Áo dài
The áo dài (English: /ˈaʊˈdaɪ, ˈɔːˈdaɪ, ˈaʊˈzaɪ/; Vietnamese: [ʔaːw˧˦ zaːj˨˩] (North), [ʔaːw˦˥ jaːj˨˩] (South))[1][2] is a modernized Vietnamese national garment. Besides suits and dresses nowadays, men and women can also wear áo dài on formal occasions. It is a long, split tunic worn over silk trousers. Áo translates as shirt[3] and dài means "long".[4] The term can be used to describe any clothing attire that consists of a long tunic, such as nhật bình.
The predecessor of the áo dài was derived by the Nguyễn lords in Phú Xuân during 18th century. This outfit was derived from the áo ngũ thân, a five-piece dress commonly worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The áo dài was later made to be form-fitting which was influenced by the French, Nguyễn Cát Tường and other Hanoi artists redesigned the áo dài as a modern dress in the 1920s and 1930s.[5] The updated look was promoted by the artists and magazines of Tự Lực văn đoàn (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.[5] The áo dài dress for women was extremely popular in South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. On Tết and other occasions, Vietnamese men may wear an áo gấm (brocade robe), a version of the áo dài made of very thick fabric and with sewed symbols.
The áo dài dress has traditionally been marketed with a feminine appeal, with "Miss Ao Dai" pageants being popular in Vietnam and with overseas Vietnamese.[6] However, the men version of áo dài or modifiedáo dài are also worn during weddings or formal occasions. The áo dài is one of the few Vietnamese words that appear in English-language dictionaries.[a] The áo dài can be paired with the nón lá or the khăn vấn.
Áo dài is quite similar to the Shalwar Kameez, Kurta and Kurti.[7]
Parts of dress
- Tà sau: back flap
- Nút bấm thân áo: hooks used as fasteners and holes
- Ống tay: sleeve
- Đường bên: inside seam
- Nút móc kết thúc: main hook and hole
- Tà trước: front flap
- Khuy cổ: collar button
- Cổ áo: collar
- Đường may: seam
- Kích (eo): waist
Origin
Switch to trousers (18th century)
For centuries, peasant women typically wore a halter top (yếm) underneath a blouse or overcoat, alongside a skirt (váy).[8] Aristocrats, on the other hand, favored a cross-collared robe called áo giao lĩnh.[9][10] When the Ming dynasty occupied Đại Việt during the Fourth Era of Northern Domination in 1407, it forced the women to wear Chinese-style pants. The following Lê dynasty also criticized women for violating Confucian dress norms, but only enforced the dress code haphazardly, so skirts and halter tops remained the norm. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided into northern and southern realms, with the Nguyễn lords ruling the south.[11] To distinguish the southern people from the northerners, in 1744, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát of Huế decreed that both men and women at his court wear trousers and a gown with buttons down the front.[5][b] The members of the southern court were thus distinguished from the courtiers of the Trịnh Lords in Hanoi, who wore áo giao lĩnh with long skirts.[9]
According to Lê Quý Đôn's record in the book "Phủ Biên Tạp Lục" (recording most of the important information about the economy and society of Đàng Trong for nearly 200 years), the áo dài (or rather, the forerunner of the áo dài) created by Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát based on Chinese Ming Dynasty costumes, by how to learn the method of making costumes in the book "Sāncái Túhuì" as the standard.[12]
19th century
The áo ngũ thân (five part dress) had two flaps sewn together in the back, two flaps sewn together in the front, and a "baby flap" hidden underneath the main front flap. The gown appeared to have two-flaps with slits on both sides, features preserved in the later áo dài. Compared to a modern áo dài, the front and back flaps were much broader and the fit looser and much shorter. It had a high collar and was buttoned in the same fashion as a modern áo dài. Women could wear the dress with the top few buttons undone, revealing a glimpse of their yếm underneath.
- Vietnamese garments throughout the centuries
-
Tran dynasty robes as depicted in a section of a 14th-century scroll.
-
Left: Illustration of a Vietnamese man (left) wearing the predecessor of áo dài in Sancai Tuhui, early 17th century during the Lê dynasty.
