 2010. Picture: Ray Strange Source: News Limited
