The multiple meanings of “Ao Dai”

“It was clear that for Mrs. Kinne the dress’s life and her own were inextricably interwoven. The story of how the dress was made and worn also her story, connecting Riga with Wangaratta and adolescence with old age” (Schamberger 2008: 276)

“The dress was not just a trigger to memory, it was a rich source of embodied knowledge and about personal experience” (Schamberger 2008:276)

Clothing plays important parts in our lives. It often has the meaning that we substantiate our sense of self and our place in society. Clothing becomes an indicator of personal worth, values and beliefs as well as those of culture we live in. The associations that we have with the dress reveal the connection between a person and his or her culture. In this regard, clothing has multiple meanings and it continually serves as a material culture reflecting the people living in that culture. This study therefore focuses on the multiple meanings of clothing and its connection to the individuals’ culture. In particularly, the paper will look at the traditional Vietnamese “Ao Dai” and its representation to the people and the culture of Vietnam. Not only “Ao Dai” is the product of the culture, but also it has been significant for the Vietnamese overseas because of its role in the politics of Vietnam. Having that said, this essay argues that the traditional Vietnamese “Ao Dai” has multiple meanings in reflecting a personal experience and being a culture symbols as well as a political statement of Vietnam. Therefore, in considering the “Ao Dai” object using theories present in archeology and material culture studies, we can begin to ask questions about the objects themselves and the migration process as a whole. These questions can include:

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  What is the “Ao Dai” made of? How was it made? How does the “Ao Dai” look like in terms of its size, weight, design, style and decoration?


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  What does the “Ao Dai” tells us about the physical process of migration and the journey across the seas?


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  How does the “Ao Dai” represent the people and the culture of Vietnam?


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  How does the “Ao Dai” relate to the construction of identity and memory as the migrants pass through the borderlands?


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  How is the “Ao Dai” interpreted and used by current society and other migrants?


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  How is the “Ao Dai” affecting attitudes and relations towards migrants?


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  Where does this current migration fit within the larger framework of historical movement of people and objects?

The answers to these questions will be presented in the below discussions. However, to begin, some literature review is necessary to explain the general background of clothing and its association with culture. In their book “Dress and popular culture”, Patricia A. Cunningham and Susan Voso Lab discussed about the ever-changing meaning of specific garments and clothing practices of sub-cultural groups to examining dress as a reflection of changing lifestyles in American culture. In particularly, the authors argued that people use clothing as something to express their individuality, sense of self and personality and well as they use clothing to shape and define their identities. In this regard, Cunningham and Lab suggested that clothing functions and ideas are transmitted to make the communication process viable. For Cunningham and Lab, clothing is an important object that reflects people social status and becomes a symbol that does not necessarily tells individuals’ status. In terms of social status, rites of intensification, causing changes in status, may occur at specific times in a person’s life. For instance, the members of black sorority wore distinctive clothing symbols during various stages of initialization process. The clothing symbol is directly related to the ritual were shared by each sorority member. Another example is the symbols associated with the attire of witch or witches. In particularly, brooms, black cats, yellowbirds, and Halloween clothing designs are often the symbols of bewitching capabilities. In this regard, the witch’s or witches’ dress and accessories were associated with causing specific harms to someone.

In addition to Cunningham and Lab’s work, studies in human behavior suggested that regardless of the size of group or society in which membership is thought to be important, there is a need on the part of individual to belong, to fit in, and to be accepted by the rest of the groups or society. One way to show the acceptance of the group’s philosophy and standards is to dress in a way that reflects those same ideals. Society has expectations or notions of what is acceptable attire for those who is socially mature. For instance, in the nineteenth century, specific clothing had connections with particular societal categories such as class, status, time, gender and occupation. This left to the idea that appropriate clothing became more intertwined with rules of acceptable behaviors. Therefore, judgment could be made according to the principles or values of culture. Today, we see the idea of “dress code behavior” and “dress for success” an ideal type for us to follow. For example, when we go to attend a graduation ceremony, we would dress different from going out for picnics. Furthermore, we often have an idea of what to wear on our job interview because we want to make good impressions to the employers. For all of those reasons, it is important to understand that clothing has a strong impact on indicating a person’s social status as well as making statement to others.

In another article, “Living in a material world: object biography and transnational lives”, Karen Schamberger introduced the term “object biography” as an analytical process that has emerged within material culture studies as a way to reveal and understand object agency. By saying, “object agency”, he understood it as the idea of human agency for having a capacity to make choices and to act based on conscious choices. With reference to the work of Chris Gosden and Yvonne Marshall, an object agency is an artefact’s life history to “Adress the way social interactions involving people and objects create meaning and to understand how these meanings change and are renegotiated through the life of an object. More importantly, Gosden emphasized that material things are not just external supports of internal life. Rather, he found that people and things have mutual biographies, which unfold in culturally specific ways. By exploring how subjectivity is created by the material world, Gosden’s explanation of object biography focuses on the ideas of how things affect on the people who own them.

