“I am from cherry blossom. From áo dài and communion gown.” I have worn the áo dài, the traditional Vietnamese gown, for as long as I can remember, and have always been intrigued by it. As I’ve learned through my research, the áo dài is a historical testament to the legacies of war, imperialism and colonization in Vietnam, yet also a quintessential fixture of Vietnamese heritage and femininity. As the áo dài has traveled across geographic boundaries, especially during the Vietnam War, its meaning has continually shifted and been transformed.
The Vietnamese áo dài, in modern times, is a “long, flowing gown worn over long, full palazzo pants.”[1] However, it has undergone many renovations over multiple periods in history. Most scholars agree that the áo dài style first emerged in China in the mid-18th century, during the Nguyen dynasty.[2] The Southern Vietnamese are said to be the ones to wear áo dài in Vietnam. When Nguyễn Phúc Khoát ruled over the Southern provinces of Vietnam, he demanded that those in the imperial court from the North wear Chinese style robes, while those from the South wear a loose garment over trouser pants, so he could distinguish between his subjects.[3] After being introduced to Vietnam, the Vietnamese áo dài of the 19th century saw a transformation into a more practical style with a five paneled design that was easy to perform manual work in.[4] This style went virtually extinct with the arrival of French colonization in Vietnam in the late 19th century.
Under French colonialism, the style of the female áo dài became heavily influenced by couture fashion. When some Vietnamese students studied abroad in France, they brought back with them Parisian trends. During this period, the áo dài became more sleek and tight-fitting, as to complement the female figure.[5] Over time, the áo dài had become a distinctively feminized style of dress and a staple of Vietnamese fashion. During the early 20th century, female fashion became more sensual alongside advances in feminist movements for sexual freedom.[6] In pursuit of romance and love, the so-called “modern girl” emerged as fiercely independent, expressed through her choice of make-up, hairstyles and clothing.[7] The tail end of the Vietnam War, in the 1970’s, saw a rise in popularity of an even tighter gown, complementing and accentuating the chest, and paired with loose bell-bottom pants—evocative of the American hippie and modern girl eras.[8] Today, the modern áo dài is the most culturally fused it has ever been, an amalgamation of the many styles which came before. Ann Marie Leschkowich writes, “the áo dài’s hybridity makes it particularly well suited to convey… compelling messages about Vietnam’s national character to both domestic and foreign audiences.”[9]
While the áo dài has endured as a symbol of the modern Vietnamese woman, it has also simultaneously conjured up gendered, stereotypical images of the Vietnamese woman. In this gendered definition, the áo dài encompasses, “The traditional Vietnamese concept of female beauty: innocent, frail, chaste, shy, and soft-spoken”[10]. The wearer of the áo dài is viewed as conservative yet feminine, beautiful yet not provocative. In this way, the áo dài also reflects traditional patriarchal gender norms which are still reinforced in Vietnam and places special emphasis upon the importance of female appearance. These stereotypes also depict Vietnamese women as weak, submissive, and subservient to male authority. Vietnamese women are expected to be “submissive and subordinated with a heart that is ‘red and true’”[11].
Despite the genderered, colonial and imperialist influences which undoubtedly shaped the formation of the áo dài, many Vietnamese see it as a symbol which is uniquely and globally Vietnamese. Nhi T. Lieu writes, “Much has changed as a result of the Vietnamese migration overseas, but the áo dài forever remains the same, like our love for freedom and democracy and our love for the homeland of Vietnam.”[12] Over the two decades of the Vietnam War, almost two million Vietnamese were forced to flee their home country, and many carried almost none of their belongings with them. For these refugees, the preservation of cultural traditions became especially vital. As Leora Auslander and Tara Zahra write, “Memory, migration, and material culture are all linked as particular objects serve as repositories of individual, familial, and collective memories of dislocation.”[13] Because of the haste and panic which characterized refugee flight, many Vietnamese held onto memories rather than material items. The áo dài “invoke[d] nostalgia and timelessness associated with a gendered image of the homeland for which many Vietnamese people throughout the diaspora yearned.”[14] Through this diasporic lens, áo dài stands as a symbol of the lost homeland, and a repository of the memories associated with the homeland.[15]
Though the áo dài is seen as being a distinctly Vietnamese symbol, it has also been appropriated by those who are not members of the Vietnamese community. For example, companies such as Miishka have come under fire for selling áo dài in a culturally insensitive manner. The company’s áo dà was worn by a white model on their website, without the traditional pants meant to accompany the gown of the áo dài. Most recently, American country singer Kacey Musgraves posted multiple photographs of herself on Instagram wearing áo dài without the traditional pants meant to accompany it, and posing in a seductive manner. Equally troubling was her donning a South Asian headpiece accompanying the áo dài, as well as her wearing áo dài to multiple concerts. She received backlash from the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American community, yet ignored it, and continues to wear áo dài to her concerts, and in photographs of herself on social media. Considering past legacies of colonization in Vietnam and other Asian countries, cultural appropriation of Vietnamese traditional clothing is a disturbing yet sadly unsurprising occurrence.
