The strange shirts worn by leaders at

APEC summits and beyond in order for the "family" photo to be taken should have been raised when the Downunder Prime Minister wore "that t-shirt" the other day.

I know nothing about "Joy Division". The article in the paper really left me no wiser...apart from the fact that it was apparently a "group" of some sort. Well, groups get odd names and, if the source of this name is correct, then it is also nasty. Why would you name any group after women forced into prostitution?  I will leave my comments on that there.

What puzzled me was why the Prime Minister was wearing that sort of t-shirt at all? Why wear something like that in public? 

I know there will be people who will say, "so what?" but it is something I found slightly strange. An ordinary plain polo shirt would not have bothered me. I have seen more than one leader dressed that way. Work clothes would not bother me. A former leader in an open neck shirt with a beer in hand, another with fire fighting gear on, a third in a work shirt and old hat, a fourth in jeans and a plain t-shirt. All those things, from both sides of the political divide, seem to be acceptable but not the t-shirt.

Other people have commented on the t-shirt in question. They have said things like "childish", "teenage", "inappropriate", "a bit odd" and "not what you would expect from a Prime Minister". I was left simply puzzled. It just seems odd to me.

Then I thought of those shirts and other garments worn by leaders for the "family photo". I have quite liked some of the shirts and other garments but the people in them often look faintly ridiculous. They are garments they are not ever likely to wear again. Are they languishing in wardrobes? Have they been given away? The Downunder raincoats might be quite useful I suppose - if you live in a cool enough climate where it actually rains. The very traditional Korean mumu though, or the batik shirts in Malaysia?

I wonder what would happen if the group consisted of women rather than men? I suspect they would have a "family" photo in their own clothes.