-
"Giảng học đồ" (Teaching), 18th century, Hanoi museum of National History. Scholars and students wear cross-collared gowns (áo giao lĩnh) - unlike the buttoned áo dài.
-
Two women wear áo ngũ thân, the predecessor of the áo dài worn in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries depicted on the postcard.
-
Trần Anh Tông wearing a "áo viên lĩnh" and outside a "áo giao lĩnh" in the calligraphy painting Trúc Lâm đại sĩ xuất sơn đồ (The painting of Trúc Lâm the Great Master),14th century.
-
A woman wearing a nón lá with áo dài.
-
Woman wears an áo dài for Tết.
20th century
Modernization of style
Huế's Đồng Khánh Girl's High School, which opened in 1917, was widely praised for the áo dài uniform worn by its students.[13] The first modernized áo dài appeared at a Paris fashion show in 1921. In 1930, Hanoi artist Cát Tường, also known as Le Mur, designed a dress inspired by the áo ngũ thân and by Paris fashions. It reached to the floor and fit the curves of the body by using darts and a nipped-in waist.[14] When fabric became inexpensive, the rationale for multiple layers and thick flaps disappeared. Modern textile manufacture allows for wider panels, eliminating the need to sew narrow panels together. The áo dài Le Mur, or "trendy" ao dai, created a sensation when model Nguyễn Thị Hậu wore it for a feature published by the newspaper Today in January 1935.[15] The style was promoted by the artists of Tự Lực văn đoàn ("Self-Reliant Literary Group") as a national costume for the modern era.[16] The painter Lê Phô introduced several popular styles of ao dai beginning in 1934. Such Westernized garments temporarily disappeared during World War II (1939–45).
In the 1950s, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) designers tightened the fit of the áo dài to create the version commonly seen today.[5] Trần Kim of Thiết Lập Tailors and Dũng of Dũng Tailors created a dress with raglan sleeves and a diagonal seam that runs from the collar to the underarm.[5] Madame Nhu, first lady of South Vietnam, popularized a collarless version beginning in 1958. The áo dài was most popular from 1960 to 1975.[17] A brightly colored áo dài hippy was introduced in 1968.[18] The áo dài mini, a version designed for practical use and convenience, had slits that extended above the waist and panels that reached only to the knee.[14]
Communist period
The áo dài has always been more common in the South than in the North. The communists, who gained power in the North in 1954 and in the South in 1975, had conflicted feelings about the áo dài. They praised it as a national costume and one was worn to the Paris Peace Conference (1969–73) by Viet Cong negotiator Nguyễn Thị Bình.[19] Yet Westernized versions of the dress and those associated with "decadent" Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) of the 1960s and early 1970s were condemned.[20] Economic crisis, famine, and war with Cambodia combined to make the 1980s a fashion low point.[21] The áo dài was rarely worn except at weddings and other formal occasions, with the older, looser-fitting style preferred.[20] Overseas Vietnamese, meanwhile, kept tradition alive with "Miss Ao Dai" pageants (Hoa Hậu Áo Dài), the most notable one held annually in Long Beach, California.[5]
The áo dài experienced a revival beginning in late 1980s, when state enterprise and schools began adopting the dress as a uniform again.[5] In 1989, 16,000 Vietnamese attended a Miss Ao Dai Beauty Contest held in Ho Chi Minh City.[22] When the Miss International Pageant in Tokyo gave its "Best National Costume" award to an áo dài-clad Trường Quỳnh Mai in 1995, Thời Trang Trẻ (New Fashion Magazine) claimed that Vietnam's "national soul" was "once again honored".[23] An "áo dài craze" followed that lasted for several years and led to wider use of the dress as a school uniform.[24]
Present day
No longer deemed politically controversial, áo dài fashion design is supported by the Vietnamese government.[21] It is often called áo dài Việt Nam to link it to patriotic feelings. Designer Le Si Hoang is a celebrity in Vietnam and his shop in Ho Chi Minh City is the place to visit for those who admire the dress.[21] In Hanoi, tourists get fitted with áo dài on Luong Van Can Street.[25] The elegant city of Huế in the central region is known for its áo dài, nón lá (lit. 'traditional leaf hat'), and well-dressed women.