Whereas many forms of traditional fashion tend to go out of style over time, the áo dài has only grown in popularity across the diaspora, particularly among Vietnamese American women. In modern times, through the áo dài, Vietnamese American women can relate to their femininity on their own terms, and in the context of their own cultural heritage. Female Vietnamese American fashion designers have expressed their own artistic creativity through their own renderings of the áo dài, often featuring ornate designs. Vietnamese American women often customize áo dài with their own personal accessories. Wearing the áo dài has also stood as a sacred tradition passed down by older female relatives to their daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters, and as such, serves as a cultural repository of Vietnamese heritage, passed through women of the family. The áo dài is also often worn on special occasions, such as Lunar New Year celebrations and death anniversaries of relatives or other loved ones. Across the world, the áo dài continues to serve as a universally recognizable symbol of “Vietnam’s national soul…and an embodiment of Vietnam’s traditions.”[16]
Although the reason is unclear, the male áo dài has remained largely unchanged throughout Vietnam and the diaspora. The male áo dài is generally more loose fitting than the female áo dài, with less variation in patterns. Vietnamese men often only wear áo dài on particularly special occasions or ceremonies, such as weddings. This may be because Vietnamese men see the áo dài as impractical to wear on a daily basis.
After the Vietnam War, beauty pageants in Vietnamese American communities began to sprout up organically.[17] Especially at a time in which many Vietnamese American women were struggling to assimilate into American culture, these pageants provided an outlet to preserve and reclaim their Vietnamese heritage and femininity, while resisting white conceptions of beauty.[18] Vietnamese beauty pageants differed from American beauty pageants in that contestants were graded most heavily on their understanding and appreciation of their cultural heritage, rather than their physical appearance.[19] One of the most central facets of these pageants was the showcasing of áo dài.[20] This uniformity of dress united these young women in their shared Vietnamese roots.
In conclusion, the áo dài is an extremely complex entity, one which is seen among the diaspora as a remnant of the Vietnamese homeland, but also as a painful reminder of the legacy of colonization which plagued the country. Though born out of colonial roots, generations of Vietnamese women continue to reclaim the áo dài on their own terms. This reclamation is indicative of a modern generation of Vietnamese women who are attempting to preserve their culture and heritage for future generations to come, while also maintaining their own individuality. Like the áo dài, I myself carry experiences of my ancestors who were both the colonizer and the colonized, being half Vietnamese and half European. However, to me, the áo dài has served as a way to reconnect to my culture, and connect with the larger sisterhood of the Vietnamese American community, especially after having grown up in a predominantly white city where I felt the need to suppress my cultural identity. While the áo dài undoubtedly occupies an immensely complicated and at times traumatic history, it has been a constant throughout my life, and in all its complexity, still serves as a linkage to my history and the past of my people.
[1] Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering “The Nation” through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the “Hoa Hau Áo dài” Contest”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 21, no. ½ (2000): 128, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/3347038.
[2] Duc Duong and Mingxin Bao, “Aesthetic Sense of the Vietnamese Through Three Renovations of the Áo dài”, Asia Culture and History 10, no. 2 (2009): 97, http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ach/article/view/18456
[3] Hornberger, Jake. “Vietcetera”. Vietcetera. September 21, 2017. https://vietcetera.com/en/the-evolution-of-the-ao-dai/
[4] Ibid.
[5] Duc Duong and Mingxin Bao, “Aesthetic Sense of the Vietnamese Through Three Renovations of the Áo dài”, Asia Culture and History 10, no. 2 (2009): 99, http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ach/article/view/18456
[6] Alys Eve Weinbaum, Lynn M. Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Madeleine Y. Dong, and Tani E. Barlow, The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization (North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2008), 1.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Hornberger, Jake. “Vietcetera”. Vietcetera. September 21, 2017. https://vietcetera.com/en/the-evolution-of-the-ao-dai/
[9] Leschkowich, Ann Marie. “The Áo dài Goes Global: How International Influences and Female Entrepreneurs Have Shaped Vietnam’s ‘National Costume”. Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress. 81. New York: Berg Publishers, 2003. https://www.colorado.edu/anthropology/sites/default/files/attached-files/1jonesandleshkowichreorientingintro.pdf
[10] Ibid.
[11] Do Ti Van Hanh and Brennan Marie, “Complexities of Vietnamese Femininities: A Resource for Rethinking Women’s University Leadership Practices”, Gender and Education 27, no. 3 (2015): 277. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2015.1024619.
[12] Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering “The Nation” through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the “Hoa Hau Áo dài” Contest”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 21, no. ½ (2000): 127, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/3347038.
[13] Auslander Leora and Zahra Tahra, Objects of War: The Material Culture of Conflict and Displacement (New York: Cornell University Press, 2018), 15.
[14] Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering “The Nation” through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the “Hoa Hau Áo dài” Contest”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 21, no. ½ (2000): 128, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/3347038.
[15] Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering “The Nation” through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the “Hoa Hau Áo dài” Contest”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 21, no. ½ (2000): 128, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/3347038
[16] Leschkowich, Ann Marie. “The Áo dài Goes Global: How International Influences and Female Entrepreneurs Have Shaped Vietnam’s ‘National Costume”. Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress .80. New York: Berg Publishers, 2003. https://www.colorado.edu/anthropology/sites/default/files/attached-files/1jonesandleshkowichreorientingintro.pdf
[17] Nhi T. Lieu, “Remembering “The Nation” through Pageantry: Femininity and the Politics of Vietnamese Womanhood in the “Hoa Hau Áo dài” Contest”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 21, no. ½ (2000): 128, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/3347038.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
Carina Kimlan Hinton is a mixed race, Vietnamese poet and writer who explores the intricacies of her heritage through her work. Her mother’s family are Vietnamese refugees, who escaped to the United States by boat during the Vietnam War, and she grew up hearing stories of their courageous escape, which inspired her from a young age to seek to understand this complex journey. Last year she graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in History, and a concentration in Post Vietnam War, Vietnamese Amerasian History. Explore more of her work on Project Yellow Dress, Vietnamese Boat People, Watercress, JACL, and Medium.
