Offbeat: APEC leaders got no shirt

The global economic crisis reaped yet another victim on Sunday – the storied tradition of normally starchy APEC leaders decked out in gaudy local dress.
As this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is in Hawaii, journalists had been salivating at the prospect of leaders such as Chinese President Hu Jintao modeling the state’s colorful Aloha floral shirts.
Against the backdrop of towering palm trees and the sparkling Pacific Ocean, the leaders kept their Hawaiian shirts under wraps and lined out in their suits, waving stiffly to waiting photographers before quickly leaving.
“We decided we will end that tradition,” US President Barack Obama, a Hawaii native, was overheard telling Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. As Obama left the risers, he took off his suit jacket in the tropical heat.
A US official earlier said the foreign leaders would be given local shirts but would not be required to wear them for a cattle call in front of the cameras.
He did not give a reason, but the sight of Obama joshing around with foreign leaders in a silly shirt on palm-fringed Hawaii is hardly the image his political aides want to project as he starts his tough re-election bid.