Object social/cultural context

The Vietnamese traditional ‘ao dai’ is one of the most important symbols representing the culture of Vietnam. In the past, high school girls worn ‘ao dai’ almost everyday to classes. Today, ‘Ao dai’ has become a standard for many office workers and staff members to wear as uniform and in special occasions. Furthermore, not only ‘ao dai’ reflecting the beauty and gracefulness of this dress and the image of Vietnam to the world, Vietnamese women are proud to of the heritage when they wear them.
The first ‘Ao Dai’ was originated from the 18th century where the Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat of Hue announced that both men and women at his court needed to dress up in trousers and gown with buttons down the front. ‘Ao Dai’ has been invented to satisfy such needs. People called the dress as “ao dai” because according to Vietnamese language, ‘Ao Dai’ means long shirt. However, in the 19th century, ‘Ao tu than’ was the youngest version of ‘ao dai’ in which it had two flaps sewn together in the back, two flaps sewn together in the front, and a “baby flap” hidden underneath the main front flap. By 1930, a Hanoi designer named Cat Tuong first introduced “Ao Dai” to the public that was inspired by “Ao Tu Than” and Paris fashion. Until 1950, Saigon designers started to make the gown fitted to the women body like the way we see in the modern Ao Dai.
One of the most important features of Ao Dai is its color. Although Ao Dai comes in many different styles, the color of them tells people about the wearer’s age and social status. Young girls would wear white as a typical school uniform representing their youth and purity. Older or unmarried women would wear soft shades such as violet, pink, blue, yellow and so forth. Younger girls can also wear these colors to special occasions such as celebrating national independent day, Memorial Day and so forth. Women on their day of marriage would wear pink or red because the colors represent luck and propensity. Married women would wear ‘ao dai’ in strong, vibrant colors and usually paired up with white or black pants.