Áo dài for the Vietnamese Diaspora

For the Vienamese diaspora, the áo dài invokes nostalgia for the homeland. The story of Bích Vân, a Vietnamese American married to a Caucasian, highlighted the search for her roots through wearing the áo dài in a spring fan dance club in Iowa:

“The other Vietnamese Americans had recently arrived in the United States through family sponsorship; their last celebration of Tết in Vietnam was still fresh in their minds. Whereas their Vietnamese was fluent, I could only stutter a few words from lack of practice, for I had grown up in a town where my family was the only Vietnamese family… What linked me to my new Vietnamese American friends was the áo dài. Participating in their efforts to maintain our Vietnamese culture and tradition, I was inspired to rekindle the culture that still permeated my house, but which was only discernible to my parents.”

Nhi T. Lieu, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, noted that the annual holding of the áo dài beauty pageants among the American Vietnamese diaspora as “one of the most visible examples of Vietnamese immigrants trying to negotiate the process of assimilating into bourgeois American culture while remaining ethnically Vietnamese.” However, in a sense, the áo dài pageants are also an act of defiance against what the Communist government back in Vietnam suppressed, which can only be performed in a place that is beyond of their reach.

In essence, the áo dài should not only be seen as a national costume but also a symbol of the national character and the Vietnamese spirit that is represented by the lotus flower: “Under any circumstances, people develop human quintessence and get rid of bad things to further promote beauty and maintain independence”.


References:
Ao Dai: Women’s Long Dress, Frequently Asked Question about Vietnamese Culture (Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 2006).

Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering ‘the Nation’ through Pageantry: Feminity and Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the Hoa Hau Ao Dai Contest” in Linda Trinh Vo (ed.) Asian American Women: The Frontiers Reader (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004).

“Ao Dai: Vietnamese Traditional Dress”, Tran Quang Hai, http://tranquanghai.multiply.com/journal/item/313/AO_DAI_Vietnamese_Traditional_Dress (accessed on 02 April 2010).

Áo dài for Weddings

Áo dài is also worn during weddings. Red is usually worn by the brides as it is the colour symbolizing happiness.

However, other colours such as gold, pink, blue and black are used as well. The bride will usually wear a traditional hat (khănh vành) with the ao dai during wedding. Wedding áo dài is also usually decorated with embroidery or drawing of auspicious symbols such as dragons and phoenix (potent symbol of a perfectly matched couple) and the lotus flower. áo dài is also worn by the groom and guests to the wedding.


References:

“Vietnamese Wedding Aodai”, Vietnamese Wedding Style, http://aodaivietnamm.blogspot.com/2008/05/vietnamese-wedding-aodai.html (accessed on 02 April 2010).

Áo dài during Tết Nguyên Đán

Many Vietnamese opt for the áo dài for special occasions. It is commonly worn during Tet (Tết Nguyên Đán), or the Lunar New Year. Although Vietnamese normally wear Western clothing for the other days of the year, áo dài is still regarded as appropriate for the celebration of a new year.


References:

“Traditional Ao Dai for Tet”, Vietnam-Culture.com, http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-137-10/Traditional-Ao-Dai-for-Tet.aspx (accessed on 02 April 2010).

Áo dài Everywhere….

The áo dài tends to be worn by those whose occupations are in the frontline in Vietnam. Bank employees, receptionists and hotel staff are given áo dài as uniform. I distinctly remember my trip to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi. While the áo dài is less commonly worn in the North than in South Vietnam, many of the female guards and counter ladies at the mausoleum wore áo dài. It is possible that the final resting place of Ho Chi Minh was regarded with sanctity and therefore those who work in its frontline need to be clothed in a symbol of guardian of a certain tradition.
In addition, the áo dài is considered appropriate for formal meetings. I think this is akin to how some, such as Members of the Parliament, wear sari and cheongsam to meetings in Singapore. If one does not wish to succumb to the usual Western-style business suit for the purpose of business meeting, why not consider something versatile like áo dài? It works!

