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| Vietnamese traditional costumes |
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Traditional costumes of the Vietnamese people tend to be very simple and modest. Men wear brown shirts and white trousers. Their headgear is simply a piece of cloth wrapped around the head and their footwear consists of a pair of plain sandals.
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For formal
ceremonies men would
have two additional
items, a long gown
with slits on either
side, and a turban,
usually in black or
brown made of cotton
or silk. In feudal
times, there were
strict dress codes.
Ordinary people were
not allowed to wear
clothes with dyes
other than black,
brown or white.
Costumes in yellow
were reserved for
the King. Those in
purple and red were
reserved for high
ranking court
officials, while
dresses in blue were
exclusively worn by
petty court
officials. Men's
dress has gradually
changed along with
social development.
The traditional set
of a long gown and
turban gave way to
more modern looking
suits, while
business shirts and
trousers have
replaced traditional
long sleeved shirts
and wide trousers.
Traditional costumes
still exist and
efforts are
increasingly being
made to restore
traditional
festivals and
entertainment which
incorporate
traditional
costumes.
Young women wear
light brown-colored
short shirts with
long black skirts.
Their headgear
consists of a black
turban with a peak
at the front. To
make their waist
look smaller, they
tightly fasten a
long piece of pink
or violet cloth.On
formal occasions,
they wear a special
three layered dress
called an "ao dai",
a long gown with
slits on either
side.
The outer garment is
a special silk gown
called an "ao tu
than" which is
brown or light brown
in colour with four
slits divided
equally on its lower
section. The second
layer is a gown in a
light yellow colour
and the third layer
is a pink gown. When
a woman wears her
three gowns, she
fastens the buttons
on the side, and
leave those on the
chest unfastened so
that it forms a
shaped collar. This
allows her to show
the different colors
on the upper part of
the three gowns.
Beneath the three
gowns is a bright
red brassiere which
is left exposed to
cover the woman's
neck.
Over time, the
traditional "ao
dai" has gone
through certain
changes. Long gowns
are now carefully
tailored to fit the
body of a Vietnamese
woman. The two long
slits along the side
allow the gown to
have two free
floating panels in
the front and at the
back of the dress.
The floating panels
expose a long pair
of white silk
trousers.
An elegant looking
conical palm hat,
which is
traditionally known
as a "non bai tho"
(a hat with poetry
written on it), is
worn as part of a
woman's formal
dress. This
traditional conical
hat is particularly
suitable for a
tropical country
such as Vietnam,
where fierce
sunshine and hard
rain are
commonplace.
To make a conical
hat, a hat maker
chooses young palm
leaves that have
been been dried
under continued
sunshine. Attached
beneath the almost
transparent layers
of dried palm leaves
is a drawing of a
small river wharf.
Below the drawing,
there is a piece of
poetry to be
recited by the hat
wearer.
In recent years some
foreign fashions
have been introduced
to Vietnam; however,
the traditional "ao
dai" remains
preferable to women
in both urban and
rural settings.
In general,
Vietnamese clothing
is very diverse.
Every ethnic group
in Vietnam has its
own style of
clothing. Festivals
are the occasion for
all to wear their
favorite clothes.
Over thousands of
years, the
traditional clothing
of all ethnic groups
in Vietnam has
changed, but each
ethnic group has
separately
maintained their own
characteristics.
In the mountain
areas, people live
in houses built on
stilts, wear
trousers or skirts
and indigo vests
with design motifs
imitating wild
flowers and beasts.
In the northern
uplands and the
Central Highlands,
the young women have
made skirts and
vests with beautiful
and coulourful
decoration in a
style convenient for
farm work in
terraced fields and
to travel on hilly
slopes and mountain
gorges. |
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