(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-04 07:12

SYDNEY: Australia has no national costume, adding an extra air of mystery this year to the most-asked question at the annual summit of Pacific Rim leaders: What will they wear at the photo-op?

Each year, the leaders from the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum conclude their annual gathering by slipping out of their suits and into the national costume of the host nation.

Leaders have posed in ponchos in Chile, batik shirts in Indonesia and, last year in Vietnam, traditional "ao dai" silk tunics.

The resulting group photograph is by far the most colorful item on APEC's trade-dominated agenda. A White House schedule for President George W. Bush's visit to Sydney called it the "funny shirts" photo.

But Australia has no clear-cut candidate for such traditional attire. Its most recognizable fashion statements include Speedo brand swimming briefs, rubber flip-flop shoes known locally as thongs and wide-brimmed hats with dangling corks designed to keep away flies.

While officials are keeping the final details secret, newspaper readers can rest easy that they won't be confronted with photographs of the leaders in skimpy swimsuits.

"It will be very Australian," Prime Minister John Howard told the Nine television network yesterday. "The only Australian garb I'd rule out is Speedos and thongs... That wouldn't be very diplomatic."

A lively debate about what the leaders should wear has been conducted on radio talk shows and newspaper websites. But a consensus has settled around a traditional, knee-length riding jacket topped with the wide-brimmed felt cowboy Akubra hat favored by Howard whenever he campaigns in rural areas.

The look is widely considered an emblem of Australia's rugged outback, made famous in the 1982 movie The Man from Snowy River.

Manufacturers were invited months ago to pitch their ideas for costumes - but the bidders had to sign non-disclosure agreements not to reveal details, even if they weren't selected, said Roy Wilkinson, company secretary of the Akubra hat company.

"It's speculation and I can't confirm or deny" leaders will don Akubra hats, Wilkinson said.

Other suggestions include khaki shirts and shorts as a memorial to "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, an Australian wildlife expert and hugely popular television host who was killed a year ago in a stingray attack.

Also on the speculation list: knee-high sheepskin Ugg boots, surfers' boardshorts, barbecue aprons and blue canvas shorts with tank tops - a stereotypical take on the informal summer uniform of Australia's working class.

The tradition of posing in clothing symbolic of the host country began when the leaders were asked to wear casual dress for the first APEC meeting in Seattle in 1993. The following year, Indonesia's former President Suharto provided APEC guests with colorful, open-necked shirts and asked that they wear them. All did.

Howard said a leather bomber jacket given to him by the Canadian prime minister in 1997 was the best APEC outfit he'd ever worn.

"It was so good both my sons wanted to purloin it when I brought it back," he said.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/04/2007 page12)