The áo dài is now a standard for weddings, for celebrating Tết and for other formal occasions. It is the required uniform for female teachers (mostly from high school to below) and female students in common high schools in the South; there is no requirement for color or pattern for teachers while students use plain white or with some small patterns like flowers for use as school uniforms. Companies often require their female staff to wear uniforms that include the áo dài, so flight attendants, receptionists, bank female staff, restaurant staff, and hotel workers in Vietnam may be seen wearing it.
The most popular style of áo dài fits tightly around the wearer's upper torso, emphasizing her bust and curves. Although the dress covers the entire body, it is thought to be provocative, especially when it is made of thin fabric. "The áo dài covers everything, but hides nothing", according to one saying.[19] The dress must be individually fitted and usually requires several weeks for a tailor to complete. An ao dai costs about $200 in the United States and about $40 in Vietnam.[26]
"Symbolically, the áo dài invokes nostalgia and timelessness associated with a gendered image of the homeland for which many Vietnamese people throughout the diaspora yearn," wrote Nhi T. Lieu, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.[6] The difficulties of working while wearing an ao dai link the dress to frailty and innocence, she wrote.[6] Vietnamese writers who favor the use of the áo dài as a school uniform cite the inconvenience of wearing it as an advantage, a way of teaching students feminine behavior such as modesty, caution, and a refined manner.[24]
The áo dài is featured in an array of Asian-themed or related movies. In Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Robin Williams's character is wowed by áo dài-clad women when he first arrives in Ho Chi Minh City. The 1992 films Indochine and The Lover inspired several international fashion houses to design áo dài collections,[27] including Prada's SS08 collection and a Georgio Armani collection. In the Vietnamese film The White Silk Dress (2007), an áo dài is the sole legacy that the mother of a poverty-stricken family has to pass on to her daughters.[28] The Hanoi City Complex, a 65-story building now under construction, will have an áo dài-inspired design.[29] Vietnamese designers created áo dài for the contestants in the Miss Universe beauty contest, which was held July 2008 in Nha Trang, Vietnam.[30] The most prominent annual Ao Dai Festival outside of Vietnam is held each year in San Jose, California, a city that is home to a large Vietnamese American community.[31] This event features an international array of designer áo dài under the direction of festival founder, Jenny Do.
In recent years, a shorter, more modern version of the áo dài, known as the áo dài cách tân, is often worn by the younger generation. This modern áo dài has a shorter front and back flap, hitting just below the knees.
Gallery
-
Two highschool girls in áo dài in HCMC
-
A woman wearing an áo dài sitting in a chair
-
A woman wearing an áo dài
-
A woman sitting on the steps wearing an áo dài
-
-
Five sisters in Hanoi 1950s
-
At the gallery of Hanoi in 1930
-
A girl wearing áo dài, in Ha Noi, 2016
See also
Notes
- ^ "Ao dai" appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary (2004), and the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2006). Other Vietnamese words that appear include "Tet", "Vietminh", "Vietcong", and "pho" (rice noodles).[1]
- ^ A court historian described the dress in Huế as follows: "Outside court, men and women wear gowns with straight collars and short sleeves. The sleeves are large or small depending on the wearer. There are seams on both sides running down from the sleeve, so the gown is not open anywhere. Men may wear a round collar and a short sleeve for more convenience." ("Thường phục thì đàn ông, đàn bà dùng áo cổ đứng ngắn tay, cửa ống tay rộng hoặc hẹp tùy tiện. Áo thì hai bên nách trở xuống phải khâu kín liền, không được xẻ mở. Duy đàn ông không muốn mặc áo cổ tròn ống tay hẹp cho tiện khi làm việc thì được phép…") (from Đại Nam Thực Lục [Records of Đại Nam])
References
- ^ "Definition of ao dai | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com.
- ^ "Ao dai definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". www.collinsdictionary.com.
