Ao Dai – Vietnamese Plus Size Fashion Statement
For exotic looks, ethnic fashions are wonderful alternatives for the plus size woman. For example, the ao dai (pronounced “ow zai” in North Vietnam and “ow yai” in South Vietnam), the national dress of Vietnam, has a style that looks fabulous on almost anyone. It is made up of two elements: a long tunic with a fitted bodice, mandarin collar, raglan sleeves, and side slits that create front and back panels from the waist down; and wide trousers, often cut on the bias.
While in the distant past the ao dai was worn by both men and women, in the 21st century it is almost exclusively a women’s garment. While the ao dai is now considered to symbolize traditional Vietnamese identity and femininity, in fact it has a relatively short history marked by foreign influence. The ao dai provides a prominent example of how the Vietnamese have responded to Chinese and French colonization by adopting elements of foreign cultures and modifying them to be uniquely Vietnamese. Before the 15th century, Vietnamese women used to wear a skirt and a sleeveless top. These were sometimes covered by an open-necked tunic (ao tu than) with four long panels, the front two being tied or cinched at the waist. Women’s garments were brown or black, accented with brightly colored blouses or belts on special occasions.
From 1407 to 1428, China’s Ming Dynasty occupied Vietnam and forced women to wear Chinese-style pants. After regaining independence, Vietnam’s Le Dynasty (1428-1788) also criticized women’s clothing for violating Confucian standards of decorum. Since the policies were applied haphazardly, skirts and tank tops remained the norm.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Vietnam was divided into two regions, with the Nguyen family ruling the south. To distinguish their subjects from the northerners, the Nguyen lords ordered southern men and women to wear Chinese-style trousers and long, button-fronted tunics. After the Nguyen family gained control of the entire country in 1802, the conservative Confucian Emperor Minh Mang banned women’s skirts for aesthetic and moral reasons.
Over the next century, precursors to the modern ao dai became popular in the cities, at the Hue royal court, and at country festivities and festivals. The outfit basically consisted of pants and a loose-fitting shirt with a high collar and a diagonal zipper that ran down the right side from the neck to the armpit, with some regional variations. These ao dao features were copied from Chinese and Manchu garments. The upper classes often layered several ao dai of different colors, with the neck open to show the layers. However, among peasants and workers, the skirt (va) and sleeveless top (yem) remained popular for everyday wear.
During the 1930s, Hanoi artist Nguyen Cat Tuong, also known as Lemur, presented ao dai styles inspired by French fashions. He styled them in light-colored fitted tunics that featured longer panels, puffed sleeves; asymmetrical lace collar, buttoned cuffs, scalloped hems and darts at the waist and chest. Lemur’s Europeanized flared pants were white with fitted hips. Criticized by conservatives, Lemur’s designs nevertheless marked the embodiment of the contemporary ao dai that blends traditional Vietnamese elements with Western tailoring and body aesthetics.
French colonialism ended in 1954 with the division of Vietnam into North and South. In North Vietnam, communist leaders criticized the ao dai as bourgeois, colonial, and impractical for manual labor, although women continued to wear it on special occasions.
When the ao dai fell out of favor in socialist Vietnam, Vietnamese who had immigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, or France kept it as a symbol of their ethnic heritage. Ao dai were seen at fashion shows, Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations, weddings, and musical performances throughout the world’s Vietnamese communities, numbering approximately 2.6 million in 2006.
Meanwhile, in capitalist South Vietnam, modifications to the garment continued. Madame Nhu, sister-in-law of President Ngo Dinh Diem, became famous in the 1950s and 1960s for the very plunging necklines of her ao dai.
In 1975, the Vietnam War ended with the reunification of the North and the South under communist rule. Leaders ridiculed the southern ao dai as decadent and promoted simpler, more practical styles of clothing. But the austerity proved short-lived. In the 1990s, economic reforms and improved living standards led to a revival of the ao dai within Vietnam and increased international awareness of it as a symbol of Vietnamese identity. In 1989, the Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) Women’s Newspaper organized the first Miss Ao Dai pageant. Six years later, Miss Vietnam’s blue brocade ao dai won the award for best national costume at the Miss International Tokyo pageant. The simple white ao dai has been reinstated in many cities and towns as uniforms for high school students, while Vietnam Airlines flight attendants wear red ao dai.
The ao dai has also inspired non-Asian designers. Following the 1992 films “Indochine” and “The Lover,” both set in the French colonial period, Ralph Lauren, Richard Tyler, Claude Montana, and Giorgio Armani introduced ao dai-inspired collections. While “Indo-chic” fashions may be orientalist in their celebration of a demure and exotic Vietnamese femininity, they are generally welcomed in Vietnam as evidence that the ao dai has entered the international fashion canon.
Some current designers employ novelty fabrics, abstract motifs, and ethnic minority patterns, while others modify the tunic by opening the necklines, removing the sleeves, or replacing the long panels with fringe. White pants that were once scandalous now seem out of fashion, and instead, women prefer pants in the same color as the tunic.
So the ao dia has an interesting history. But with the selections of materials and cuts, the ao dai allows the fashion-conscious plus-size woman to be simultaneously fashionable and fabulous year-round and on special occasions.