Pa Then Women with traditional costumes

Travelling to the northern provinces of Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang, visistors will see the colourful costumes of women from the Pa Then ethnic minority. Like many other ethnic groups in Vietnam, Pa Then people grow flax to weave the brocades and fabrics for making their traditional garments. Most of the adult Pa Then women learned how to weave and sew from their mothers. According to Pa Then custom, women have to learn these skills not only...

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Traditional Vietnamese male attire

                                   Anyone who has seen the exquisite costumes worn by Vietnamese women will recognize similarities in the traditional dress of the male. Both costumes are tailored from the same fabric, worn with the conventional snug collar and buttoned down on the left side to the waist, with no crease in front or back. The male dress...

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Ao Yem

  Vietnam not only has ao dai but also ao yem – the indispensable dress of ancient girls. It is an age-old dress which is maintained until today. Ao yem was used by all levels of society from working class to upper class. It also was used widely in traditional festivals therefore it was the national traditional clothes of ancient ladies. Ao yem appeared in Vietnamese life in a very old day but until Ly dynasty it was basically...

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Traditional Ao Dai for Tet

Most Vietnamese people wear new clothes to celebrate Tet, or the Lunar new year, in order to promote a fresh beginning to the year. Although Western-style outfits are more convenient for daily chores, the traditional tunic, or ao dai, reappears each Tet. These tunics add to the festival’s formal atmosphere. In the past, all ao dai were lined. The two layers of fabric formed a set, or kép(in Vietnamese). On formal occasions, another light...

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Sole Sisters

One popular legend tells of a pair of stone clogs passed down for generations by a family in Cao Bang, high in Vietnam's northern mountains. Cao Bang was situated in what was then known as the Vu Dinh region of Van Lang - as the nation was then called. Vu Dinh was divided into nine zones, each of which was governed by a Po, or landlord. Highly competitive, the nine Po organized a contest to determine who was the most skillful. One Po...

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Conical Hat (Non La)

The legend of the conical hat is related to maternal love and the history of rice growing in Vietnam. Once upon a time, the legend says, when a deluge of rain was falling there descended from the sky a giant woman wearing on her head four huge round leaves as large as the sky itself and stitched together by bamboo sticks. The leaves protected humankind, then still naked, from the rain. The giant messenger from the sky twirled round the...

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Ao Dai

The beauty of women dressed in ao dai always leaves a deep impression on foreign visitors to Vietnam. Girl students dressed in white long robes take to streets on the way to schools or back home, or gracefully sail on their bikes along streets. Female secretaries in delicate pastels greet you at an office door and older ladies in deep shades of purple, green or blue cut a striking pose at a restaurant dinner. The ao dai appears to flatter every...

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