Áo dài on Air

In fact, the Vietnamese government appears to be on the way to promote áo dài as a symbol of the nation. For instance, its national carrier, Vietnam Airlines (Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam) used red áo dài as the uniform of choice for its flight stewardesses. There seemed to be the desire for the graceful áo dài to be the first image that greeted foreigners as they are being served aboard the airline. As Singaporeans all know, there is a certain idea of performity in allowing national costume to be used for national airlines. The uniforms of air stewardesses encapsulate a little of the complex culture in her country of origin that is captured and refashioned to be presented to the world. The image of a “Vietnam Girl” is very much engendered by the ao dai as the “Singapore Girl” is by her sarong kebaya. áo dài, then, is seen as a face of Vietnam that was favoured for cultural export.

Áo dài in Schools

Imagine, for instance, donning a sari to school. Pretty difficult, is it not? And not exactly the most convenient thing you can do. Well, Vietnamese students still wear áo dài to high school! One of the most common visions in Ho Chi Minh City is that of girls in white áo dài and straw hats pedaling their bicycles. The áo dài had fallen into disfavour following the liberation of South Vietnam in 1975. However, a principal of Hồ Thị Kỷ High School in Cà Mau at the southern side of the Mekong Delta proposed to reintroduce the white áo dài as uniform for its female students in 1983. Citing the move as a demonstration of “beauty and equality in our socialist school”, the announcement was unexpectedly well-received by students and parents. Đàm Thị Ngọc Thơ, the said principal, also lobbied for the áo dài to be used in other schools in Vietnam. Articles citing the merits of having áo dài as school uniform were submitted to newspapers. Education authorities and parents were approached for support. Her persistence bore fruit as other schools in Vietnam began to accept the usage of the áo dài as uniforms by the 1990s.

In the present-day Vietnam, instead of wearing the robe and mortar hat, Vietnamese students wear áo dài at graduation ceremonies. Apparently, the inconvenience of performing one’s daily tasks while wearing the áo dài is perceived as an advantage when it comes to teaching students. It is widely believed that feminine values of modesty and refined mannerism would be taken up by those wearing áo dài:

“Something which must be noted about the áo dài of Vietnamese women is its ‘soul.’ It truly is appropriate only for those with the slight stature and slimness of Asian women. It demands that the wearer have a self-effacing bearing, cautious, moving deliberately, lightly. Because of that, it isn’t without reason that there was a time when people forced female pupils from sixth to twelfth grade to wear the áo dài as a uniform. The goal was to train girls in a modest, cautious, and refined manner in their dress and their bearing, so that they can become young Vietnamese women of grace and politeness.”

Apparently, the garb is not limited to students. Every teacher in Vietnam must own an áo dài, to be worn on the first day of the academic year. For the remaining time, they are free to wear Western clothing. Now that is perhaps less difficult to picture; I am sure most of us can recall at least one teacher who was always dressed in a cheongsam and sported a beehive hair. If the áo dài is used as an instrument of education for students, I guess it presents a form of authority in teachers? It showed the wearer as deserving of authority that had been traditionally derived from his/ her position.

References:
Ao Dai: Women’s Long Dress, Frequently Asked Question about Vietnamese Culture (Hanoi: The Gioi Publishers, 2006).

Ann Marie Leshkowich, “The Ao Dai goes Global”, in Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich and Carla Jones (ed.) Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress (Oxford and New York: Berg, 2003).

“The World’s Most Graceful School Uniforms”, The Ao Dai blog, http://aodaiproject.wordpress.com/ (accessed on 02 April 2010).

Áo dài in Vietnamese Daily Lives

Many Vietnamese found it puzzling when foreigners like me refer to the áo dài as the “national costume of Vietnam.” This is because, unlike other so-called “national costumes” such as the cheongsam for the Chinese, the áo dài is not simply reserved for special occasions in Vietnam. With improved standards of living and the atmosphere of openness brought about by the Đổi Mới, Vietnamese women quickly threw aside the Communist revulsion of its supposed bourgeoisie nature and incorporated it into the daily lives like never before. Despite the various discomforts associated with donning it (tales of strategic dieting and need to learn the proper way of cycling with an áo dài on abound), the Vietnamese are not about to throw the áo dài back into the closet. Look out for the next few postings… I’ll be illustrating how áo dài is being used in present-day Vietnam!