The APEC leaders wore Driza-Bones as the Australian national dress (silly shirt day). Not something I would have liked to do the in heat of the week before APEC, but quite good when the weather turned sour. I hope they also got matching Akubras, though I can see why you wouldn’t wear them during the photo shoot.
I wonder if they had two sets of shirts available? One for hot weather, as well as the Driza-Bones for the wet and cold weather?
Swimming costumes and thongs were discounted by the PM. Though there were comments that Australian beach wear, like Quicksilver, should be a feature. [1,2]
IMHO the APEC leaders should have all received a Mambo T-shirt with a Reg Mombassa design. Dogs farting APEC logos, or Jesus’ APEC on the beach. Something fun like that.
It has been pointed out to me though, that Mambo no longer does the arty t-shirts, moving more to surfy stuff. It was suggested that this was because the fancy Ts were worn more often by older people, rather than the youth market that the brand is trying to sell to [4].
References:
- APEC attire creates fashion headache (ABC, 3 Sept 2007)
- ‘Funny shirts’ photo-op at APEC summit keeps the fashion gurus guessing (The West Australian, 3 Sept 2007)
- Mambo takeover (ABC, 6 Mar 2000)
- Mambo ditches Mombassa for a younger cool (The Age, 17 June 2004)
- Reg the rocker, Chris the artist (ABC, 10 Jan 2007)