APEC leaders and their ‘silly shirts’
Wearing traditional durumagi silk robes, U.S. President George W. Bush, top row right, shares a laugh with Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin, top row left, as Vietnam’s President Tran Duc Luong, South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun, and Chile’s President Ricardo Lagos stand nearby during the official Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group photo in Busan, South Korea, in 2005. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)
World leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, for much of the last two decades, would don exotic garb chosen by the host. The costumes often made for a light moment at the picture-taking session -- sober leaders in bomber jackets or pajama-style robes. This year’s summit, hosted by President Obama in his native Hawaii, broke with tradition.
U.S. President Bill Clinton, wearing a white tieless shirt called a barong tagalog, leads Pacific Rim leaders in the wave in 1996 during a group photo session outside the APEC meeting headquarters in Subic Bay, Philippines. Joining Clinton are Koo Chen-Fu of Taiwan, left, and Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa of Thailand. (David Longstreath / Associated Press)
Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum pose for a group photo session at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in Bangkok in 2003. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)
Wearing a traditional Peruvian poncho, U.S. President George W. Bush makes a silly face as Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso stands in front of him before the official group photo of the APEC summit in Lima in 2008. (Lawrence Jackson / Associated Press)
In this 2004 photo, U.S. President George Bush, left, Thailand’s Prime Minsiter Thaksin Shinawatra, center, and Russian President Vladimir Putin wear Chilean ponchos as they arrive for the official APEC leaders photo at La Moneda Palace, in Santiago, Chile. (Itsuo Inouye / Associated Press)
Wearing traditional ao dais, U.S. President George W. Bush, top row left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Chinese President Hu Jintao, bottom row left, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet wave during a group photo with leaders of the APEC summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2006. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)
U.S. President Bill Clinton, right, gestures as Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, center, and Taiwanese representative Perng Fai-Nan look on during the APEC group photo session at Jerudong Polo Club in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, in 2000. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)
Prime ministers, presidents and representatives of the 21 nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation pose for a group photo wearing traditional guayabera shirts during the two-day summit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2002. (Laura Rauch / Associated Press)
APEC leaders laugh during a photo session on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, in 1997. From left are Japanese Prime Minister
Dressed in traditional Malaysian batik shirts, from left, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Taiwan Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Chiang Pin Kung, Thailand Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and U.S. Vice President Al Gore applaud after the reading of the declaration at the conclusion of the APEC summit meeting in Cyberjaya in 1998. (Vincent Thian / Associated Press)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, front row left, U.S. President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera, second row left, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, Mexican Trade Minister Bruno Ferrari, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Philippine President Benigno Aquino, Taiwan’s special envoy Lien Chan, and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang wave as they exit the stage in Kapolei, Hawaii, on Sunday following the group photo at the APEC leaders summit. It was the first time since 1993 that the United States hosted the APEC summit, with leaders from the 21 member economies convening on the island of Oahu on Saturday and Sunday. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)