Ao dai-traditional Vietnamese dress

     Many countries in Asia have their own unique traditional costume. For Vietnam, it's the ao dai. The ao dai consists of two parts: an tunic like outer garment and a pair of pants. The pair of pants is worn underneath the tunic. I have included a picture from Wikipedia that gives a diagram of the parts of an ao dai. Unfortunately, the labels are in Vietnamese but I think that you can still get a basic picture of what I'm talking about from it.



    
     Ao dai can be worn by both men and women but you will find men in ao dai less often than women. There are some key differences between the two kinds of ao dai as well: men's ao dai are looser than women's ao dai and are usually found in only blue and red unlike the myriad of colors that you will find women's ao dai in. Men usually only wear ao dai only for their weddings now but that's even becoming rare now as more and more Vietnamese guys turn to wearing suits since they are more practical and comfortable. Women wear ao dai for many more occasions than men do especially if they are a student. For high school girls in Vietnam, the required school uniform is a white ao dai. Personally, I think that wearing ao dai to school would be difficult especially if you are riding a skirt to school and since it's also very hot and humid in Vietnam. Here is a picture from Wikipedia of some high school girls in their white ao dai.

     

     I’ve come across many articles and websites on the internet containing the history of the ao dai and its importance as a symbol of traditional Vietnamese culture but nothing really on some practical considerations on getting one made and what it’s like wearing one. Maybe a person’s ao dai wearing experience is too personal to them too share? Anyway, there are some practical considerations that you should keep in mind once you have your heart set on wearing ao dai and you have a design that you absolutely love. 

     You can find websites all over internet that sell ao dai if you just do a quick Google search. However, if you want an ao dai that fits your body best than it's best to get one custom made. Ao dai are close fitting and that's what makes them sexy. You can't really get that custom tailoring when ordering from the internet where they usually only offer ao dai in small. medium, and large sizes. If you go to a shop, then a tailor will be able to get your measurements accurately and you can tell how exactly how you want your ao dai made. There are thousands of ao dai designs so people have gotten really creative with their dresses. The most popular ao dai style changes all the time too. Some time ago, it was fashionable to have a shorter outer garment that fell at mid calf length. Now, the style has reverted back to having a longer outer garment that hits at the ankle. You can adapt your ao dai to give it more of a summer feel by making a sleeveless ao dai having the traditional stand up collar reworked into another neckline style.

     Ao dais are notoriously unforgiving even if you gain or lose a little bit of weight so you must try to maintain a steady weight and not yo yo up and down on the scales. Another thing is that you can’t really pig out when you’re wearing one unless you want to be popping buttons like crazy which is not a pretty sight. You also can’t really do any strenuous physical exercise (haha that means no angry cat fights at weddings) or bend back your elbows in an ao dai. The elbow bending thing is important to note because since your ao dai is really tight bending your elbow back so that you can fix your hair or something for an extended period of time will literally cut off your circulation and pretty soon you’ll find that your fingers have gone numb. 

     This is just my personal knowledge and observation about the ao dai. I'd love to hear about other people's traditional costumes for their country of origin as well.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.