Rice bags become couture and diaper boxes become trains as 30 senior-care groups compete for best costume

Rice sacks have become glittering outfits, while used diaper boxes and recycled plastic bottles have been transformed into a silver-haired train. These are among the creative costumes competing in Taiwan’s “Best Costume” vote for senior-care institutions.

The contest serves as a warm-up for the Create Ageing, Silver Lifestyle National Senior Welfare Institutions Sports Games, which will take place on Nov. 2. The event is organized by the Yongshin Social Welfare Foundation under the guidance of Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Social and Family Affairs Administration. The public can view the designs from 30 participating institutions and vote by liking a favorite on the foundation’s Facebook page through Oct. 14.

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Older people are not only athletes on the sports field. They should also become silver-haired fashion leaders.

The teams drew on older people’s daily lives, local traditions, environmental ideas and team spirit. Their designs include Dajia Mazu imagery, elaborate clothing made from white rice bags and a Taiwan Railways-inspired train. Organizers said this year’s theme is “strength and beauty,” with each institution asked to turn familiar stories and cultural references into a distinctive team uniform.

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This year we specially used white rice bags to make creative clothing, allowing bags that had completed their task to transform, through the older people’s hands and creativity, into unique silver-haired couture.

Professor Chiang Yi-tsun of National Taiwan Normal University said the award was not simply a contest over which clothes looked best. Older people, he said, should be seen not only as athletes on the field but also as “silver-haired fashion leaders.”

Staff at Songbo Nursing Center brought the spirit of Dajia Mazu into the event by creating a forceful Mazu team. At Xiaoai Renjia, white rice bags that had finished their original purpose were remade into one-of-a-kind outfits. Boti Renjia used diaper cartons and recycled PET bottles to create a nostalgic silver-haired train, highlighting the residents’ energy, creativity and possibilities.

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We reused everyday diaper cartons and recycled PET bottles from the institution, transforming them into a nostalgic silver-haired train and showing the residents’ vitality, creativity and unlimited possibilities.