( The Bintang Tank Top )

“On Bali, every tourist wears one: the Bintang tank top. Tourists that wear them don’t care that they look like construction workers. The tops look so cheap and are so indecent, you’ll never be able to enter a nightclub or a proper restaurant wearing one. But they are great publicity for the local beer brand.”

I should have gotten one for free, but nevertheless I was willing to support the local Balinese economy, and with a handful of Rupiahs I bought one on my very last day on Bali. Back home in the Netherlands, the tank top turns out to be pretty cool. No one has one here – at least if they haven’t been to Bali – and no one seems to know the beer brand Bintang either. I can actually wear it without shame and think of beautiful Bali each time I wear it.

The top probably won’t survive the summer, due to the poor quality of the fabric, but at least I have a unique, exclusive and meaningful eye-catcher for the summer of 2014.

( Cathelijne )
( The Netherlands )