The culture of Ao Dai

Ao dai is one Vietnamese word (like nuoc mam and pho), that is familiar to foreigners. Referring to the Vietnamese traditional dress, ao dai become a symbol of beauty and is recognized and praised around the world.

Cultural Originsr
To track the origins of the ao dai, one turns to the Red River Delta. When cheo signers (Vietnamese traditional opera) tour Western countries, the audiences are enthralled by the colorful and multi-panel costumes. The original and most popular cheo dress is the four-panel dress, which was called northern delta. Until 1945, the ao dai began to popularize in the central and southern regions. In some areas in the north, people even wore ao dai while doing hard manual labor. The colorful four-panel dress is frequently alluded to in both folk and 20th century modern literature.

The original beauty of the four-panel dress it is colorful bands, its country side style, and its forming along body. This dress has two layers and the font flaps drop down to the feet, covering the skirt and enchanting the teenage boy. The gown is straight, rather big, and is tied to the waist with waistbands the colors of tender green buds and jade, beneath the gown; women wear a top of different radiant colors: lime green, peach pink, chicken- fat yellow, and pale blue overlap, giving the name “the multi-color multi-panel dress”. Inside the top, a woman puts on s type of brassiere that is one soil color, such as scarlet or brown.

Integrating the East and Westr
The traditional four-panel dress transformed to the more contemporary version of the ao dai in the 1930s, originating from Le Pho and Cat Tuong, two painters who were students at the Indochina Fine Arts College. The artists modified at the traditional four-panel dress into a two-flap ao dai, with various styles of waist (lose or tight) and neck (round lining, high neck, diamond neck, or an imitation of the French ball gown), the French named these ao dai dresses after Cat Tuong, which means “luck” or “good”, but it was misunderstood as “buc tuong” which means “wall” or “mur” in French. All ao dai of this first period were therefore called le mur ao dai.

Despites the funny, haft-French haft- Vietnamese name, this style of ao dai was warmly welcomed-as urban Vietnamese women in the early 20th century were thought to be too Europeanized. The ao dai revived a celebration of traditions and sparked a trend or donning simple frees that did not show too much of their figure, with high-necks and loose waits. With time, the le mur ao dai was modified with evolving modern tastes and was changed to “fashionable ao dai”, which was greatly favored by urban women. Nearly a hundred years later, new takes on the ao dai are still as stunning.

The modern take on ao dai is full of contrast. From the shoulder to the waist, modern ao dai use European style and show off the woman’s body: the neck is tight, the shoulder is tight and round, the waist is narrow, and the flap is split a little higher, exposing an enticing patch of skin. Yet modern ao dai still retain a traditional style, as the two flaps cover most of the body. The contemporary ao dai are thus appreciated by Westerners as sexy, but decent.

Vietnamese men also wear ao dai as festival costumes. In the traditional Bac Ninh love duet, for example, the man sports a black chiffon ao dai accessorized with a turban and an umbrella. At the recent APEC meeting help in Hanoi, male and female world leaders proudly wore Vietnamese traditional ao dai.

The more ao dai culture develops, however, the more challenges it faces, some ao dai are too wildly modified by designers, losing the traditional essence and subtleties of the dress. The flap can be cut too short, or split into strips like a torn banana leaf high, necklines that are too low, and panel divided in patterns that are too complicated. Ao dai has even been made of clear material, exposing the under wear. As ao dai dressing culture expands and evolves, these challenges must surely be met.