After falling out of favour during the global economic turmoil, APEC's propensity for dressing up its leaders in "silly shirts" returned with a gusto today as Indonesia's guitar-strumming president led a stylish parade of Balinese design.
US President Barack Obama was a notable absentee, perhaps relieved that a budget shutdown kept him home after he axed the annual fashion show when he chaired the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii two years ago.
Secretary of State John Kerry was there instead, sporting a purple shirt made of a silk-like Balinese fabric called "endek".
While the design was made in Indonesia, the fabric itself was woven in China, a win-win outcome given APEC's stated goal of tearing down trade barriers.
Chinese President Xi Jinping came in communist red while Russian President Vladimir Putin -- who also dispensed with the APEC shirts tradition in Vladivostok last year -- wore green.
The shirts and blouses were on display as the heads of government trooped into greet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the start of a summit dinner.
"After an already busy first day, and tomorrow's tight schedule, let us relax, enjoy the dinner and cultural performance tonight," Yudhoyono said before a gala performance that featured barefoot Balinese dancers and, later, a full-throated rendition of Psy's "Gangnam Style" by two male singers.
The Indonesian leader had already leavened the mood earlier today in a break from sombre discussions about risks to the global economy and hand-wringing about the political warfare between Obama and US Republicans.
Yudhoyono, who has a series of albums of love songs to his name, brought out his guitar when he learned that it was Putin's 61st birthday. Cheered on by Xi, he strummed "Happy Birthday" as Russia's tough-guy leader smiled broadly.
"It was a surprise," Putin said later to Yudhoyono at another function in front of reporters, adding "terima kasih", the Indonesian for "thank you".
The rendition recalled another bygone tradition of musical performances at a security-oriented Asia gathering which, in Hanoi in 2001, unforgettably featured then-US secretary of state Colin Powell serenading Japan's female foreign minister in the guise of a lovelorn cowboy.
