Vietnamese Styles Past and Present
LE Thi (Vietnam)

In Vietnam’s tradition, when going out, women wear ao dai (tight-fitting tunic). Thistunic which dates back to the 19th century, has become a national costume for women.
In the past, women in big cities wore the ao dai tailored with the upper part tightened
to fit women’s torso. The ao dai was buttoned from the neck down to the waist before
extending from the waist down to have two slits on both sides to form back and front
flaps. The length of the ao dai was varied, depending mostly on the trends during agiven period. (At present, this dress is very long). In old times, the ao dai was in aloose-fitting style. Tailors then tightened the fit in order to reveal much of the women’sbust and show their slender waists as seen in the current ao dai (Photos 1 and 2). The
summer ao dai was tailored with dedicate fabrics, while the winter ao dai was tailoredwith woolens or coloured velvet. Usually, the ao dai was worn over silk pantaloons withplain white or black colours.
I remember that I had been forbidden to wear blouses when going out. So even at theage of 11 and 12, I wore the ao dai over plain white pantaloons when going to school orgoing out with friends. In the past, pantaloons with plain black colours were worn by
women in rural areas only. In rural areas, women wore the ao dai that appeared to have

two flaps with slits on both sides and the front flaps loosely tied at their waist. As thetwo front flaps were unbuttoned, women wore a plain white halter top (yem) underneath
together with a white or coloured silk tie belt. The dress was worn over a black loose
skirt (Photo 3).
Nowadays, the ao dai is rarely worn in daily activities. It is mostly used for formal
occasions (including the lunar traditional Tet festival, weddings, funerals, meetings,
and formal receptions, etc…). The ao dai is still tailored in the old looser-fitting styleusing coloured or adorned fabrics. Be collared or collarless, the dress, with two broader
flaps, emphasizes women’s torso (Photo 4). When attending meetings or receptions,
women wear trouser-suit and blouses tailored in different styles. For working, theywear a blouse over trousers (Photos 5 and 6). Young girls prefer western fashions.
At home, women wear the combination of daywear, consisting of sleeved or sleevelessblouses and lightweight long pants. In the past, the blouse appeared to have two frontflaps buttoned in the middle. It was often seen that each flap was sewn with a small
patch pocket. The blouse was previously made of plain white fabrics and the long pants
was made of plain black or white silk. Today, this sort of clothes is made of colouredfabrics.
Besides women’s main clothes, the palm-leaf conical hat was popularly worn by bothcity and peasant women. Presently, many women in rural areas still wear conical hats.
However, they prefer cloth caps or palm-leaf caps (Photo 9). In the past, women used towear wooden clog sandals. Now, they turn to leather sandals and cloth shoes.
Accessories also play a role in women’s fashions. For example, rings, necklaces andbracelets made of gold or silver were commonly worn by women in the old times.
Nowadays, women are offered various choices of jewelry in terms of styles, materials
and prices.
Regarding hairstyles, women in the old time often let their hair grow long then pulled
it into a bun style behind their head. For girls, they let down their hair or held it with ahair tie to the back of their head. In many cases, women rolled their hair inside a fabrichandkerchief or a velvet scarf and let a pony tail out. They then scrolled the arranged
hair around the head and wore a black square-shaped scarf over their head to hide
their done hair (Photos 7 and 8). Nowadays, this hairstyle is found commonly only inelder women living in rural areas. While elder women in big cities have their hair cut
short or curled, girls prefer a short straight layered hairstyle.
In Conclusion, Vietnamese fashion continues to evolve from past to present. In the oldtime, women used to sew their own clothes themselves and only went to the tailor for
making the ao dai. At present, women still go to the tailor for making the ao dai ortrouser-suit. They are also very interested in ready-to-wear clothes sold at fashion
shops. Shopping is now one of the favourite activities of women of all ages although itis time-consuming affair. Window-shopping is also preferred greatly by women and has
become one of their hobbies. As fashions change rapidly, shopping becomes a daily
activity of most women, especially young ones, contributing not only to the economy
but also to the Vietnamese clothes tradition.

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Photo 9Photo 8