- ^ . September 16, 2013. Archived from the original on September 16, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
Áo is derived from a Middle Chinese word (襖) meaning "padded coat". "襖". zdic.net. Retrieved May 20, 2023. - ^ Phan Van Giuong, Tuttle Compact Vietnamese Dictionary: Vietnamese–English English–Vietnamese (2008), p. 76. "dài adj. long, lengthy."
- ^ a b c d e f g Ellis, Claire (1996). . Things Asian. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ a b c Lieu (2000), p. 127–151.
- ^ Bach, Trinh (2020). "Origin of Vietnamese Ao Dai". Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ^ Niessen, Leshkowich & Jones (2003), p. 89.
- ^ a b Vu, Thuy (2014). . Tuoi Tre. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ T.Van (2013). . Vietnamnet. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Leshkowich 2005, p. 61.
- ^ "TRANG PHỤC (THƯỜNG PHỤC) Ở ĐÀNG TRONG THỜI VÕ VƯƠNG NGUYỄN PHÚC KHOÁT – NHỮNG NÉT ĐẶC TRƯNG". Bình Nguyên - Võ Vinh Quang (in Vietnamese). October 8, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
- ^ www.visions-of-indochina.com (PDF) http://www.visions-of-indochina.com/latestnews/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ao-dai-article.pdf. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ a b Niessen, Leshkowich & Jones (2003), p. 91.
- ^ . Ninh Thuận P&T. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008.. For a picture of the áo dài Le Mur, see Ao Dai — The Soul of Vietnam[permanent dead link].
- ^ . Aodai4u. Archived from the original on August 19, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ Elmore, Mick (September 17, 1997). "Ao Dai Enjoys A Renaissance Among Women : In Vietnam, A Return to Femininity". International Herald Tribune.
- ^ Bich Vy-Gau Gi, Ao Dai — The Soul of Vietnam[permanent dead link]. Retrieved on July 2, 2008.
- ^ a b . Overlandclub. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ a b Niessen, Leshkowich & Jones (2003), p. 92.
- ^ a b c Valverde, Caroline Kieu (2006). . NHA magazine. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ Vu, Lan (2002). "Ao Dai Viet Nam". Viettouch. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
- ^ Niessen, Leshkowich & Jones (2003), p. 79.
- ^ a b Niessen, Leshkowich & Jones (2003), p. 97.
- ^ . VNS. December 20, 2004. Archived from the original on December 24, 2004. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ^ . Nha magazine. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
- ^ . Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
- ^ "Vietnam send Ao Lua Ha Dong to Pusan Film Festival". VietNamNet Bridge. 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ Tuấn Cường. ""Nóc nhà" Hà Nội sẽ cao 65 tầng". Tuoi Tre (in Vietnamese). Retrieved April 26, 2009.
- ^ . Vietnam.net Bridge. 2008. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ "| A Celebration of Vietnamese Art and Culture". Ao Dai Festival.
Bibliography
- Leshkowich, Ann Marie (2005). Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.
- Li, Tana (1998). Nguyễn Cochichina: Southern Vietnam in the Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Southeast Asia Program Publications. ISBN 9780877277224.
- Lieu, Nhi T. (2000). "Remembering 'the Nation' through pageantry: femininity and the politics of Vietnamese womanhood in the 'Hoa Hau Ao Dai' contest". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. University of Nebraska Press. 21 (1–2): 127–151. doi:10.2307/3347038. JSTOR 3347038.
- Niessen, S. A.; Leshkowich, Ann Marie; Jones, Carla, eds. (2003). Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress. Berg. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-85973-539-8.
Further reading
- Trần Quang Đức (2013). Ngàn Năm Áo Mũ. Lịch sử trang phục Việt Nam 1009–1945 [A Thousand Years of Caps and Robes. A history of Vietnamese costumes 1009–1945]. Nhã Nam. OCLC 862888254.
External links
Media related to Áo dài at Wikimedia Commons
- , Gia Long Alumni Association of Seattle, 2000
- Vietnam: Mini-Skirts & Ao-Dais. A video that shows what the women of Saigon wore in 1968