So, fellow Asians may back me up with this... it is an Eastern belief that your stomach is the pathway to your health. I don't mean food (though Eastern food is yummy!), but rather, the exposure of your torso area to cold. In other words, if you don't keep your tummy warm, you'll get sick. To combat this, Asians invented tummy sweaters. They are just what they sound like: sweaters for your tummy. (Imagine a tube top-looking thing made of thick sweater material that goes right around your middle.)

In Chinese, they are called dudo. I'm not joking.

Today, I went on a search for pictures of my brothers and me in childhood, wearing dudo and to my utter disbelief I could not find a single one. How is this possible? When I think of my younger brother in babyhood, he is always wearing a dudo.

Alas, I cannot share visuals of the dudo with you. What I did find, however, is evidence of my parents' extremely frugal lifestyle, aka Recycled Sibling Fashion.

RSF #1: The Hat.

 

RSF #2: The Robe.

 

Yeah, I don't know why, but apparently I didn't get to wear it. :( Or at least be photographed in it, held up by my armpits.

RSF #3: The Vest. (This is my favorite.)

 

 

And finally, RSF #4: The Tree Shirt. (It also came in red and green!)

 

 

Sorry little bro... it was the only picture I could find with you wearing it. Hehehehhe

Now, these next two aren't the same piece of clothing, but I daresay we must have had an entire closetful of these little kimono robes because we seem to be wearing them in every other toddler picture that exists of us.

 

I'll leave you with one last image of our innocence:

One day, I will dig up a photo of the dudo. There just has to be at least one in existence, in my house. If not, I'm sure we still have an actual dudo, in which case I will put the damn thing on myself and get a picture of it. I promise.