[Vietnam] The modern ao dai

Fast pace of life in Viet Nam during the decades of integration and development witnesses the changes in the traditional ao dai. This does not mean that the traditional ao dai is disappearing from Vietnamese life. Yet, it is becoming more adaptable to these modern days.

The growing of the country day by day requires the need of changing and the ability of adapting. The traditional ao dai is not the exception. It is not because the design of the ao dai does not fit to the aesthetic point of view of modern Vietnamese. Actually, because the traditional ao dai is inconvenient in daily life, it must be “modernized”. Indeed, the design of the ao dai is no longer suitable for working or travelling on transportation. Moreover, the extreme weather in Viet Nam makes citizens uncomfortable when wearing the ao dai. Besides, it is wardrobe malfunction that causes to the fear of wearing the ao dai in daily activities. Thus, people change the ao dai in its designs and materials so that wearers find it more comfortable and convenient.^[37]

The modern ao dai turned up several years ago. However, the ao dai was a concern of people who need to wear it as a uniform such as: teacher, flight attendance, receptionists. It was not until the end of the year 2016 did the modern ao dai become so popular with hundreds of new designs. It is modified in the collar, the sleeves or the length of two flaps. Furthermore, instead of wearing pants with the ao dai, people nowadays prefer to wear culottes and skirts inside it. Not only the change in designs, people also use different materials for the modern ao dai like silk, brocade fabric or voile fabric.^[38]

Along with the wave of the modern ao dai, there is criticism about these transformation. People who want to reserve traditional value in the ao dai argue that the modern ao dai is miscellaneous. Mr. Duc Hung, Vietnamese famous designer, also raised his opinion about this issue: “I do assert that it is not the ao dai of Viet Nam. If we continue to advocate the trend of the modern ao dai, the traditional ao dai will be buried in oblivion…”.^[39] In spite of this, there are still a lot of favor from Vietnamese youngsters to the modern ao dai.

 Source from: Mua Boutique, Internet: wikipedia.org