In the case of object biography: Guna Kinne’s Latvian national dress, Gunna Kinne had her way of preserving her nation through the way she preserves to make her national dress. In the article, she described her feeling when wearing her Latvian dress for being invited by a Good Neighborhood Council to join other “new Australians” as which she said, “in a way, I was proud to show off the dress, because it was unusual, being red and all”. Furthermore, by wearing the dress in Australia, she is also able to politically active during the two Melbourne rallies for celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Latvia’s declaration of independence and recognizing the incorporation of Latvia into the Soviet Union. Having similar idea, David Parkin in his article “mementoes as transnational objects in human displacement”, claimed that the movements of persons are associated with the objects that they find attach to them. In particularly, Parkin argued that the “transnational objects” carried by people in crisis “inscribe their person hood in flight but offer the possibility of their own de-objectification and re-personalization afterwards”. Parkin began his paper by introducing Alfred Gell’s theory of the art nexus, which refers to the idea of “social trails may lead up to and follow the use of physical objects that insofar as they are sometimes associated with particular persons, extend that personhood beyond the individual’s biological body”. In arguing for personhood, Parkin suggested, “when a person cannot trust the people around, he is opening to inscribe his sense of a personal future and identity in whatever remains to the hand of impersonal physical, mental, and bodily object: to invest emotionally”.

With references to the works of the above-mentioned scholars, I would like to return to my central thesis by arguing that the traditional Vietnamese “Ao Dai” has multiple meanings in reflecting a personal experience and being a culture symbols as well as a political statement of Vietnam.

In terms of object description, “Ao Dai” is a long dress with long sleeves that is designed to fit and compliment all women body structures. “Ao Dai (s)” are handcrafted garment that is custom-tailored which made specifically to fit the people who wear them. They have both of the front and back flaps to hug around the body. On the right side of the dress, it has many hooks and buttons that are used to wrap the body and keep the dress staying in shape. Although, the cost of “Ao Dai” today has been cheaper than in the past, “Ao Dai’s” fabric is very light and made of expensive material such as Velvet, silk or satin. In current time, people prefer to buy “Ao Dai” with embroiled, painted or printed flower patterns because they are looking more exquisite and elegant. The traditional color of “Ao Dai” is white; however, today, people make the “Ao Dai” colourful to satisfy people’s tastes. Vietnamese women wear Ao Dai with many different colors such as they would wear red for their wedding day, wear white for their school day and wear purple for Memorial Day. Historically, the “Ao Dai” was a typical dress for Vietnamese students to wear as school uniforms. However, during the communist period, “Ao Dai” became a symbol of the national dress and the spirit of nationalism in which it demonstrates the love and devotion of the people to the country. In particularly, the women would wear “Ao Dai” for showing how much they love their country and their political regime. From that time, “Ao Dai” became extremely popular and typical among Vietnamese women. The first “Ao Dai” in history was made in the 18th century; at that time, it was called “Ao Yem”. The design of Ao Yem was much different from the present Ao Dai. Ao Yem combined between a top and a skirt. Then in the the 19th century, a new version of “Ao Yem” called “Ao Ngu Than” was designed with a loose fit and wide sleeve that was suitable for Vietnamese tropical weather. However, by the 20th century, “Saigon designers Tran Kim and Dung have made their first sketches of what we see the “Ao Dai” today. These designers came up with an idea of tightening the fit of the “Ao dai” to create such a version that we see today.

