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The aodai (áo dài) is a Vietnamese national costume primarily for women. In its current form, it is a tight-fitting silk dress worn over pantaloons. Áo dài is Template:Pron-en (ow yai) in the South, and /ˈáʊ ˈzàɪ/ (ow zai) in the North. Áo is derived from a Middle Chinese word meaning "padded coat" (襖). In modern Vietnamese, áo refers to an item of clothing that covers from the neck down. Dài means "long."
The word áo dài was applied to various garments historically, including the áo ngũ thân, a 19th century aristocratic gown influenced by Chinese fashions. Inspired by Paris fashions, Hanoi artist Nguyễn Cát Tường redesigned the ngũ thân as a dress in 1930. In the 1950s, Saigon designers tightened the fit to produce the version worn by Vietnamese women today. The dress was extremely popular in South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. The communists, who have ruled all of Vietnam since 1975, disapproved of the dress and favored frugal, androgynous styles. In the 1990s, the aodai regained popularity. The equivalent garment for men, called an áo gấm ("brocade robe"), is also worn on occasion, such as at a wedding or a death anniversary.
Academic commentary on the aodai emphasizes the way that the dress ties feminine beauty to Vietnamese nationalism, especially in the form of "Miss Aodai" pageants, popular both among overseas Vietnamese and in Vietnam itself. "Aodai" is one of the few Vietnamese words that appear in English-language dictionaries.
History
Early gowns
Until the twentieth century, peasant women typically wore a skirt (váy) and a halter top (áo yếm). Influenced by the fashions of China's Qing, or Manchu, imperial court, aristocrats favored less revealing clothes. 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. The members of the southern court were thus distinguished from the courtiers of the Trịnh Lords in Hanoi, who wore a split-sided jacket and a long skirt.
The áo tứ thân, a traditional four-paneled gown, evolved into the five-paneled ngũ thân in the early 19th century. Ngũ is Sino-Vietnamese for "five." It refers not only to the number of panels, but also to the five elements in oriental cosmology. The ngũ thân had a loose fit and sometimes had wide sleeves. Wearers could display their prosperity by putting on multiple layers of fabric, which at that time was costly. Despite Vietnam's tropical climate, aristocrats were known to wear three to five layers.
The ngũ thân 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 aodai. Compared to a modern aodai, the front and back flaps were much broader and the fit looser. It had a high collar and was buttoned in the same fashion as a modern aodai. Women could wear the dress with the top few buttons undone, revealing a glimpse of their yếm underneath.
The modern dress
In 1930, Hanoi artist Cát Tường, also known as Le Mur, designed a dress inspired by the 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. When fabric became inexpensive, the rationale multiple layers and thick flaps disappeared. Modern texile manufacture allowed for wider panels, eliminating the need to sew narrow panels together. The áo dài Le Mur, or "trendy" aodai, created a sensation when model Nguyễn Thị Hậu wore it for a feature published by the newspaper Today in January 1935. The style was promoted by the artists of Tự Lực văn đoàn ("Self-Reliant Literary Group") as a national costume for the modern era. The painter Lê Phô introduced several popular styles of aodai beginning in 1934. Such Westernized garments temporarily disappeared during World War II (1939-45).
In the 1950s, Saigon designers tightened the fit of the aodai to create the version commonly seen today. 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. The infamous Madame Nhu, first lady of South Vietnam, popularized a collarless version beginning in 1958. The aodai was most popular from 1960 to 1975. A brightly colored áo dài hippy was introduced in 1968. 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.
The aodai 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 the 1975, had conflicted feelings about the aodai. They praised it as a national costume and one was worn to the Paris Peace Conference (1968-73) by Vietcong negotiator Nguyễn Thị Bình. Yet Westernized versions of the dress and those associated with "decadent" Saigon of the 1960s and early 1970s were condemned. Economic crisis, famine, and war with Cambodia combined to make the 1980s a fashion low point. The aodai was rarely worn except at weddings and other formal occasions, with the older, looser-fitting style preferred. Overseas Vietnamese, meanwhile, kept tradition alive with "Miss Aodai" pageants (Hoa Hậu Áo Dài), the most notable one held annually in Long Beach, California.
The aodai experienced a revival beginning in late 1980s, when state enterprise and schools began adopting the dress as a uniform. In 1989, 16,000 Vietnamese attended a Miss Aodai Beauty Contest held in Hochiminh City (formerly Saigon). When the Miss International Pageant in Tokyo gave its "Best National Costume" award to an aodai-clad Trường Quỳnh Mai in 1995, Thời Trang Trẻ (New Fashion Magazine) gushed that Vietnam's "national soul" was "once again honored." An "aodai craze" followed that lasted several years and led to wider use of the dress as a school uniform.
