Posts Tagged ‘Vietnam Clothes’

In Vietnamese business culture, suits and ties in subdued colors are the norm. Bright color of any kind is not appropriate.

The accepted style of dress for a business meeting in Vietnam is conservative – a dark colored, uncontentious suit and tie are customary for men. Women should wear conservative suits or dresses; a blouse or other kind of top should have a high neckline. Stick with subdued, neutral, colors such as beige and brown. Women must take care that their skirts are not above the knees; good quality jewelry that is neither ostentatious nor overly expensive, is recommended for making the right impression.

Flat shoes or very low heels are the main footwear options for women due to the emphasis on conservative, modest, dress in Vietnamesebusiness culture , especially if you are relatively much taller than your hosts. High heels are acceptable only at a formal reception hosted by a foreign diplomat

Jeans may not be acceptable casual wear for both men and women especially when you working with state company.

Take a peasant’s common conical hat, add a touch of this and a little of that, and you will have the idea, but not quite an authentic Non Bai Tho or “Poetical Leaf” from Central Vietnam. Just a few simple arrangements added to theconical form are enough to give the Vietnamese leaf-covered hat unique features found nowhere else among Asia’s various types of conical hats.

The legend of the conical hat is related to maternal love and the history of rice growing in Vietnam.

Leaf Hat and wave in Lang Co – Hue

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Silk is the most precious finery of the orient. Some say silk was invented so that women could go naked in clothes. A more whimsical tale even credits a fourteen – year old Chinese empress with this invention.

For centuries, the wearing of silk was the exclusive right of the Chinese nobility, so the know-how of sericulture, and the weaving of silk was a zealously guarded secret. Even today, more than 4,000 years after its invention, sericulture is almost confined to Asia.

Of all the natural fibers, silk has the greatest affinity for color, yielding shimmering, brilliantly-hued fabrics.

Diversified in colours, weave, and quality, various kinds of silk products all help highlight a distinctive feature of Vietnamese culture. With almost all silk shopping destinations located at the center of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, it features Vietnam style in visitors’ eyes.

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In Vietnam, there are 54 ethnic groups, each having unique and specific styles of clothing. Traits often include splendid colors, seemingly contradicting one another in each outfit: black and red, blue and red or blue and white.

The traditional costumes of native Vietnamese nations are woven with natural fiber, such as hemp, silk or cotton. These materials are fine, stable and light, appropriate for a tropical climate. The diversity and abundance of Vietnamese ethnic clothing cannot be completely dealt with in this article; we will only introduce the traditional clothing of the Viet, the most common natives of Vietnam

In days gone by, royal regulations determined the color of clothing. For civilian suits for men, only brown, black, black or white was used; yellow was only used for kings; red was used for high grade mandarins; and, blue or green decorated the outfits of lower grade mandarins.

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Many people say that residents of Hue (the old imperial city of Vietnam during 1802-1945), from the members of reputed families to ordinary traders and retailers, are always decent in their speaking and gestures. Wearing an old Ao dai (traditional long dress) torn out with time, or made with luxurious velvet or silk, Hue women always retain their gracefulness and gentleness.

According to Phan Thuan An, a researcher of Hue’s culture, variations of the Ao dai from Hue have been closely linked to historical ups and downs. Under the Minh Mang Dynasty (1820-1841), to solve the differences of clothes worn by people from different regions after the conflict of the Trinhs and the Nguyens (1623-1777), King Minh Mang issued a royal ordinance about the uniform nationwide, under which royal concubines and maids had to wear the Ao dai when they left the royal palace. Ordinary people had to wear trousers and they were prohibited to wear skirts. To adults, Ao dai was a “must” outfit.

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Most Vietnamese people wear new clothes to celebrate Tet, or the Lunar new year, in order to promote a fresh beginning to the year. Although Western-style outfits are more convenient for daily chores, the traditional tunic, or ao dai, reappears each Tet. These tunics add to the festival’s formal atmosphere.

In the past, all ao dai were lined. The two layers of fabric formed a set, or kép(in Vietnamese). On formal occasions, another light ao dai, always white, was worn as an undergarment under the kép to form a triple set of layers called mớ ba. This was the proper way to wearao dai until only a few decades ago. To deal with sudden encounters, such as the frequent visitors who often drop in without notice around Tet, a “hasty”ao dai could be thrown over whatever the host was wearing. From the mid-1950s, the ao dai was simplified and the kép layer eliminated.

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Images of graceful girls in national charming long dress have been a symbol of Vietnam. However, looking back the historic development of national dress, Vietnam not only has ao dai but also ao yem – the indispensable dress of ancient girls.

In the old days, ao yem was called yem. It is an age-old dress which is maintained until today. Ao yem was used by all levels of society from working class to upper class. It also was used widely in traditional festivals therefore it was the national traditional clothes of ancient ladies.

Ao yem appeared in Vietnamese life in a very old day but until Ly dynasty it was basically in shaped. Through the stream of history, ao yem was changing incessantly and improving its design. However the revolutions of ao yem only happended at the beginning of the last century while western trouser and skirt were entering Vietnam. In 17 century, ao yem did not have any big change of model. In 19 century, ao yem has a square piece is cloth with one corner cut away to fit under the woman’s throat. This scrap of fabric is secured across the chest and stomach with thin strings. There were three common models of ao yem: ao yem co xay, ao yem co xe, ao yem co canh nhan.

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Initially, the women’s costume in the North of Vietnam was ao tu than (four-piece blouse) with a bodice, a skirt and a headscarf of the ancient Vietnamese women. When the country was separated into Dang Trong (the South) and Dang Ngoai (the North), the Lords of Dang Trong instituted a cultural reform, including a costume reform to differentiate local people’s costumes from those in Dang Ngoai.

In the 18th century, the southern women wore long five-flap shirts with black loose trousers, with their hair in a high bun and they walked barefooted both at work and in the town. And this five-piece shirt was considered as the forerunner to the current ao dai of southern women, which was preserved due to the development of the sericulture and fabric weaving. As there was a class division in the feudal society, common women wore long black shirts made from coarse materials, whereas upper class women wore shirts made from smooth and cloths with “main colors” such as yellow, blue, red and purple. They usually wore long shirts in blue or violet, their hair in a bun, curved shoes and flat balm hat with fringes. Besides, dark hues were considered more suitable for women living in wet areas.

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