Sunday, December 05, 2010

Clothing

The Vietnamese preferred to wear light, thin, well-ventilated kind of clothing that originated from plants and was suitable for such a tropical country as Vietnam, with grey, indigo and black colours.


Men's clothing changed from loin-cloth with bare upper half of the body to short jackets and Vietnamese traditional trousers (re-designed from Chinese trousers). 

Women’s clothing changed used to be brassieres, skirts and four-piece long dress but now it is the modern ao dai.

In general, Vietnamese women adorned themselves subtly and secretively in a society where "virtue is more important than appearance".


The most popular and widely-recognized Vietnamese national costume is the ao dai, which is worn nowadays mostly by women, although men do wear them on special occasions such as weddings and funerals. Ao dai is similar to the Chinese Qipao, consisting of a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over silk pants. It is elegant in style and comfortable to wear, and likely derived in the 18th century or in the royal court of Hue. 

In feudal Vietnam, clothing was one of the most important marks of social status and strict dress codes were enforced. Commoners had a limited choice of similarly plain and simple clothes every day, as well as being limited in the colours they were allowed to use. For a period, commoners were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white (with the exception of special occasions such as festivals), but in actuality these rules could change often based upon the whims of the current ruler.

The ao tu than or "4-part dress" is one such example of an ancient dress widely worn by commoner women, along with the ao yem bodice which accompanied it. Peasants across the country also gradually came to wear silk pyjama-like costumes, known as ao kanh in the north and ao ba ba in the south. They wear it like this:
The headgear of peasants often included a plain piece of cloth wrapped around the head (generally called khan dong). For footwear peasants would often go barefoot whereas sandals and shoes were reserved for the aristocracy and royalty.
Monarchs had the exclusive right to wear the colour gold, while nobles wore red or purple. Each member of the royal court had an assortment of different formal gowns they would wear at a particular ceremony, or for a particular occasion. The rules governing the fashion of the royal court could change dynasty by dynasty, thus Costumes of the Vietnamese court were quite diverse.

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