The Vietnamese Ao Dai
If you were asked to send one thing representing your country
to an international exhibition, what would you choose? Why? Use
specific reasons and details to explain your choice.
Each nation in the world has their traditional costume. When we see
the costumes’ appearance, we can define the country where it comes
from. Japanese women have Kimono, Chinese women in Quing
Dynasty have a Shanghai dress that ladies usually called
“cheongsam” dress, the Korean, the African, the Siamese, etc. We are
proud of Ao Dai, which is respectfully placed as a National costume of
Vietnam, also flowery called: “The fatherland dress”.
The Ao Dai is a Vietnamese national costume, now most commonly
for women. The word “Ao Dai” was originally applied to the outfit worn
at the court of the Nguyen Lords at Hue in the 18th century. This outfit
evolved into the “ao ngu than”, a five-paneled aristocratic gown worn
in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by Paris fashions,
Nguyen Cat Tuong and other artists associated with Hanoi University
redesigned the “ao ngu than” as a modern dress in the 1920s and
1930s. The updated look was promoted by the artists and magazines
of Tu Luc Van Doan (“Self-Reliant Literary Group”) as a national
costume for the modern era. In the 1950s, Saigon designers tightened
the fit to produce the version worn by Vietnamese women today. The
dress was extremely popular in South Vietnam in the 1960s and early
1970s. On Tet and other occasions, Vietnamese men may wear an
“ao gam” “(brocade robe)”, a version of the Ao Dai made of thicker
fabric.