VietBlog

From Tory:

One day after our workshop a few of us took an opportunity of a life time. Chi, our West Virginia University exchange student from Vietnam took us to her aunt’s shop in Long Xuyen. She is a seemestress and specializes in making custom Ao Dai’s (pronounced ow-yas).

An Ao Dia is the traditional dress of the Vietnamese men and women. When we arrived we were measured on
different parts of our body.

We perused through different magazines in order to choose the exact style of dress that we wanted. There were many different styles to choose from.

Some styles were very traditional and others were more modern influenced by the younger generation.
Afterwards it was off to the faberic store. With a plethera of faberics to choose from, it
took me about an hour to pick the ones I wanted.

Ao Dai’s call for two faberics, one for
the top and one for the bottom. I’m not too sure how long it will take for Chi’s aunt to make the Ao Dai, however I am very excited for the final product.

Here’s a brief history on the Ao Dai:

In Viet Nam, the ao dai is the traditional dress for women. Developed from Chinese court clothing in the 1930s, this style of clothing went out of fashion in the north in 1954 and in the south in 1975. Recently, however, it has made a comeback and is regaining popularity in the south among schoolgirls and office workers, and is being worn at formal functions. An indication of social standing, the ao dai is worn by women who work as shop assistants or who have a higher social status, while manual workers typically wear a loose top and baggy pants called an ao ba ba.
The ao dai is considered to be an elegant, yet demure, garment. Traditionally, long, wide- legged trousers are worn under a high-necked, long-sleeved, fitted tunic with slits along each side. The outfit?s pants reach to the soles of the feet, often trailing along the ground. Over time, the dress tunic has evolved, keeping with fashion trends, and has grown shorter and shorter until it now falls just below the knees. The ao dai can also be identified by its mandarin-style or boat-neck collar. Young girls wear only pastel colored or white garments while married women wear either dark or bright tunics over black or white trousers.

Check out the latest styles in Ao Dai’s