| For exotic looks, ethnic fashions are wonderful | | | | scalloped hems, and darts at the waist and chest. |
| alternatives for the plus size woman. For instance the | | | | Lemur's Europeanized flared pants were white with |
| the ao dai (pronounced "ow zai" in North Vietnam and, | | | | snugly tailored hips. Criticized by conservatives, Lemur's |
| "ow yai" in South Vietnam), Vietnam's national dress, | | | | designs nonetheless marked the materialization of |
| has a styling that looks fabulous on almost anyone. It | | | | contemporary ao dai blending traditional Vietnamese |
| consists of two elements: a long tunic with a | | | | elements with Western tailoring and bodily aesthetics. |
| close-fitting bodice, mandarin collar, raglan sleeves, and | | | | French colonialism ended in 1954 with the division of |
| side slits that create front and back panels from the | | | | Vietnam into North and South. In North Vietnam, |
| waist down; and wide-legged pants, often cut on the | | | | Communist leaders criticized the ao dai as bourgeois, |
| bias. | | | | colonial, and impractical for manual labor, although |
| While in the distant past both men and women wore | | | | women continued to wear it for special occasions. |
| the ao dai, in the twenty-first century it is almost | | | | When the ao dai fell into disfavor in socialist Vietnam, |
| exclusively a women's garment. While the ao dai is | | | | Vietnamese who had immigrated to the United States, |
| now seen as symbolizing traditional Vietnamese | | | | Canada, Australia, or France preserved it as a symbol |
| identity and femininity, it in fact has a relatively brief | | | | of their ethnic heritage. Ao dai were seen at fashion |
| history marked by foreign influence. The ao dai | | | | shows, Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations, weddings, |
| provides a outstanding example of how the | | | | and musical performances throughout the Vietnamese |
| Vietnamese have responded to both Chinese and | | | | communities of the world, which numbered |
| French colonization by adopting elements of foreign | | | | approximately 2.6 million in 2006. |
| cultures and modifying them to be uniquely | | | | Meanwhile, in capitalist South Vietnam, modifications of |
| Vietnamese. Prior to the fifteenth century, Vietnamese | | | | the garment continued. Madame Nhu the sister-in-law |
| women typically wore a skirt and halter top. These | | | | of President Ngo Dinh Diem, became notorious in the |
| were some times covered by an open-necked tunic | | | | 1950s and 1960s for the very plunging necklines of her |
| (ao tu than) with four long panels, the front two tied or | | | | ao dai. |
| belted at the waist. Women's garments were brown | | | | In 1975, the Vietnam War ended with the reunification |
| or black, accented by brightly colored tops or belts on | | | | of North and South under communist rule. Leaders |
| special occasions. | | | | derided the southern ao dai as decadent and |
| From 1407 to 1428, China's Ming Dynasty occupied | | | | promoted simpler, practical clothing styles. But austerity |
| Vietnam and forced women to wear Chinese-style | | | | proved short-lived. By the 1990s, economic reforms |
| pants. After regaining independence, Vietnam's Le | | | | and improved standards of living led to a revival of the |
| Dynasty (1428-1788) likewise criticized women's | | | | ao dai within Vietnam and to growing international |
| clothing for violating Confucian standards of decorum. | | | | awareness of it as a symbol of Vietnamese identity. In |
| Since the policies were haphazardly enforced, and | | | | 1989, the Women's Newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City |
| skirts and halter tops remained the norm. | | | | (formerly Saigon) hosted the first Miss Ao Dai contest. |
| During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, | | | | Six years later, Miss Vietnam's blue brocade ao dai |
| Vietnam was divided into two regions, with the Nguyen | | | | won the prize for best national costume at Tokyo's |
| family ruling the south. To distinguish their subjects from | | | | Miss International Pageant. Simple white ao dai have |
| northerners, Nguyen lords ordered southern men and | | | | been reinstated in many cities and towns as uniforms |
| women to wear Chinese-style trousers and long, | | | | for female high school students, while Vietnam Airlines |
| front-buttoning tunics. After the Nguyen family gained | | | | flight attendants wear red ao dai. |
| control over the entire country in 1802, the | | | | The ao dai has also inspired non-Asian designers. |
| conservative Confucian Emperor Minh Mang banned | | | | Following the 1992 films "Indochine" and "The Lover", |
| women's skirts on aesthetic and moral grounds. | | | | both set in the French colonial period, Ralph Lauren, |
| Over the next century, precursors to the modern ao | | | | Richard Tyler, Claude Montana, and Giorgio Armani |
| dai became popular in cities, at the royal court in Hue, | | | | presented ao dai-inspired collections. While "Indo-Chic" |
| and for holidays and festivals in the countryside. The | | | | fashions can be Orientalist in their celebration of a |
| outfit basically consisted of pants and a loose-fitting | | | | demure and exotic Vietnamese femininity, they are |
| shirt with a stand-up collar and a diagonal closure that | | | | typically welcomed in Vietnam as evidence that the ao |
| ran along the right side from the neck to the armpit, | | | | dai has entered the canon of international fashion. |
| with some regional variations. These features of the | | | | Some current designers employ novel fabrics, abstract |
| ao dao were copied from Chinese and Manchu | | | | motifs, and ethnic minority patterns, while others alter |
| garments. The upper classes often layered several ao | | | | the tunic by opening necklines, removing sleeves, or |
| dai of different colors, with the neck left open to | | | | replacing the long panels with fringe. The once |
| display the layers. Among peasants and laborers, | | | | scandalous white pants now seem outmoded, and |
| however, the skirt (va) and halter top (yem) remained | | | | women instead favor pants the same color as the |
| popular for daily wear. | | | | tunic. |
| During the 1930s Hanoi artist Nguyen Cat Tuong, also | | | | So the ao dia has an interesting history. But with the |
| known as Lemur, presented ao dai styles inspired by | | | | selections of materials and cuts, the ao dai allows the |
| French fashion. He designed them with light-colored, | | | | fashion-conscious plus size woman to be |
| close-fitting tunics featured longer panels, puffy | | | | simultaneously trendy and fabulous throughout the |
| sleeves; asymmetrical lace collars, buttoned cuffs, | | | | year and on special occasions. |