Place in Today's Culture
No longer controversial politically, aodai fashion design is supported by the Vietnamese government. Designer Le Si Hoang is a celebrity in Vietnam and his shop in Hochiminh City is the place to visit for those who admire the dress. In Hanoi, tourists get fitted for aodais on Luong Van Can Street. The elegant city of Huế in the central region is known for its aodais, nón lá (leaf hats), and well-dressed women.
The aodai is now standard for weddings, for celebrating Tết and for other formal occasions. A plain white aodai is a common high school school uniform in the South. Companies often require their female staff to wear uniforms that include the aodai, so flight attendants, receptionists, restaurant staff, and hotel workers may be seen in it.
The most popular style of aodai 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 aodai covers everything, but hides nothing," according to one saying. The dress must be individually fitted and usually requires several weeks for a tailor to complete. For Vietnamese, the price of a typical aodai is about $30, although tourists are often charged double.
"Symbolically, the ao dai 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 Univerisity of Texas at Austin. The difficulties of working while wearing an aodai links the dress to frailty and innocence, she wrote. Vietnamese writers who favor the use of the aodai 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.
The aodai appears in many movies with Vietnam-related themes. In Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Robin Williams's character is wowed by aodai-clad women when he first arrives in Saigon. The 1992 films Indochine and The Lover inspired several international fashion houses to design aodai collections. In the Vietnamese film The White Silk Dress (2007), an aodai is the sole legacy that the mother of a poverty-stricken family has to pass on to her daughters. The Hanoi City Complex, a 65-story building now under construction, will have an aodai-inspired design. Vietnamese designers created aodai for the contestants in the Miss Universe beauty contest, which was held this year in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
References
- ^ "ao dai", American Heritage Dictionary. Retrieved on 2 July 2008
- ^ Ellis, Claire (1996), "Ao Dai: The National Costume", Things Asian, retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ Leshkowich, Ann Marie (2003), "The Ao Dai Goes Global: How International Influences and Female Entrepreneurs have shaped Vietnam's "National Costume"", Re-orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress, pp. p. 93
{{citation}}:|pages=has extra text (help). - ^ Lieu, Nhi T., "Remembering 'The Nation' through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the 'Hoa Hau Ao Dai' Contest", Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies Vol. 21, No. 1/2, Asian American Women (2000), pp. 127-151. University of Nebraska Press
- "Aodai" 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", "Viet," "Vietminh," and "Vietcong." "pho" (rice noodles) was added to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary in 2007.
- Leshkowich, p. 89.
- Leshkowich, p. 90.
- ^ Valverde, Caroline Kieu (2006), "The History and Revival of the Vietnamese Ao Dai", NHA Magazine, retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ Leshkowich p. 91.
- "A Fashion Revolution", Ninh Thuan P&T, retrieved 2008-07-02. For a picture of the áo dài Le Mur, see Ao Dai --The Soul of Vietnam.
- "Vietnamese Ao dai history", Aodai4u, retrieved 2008-07-02.
- Elmore, Mick "Ao Dai Enjoys A Renaissance Among Women : In Vietnam, A Return to Femininity", International Herald Tribune, Sept. 17, 1997.
- Bich Vy-Gau Gi, Ao Dai -- The Soul of Vietnam. Retrieved on 2 July 2008.
- ^ "Vietnamese AoDai", Overlandclub. Retrieved on 2 July 2008.
- ^ Leshkowich p. 92.
- Vu, Lan (2002), "Ao Dai Viet Nam", Viettouch, retrieved 2008-07-03.
- Leshkowich p. 79.
- ^ Leshkowich p. 97.
- "Traditional ao dai grace foreign bodies", VNS, Dec. 20, 2004. Retrieved July 29, 2008.
- "Ao Dai - Vietnamese Plus Size Fashion Statement. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
- "Vietnam send Ao Lua Ha Dong to Pusan Film Festl, VietNamNet Bridge, (2006). Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- "Vietnam's tallest building planned in Hanoi", Aodai Vietnam, 2008, retrieved 2008-07-02.
- "Miss Universe contestants try on ao dai", Vietnam.net Bridge, 2008, retrieved 2008-07-02.
See also
External links
- Ao Dai -- Soul of Vietnam. The history of the aodai in photos.
- Ao Dai Project. Another gallery. Less history and more makeup. How about those kids in the "áodài Trẻem"?
- Ao Dai - The Traditional Vietnamese Dress. A video showing various styles of aodai.
- The Evolution of the Ao Dai Through Many Eras, Gia Long Alumni Association of Seattle, 2000.
- History Of VN Long Dress, VietVoice.
- The Ao Dai Blog. The latest in aodai-related news. Because somebody has to.
- Vietnam: Mini-Skirts & Ao-Dais. A video of what women were wearing on the streets of Saigon in 1968.
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