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Traditional costumes of the Vietnamese people tend to be very simple and modest. Men tend to wear brown shirts and white trousers. Their headgear is simply a piece of cloth wrapped around the head and their footwear consists of a pair simple sandals.

For formal ceremonies men would have two additional items, a long gown, slit on either side, and a turban usually in black or brown made of cotton or silk. In feudal times, there was a strict rule governing dress codes. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white. Costumes in yellow were reserved for the King.

Those in purple and red were reserved for high-ranking court officials, white dresses in blue were exclusively worn by petty court officials. Men’s dress has gradually changed along with social development. The traditional set of long gown and turban had to give way to more modern looking suits, while business shifts and trousers have replaced traditionally long sleeved shirts and wide trousers. Traditional costumes are still around and efforts are increasingly being made to restore traditional festivals and entertainment, which incorporate traditional costumes.

Young women wear light brown-colored short shirts with long black skirts. Their headgear consists of a black turban with a peak at the front. To make their waist look smaller, they tightly fasten a long piece of cloth in either pink or violet. On formal occasions, they wear a special three layered dress called an ao dai, a long gown with slits on either side.

The outer garment is a special silk gown called an ao tu than, which is brown or light brown in color with four skirts divided equally on its lower section. The second layer is a gown in a light yellow color and the third layer is a gown in pink. When a woman has her three gowns on, she would fasten the buttons on the side, and leave those on the chest unfastened so that it forms a shaped collar. This allows her to show the different colors on the upper part of the three gowns, neatly folded one after another. Beneath the three gowns is a bright red brassiere, which is left exposed to cover the woman's neck.

Over the passage of time, the traditional ao dai has gone through certain changes. Long gowns are now tailored carefully to fit the body of a Vietnamese woman. The two long slits along the side allow the gown to have two free floating pleats in the front and at the back of the dress. The floating pleats allow exposure to a long pair of white silk trousers.

As part of a woman's formal dress, an elegant looking conical palm hat is worn which is traditionally known as а non bai tho (a hat with poetry written on it). This traditional conical hat is particularly suitable for a tropical country such as Vietnam, where fierce sunshine and hard rain are commonplace. To make this conical hat, a hat maker has to choose young palm leaves which has been dried under continued sunshine. Beneath the almost transparent layers of dried palm leaves is attached a drawing of a small river wharf. Below the drawing is usually written a piece of poetry, which would to be recited by the hat wearer.

In recent years some foreign fashions have been introduced to Vietnam, but the traditional ao dai remains preferable by women in both urban and rural setting.

Exercise 60. Render into English