The Vietnamese traditional dress, the Áo Dài (roughly pronounced "ow zy") is worn by most Vietnamese woman, although nowadays usually only for special occasions. It is a simple, close-fitting blouse with long panels front and back, worn over wide pants or sometimes a long skirt.You still see it quite often in Hanoi as a uniform for some shop assistants or restaurant hostesses and servers, as well as airline staff. An elegant, beautiful silhouette, it is captured a lot in Vietnamese art. A white Ao Dai is the uniform of many Vietnamese schoolgirls.
THE Áo Dài
Last October when I was in Hanoi I stumbled upon a shop near the Cathedral called Cocoon. The place blew my mind - gorgeous, contemporary clothing designs with fantastic colourful embroidery. Total eye candy. I got chatting with the designer and owner and came up with an idea. I didn't want to buy any of the clothes as I didn't think I'd wear them much in my life and climate and as pieces of art, didn't want them just hanging in a closet. So, I commissioned a piece from Nga to be what I envisioned as a sculpture. I wanted a beautiful Áo Dài, traditional in shape yet contemporary in colour, that would be a three-dimensional piece of art, to be displayed on a dressmaker's mannequin. Nga got quite excited over the idea, as did I. I asked her to design an Áo Dài fit for a Vietnamese princess if they still had any, and she replied "Why not for a queen?" By Christmas it was ready and we flew up to Hanoi from Hoi An so I could pick it up in person. It's covered with hand embroidery in fantastic colours on black silk. It's home now and I'm thrilled.
As an aside - we had just about decided that we had to stop buying large pieces of furniture or large paintings as we'll be hard pressed as it is to fit everything into our B.C. house. Now we have the equivalent of a full sized person standing in the corner! Oh well.
The woman wearing the Áo Dài's at the top calls herself Hanoi Girl - theRedRiver on her great travel blog.
Nguyen Thanh Binh painted the girls in white Áo Dài.
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