The first ‘Ao Dai’ originally designed in the 18th century when 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’ that 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 introduced “Ao Dai” to the public for the first time. His design of “Ao Dai” was inspired by “Ao Tu Than” and Paris fashion. By 1950s, 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 the “Ao Dai” is its color. Although the “Ao Dai” comes with many different styles, the colors indicate 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. The Vietnamese traditional ‘Ao Dai’ is one of the most important symbols representing the culture of Vietnam. In the past, high school girls wore ‘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 “Ao Dai” is the national symbol of Vietnam. In the eyes of all Vietnamese, there is no doubt that it has always been incredibly graceful and beautiful. Through out the history, it does not lose its symbol in the hearts of all Vietnamese. It becomes a national idea of love that inspires many artists such as musicians, painters, photographers and poets. Despite the distances and historical tragedies, the “Ao Dai” has been perfectly overcome all ages and time to reach to anyone who lives in Vietnam and elsewhere in the world. For Vietnamese women, it is a great honor for them to dress in the traditional “Ao Dai” costume. For the people who never come to Vietnam, “Ao Dai” is the image of Vietnam to the world reflecting not only the beauty of the Vietnamese women, but also the culture of Vietnam. And for every Vietnamese living and working overseas “Ao Dai” has a very special meaning: It is a memory of home. Not only the “Ao Dai” is a symbols of Vietnamese culture, it is associated with personal experience. For me, the “Ao Dai” has a very special meaning: It is a memory of home. When I was ten years old, my mother asked me to help her folding clothes. After folding all of her clothes, I put them into the drawers. Because there was not enough space, I had to look for another place to store my mother's clothes. There, I thought of her 'secret' closet. I slowly searched for a place to put the clothes, but it seemed like all the empty spaces had been filled. I noticed that at the corner of the closet there was one drawer had nothing inside but a pink “Ao Dai”. I remembered about my mother talking about her special pink dress before. My mother once told me that she had a very special dress being kept in a very special place. This was a very special dress for her because it was the only thing that she kept for herself since her childhood. To my mother, the “Ao Dai” is not just a dress; it is a part of her life story. At age of ten, that was all I knew about the dress. Until the time when I was twelve years old, I decided to go to Canada for studying. The day before I left my home, she could not say a thing because deep down from her heart, she knew that she was going to miss me a lot. Because of my future, she had to let me go. It was a very emotional experience for my mother and me. That night, we could not sleep and she came to my room giving me a small package. She handed it to me. I opened the package and saw the pink dress that I was secretly saw two years ago. My mother slowly said to me, “Well Ly, I guessed that it is a right time for you to have this “Ao Dai”especially you are going to be away for a while. Just remember to carry the dress with you everywhere you go and wear it on your important days. It will bring you luck.” I could not say a word because I was too emotional. I waited for my mother to continue with her talking. She slowly told me, “Well you know that this “Ao Dai” once belonged to your grandmother then to me and now to you. Your grandmother had kept the dress as one of her most precious things. My mother continually her talk, “your grandmother loved this dress very much. It was a gift from her boyfriend many years ago. He gave it to her so that they could wear the dress on their wedding day. The day before he went to join the military, he told your grandmother to wait for him return and get marry. Well I guess your grandmother had waited for all her life and never had a chance to wear this dress” My mother hesitated for a moment then she started to talk, “Well it was because he never came back, perhaps he had died during the war. However, your grandmother believed that he still here alive and always be. She hoped and waited for his return until the day she passed away”. My mother said, “I know it was the sad story and I don't mean to say all of this to make you sad; nonetheless, it is because I want you to know how much the dress meant to your grandmother and to me. The story might be sad but you know that the dress live with your grandmother every step she goes. It is neither a gift nor a dress; it is her past and her future. It is her belief that one day she will see the man that she loves. I want you to have this dress because I want you to know that life is constantly changing and on your journey, you might find many difficulties; you must remember that everything will be fine in the end. May the dress bring you luck, Ly.”

I brought the “Ao Dai” with me everywhere I go and think of it as my charming object. I wear the dress on my first day coming to Canada. When I first came to Canada, I lived in the home-stay. I wore the dress once and my roommates were curious asking about my dress. I proudly told them that it was my national custom. For the last ten years living in Canada, I hold the dress as my only treasure. It was the most precious thing to me. I wore the dress on all of my important days celebrating my small success in life. One time, I wore the dress to the Vietnamese festival that took place in Toronto. This was the first time I wore the “Ao Dai” to a Vietnamese event outside of Vietnam; this gave me a different type of experience. That day, I noticed that I was the only one who wore the national dress in that event. Then I started to feel that people were either looking at me differently or ignoring me as they started to act weird towards me. They would pretend that they did not want to talk to me or they were interested in something else. I tried to convince myself that I am not the only one who felt that way and perhaps somewhere in the party, someone would feel the same. I decided to stay at the corner of the room and hoped that the party is soon going to end. When I got home, I called my best friend and started telling about my story and the way I felt extremely awkward during the party. My friend explained to me, “Well, it was not you but the dress that you are wearing. It was inappropriate for a place like that.” I started to be more confused, “I thought Canada is a place for freedom and the fact that I am wearing this dress is my freedom, isn't it?” My friend slowly told me, “Half true and half is not. It is great that you are wearing the dress that representing your culture. The people from other countries would appreciate that very much. For the Vietnamese overseas, because of some political reasons, the north and the south community living in Toronto did not see that way. A dress is no longer a garment that you are wearing, but a political statement that you are sending across. By wearing the “Ao Dai”, you are telling that you came from the north which makes people thinking of you as a communist”. My personal experience has struck me to the point that I was fear of meeting up with the South Vietnamese people. Before I came to Canada, I thought that the Vietnamese overseas are the same. However, when I came to Toronto I realized that the Vietnamese is made up of many smaller groups in which we have Chinese-Vietnamese came from Hongkong, Sino-Chinese, South Vietnamese, Hai Phong (a port of Vietnam) and the North Vietnamese (communist). The first group is distinct from the rest because they tend to mix up with the Chinese and most of the time, they identify of themselves as Chinese rather than Vietnamese. Sino-Chinese are the Chinese who lived in Vietnam for a very long time; they were forced to leave Vietnam during the war between Vietnam and China in 1975s. The people came from South of Vietnam are parts of the US regime; they served the US government when the US occupied Vietnam. Most of these people fled out of Vietnam after the war between the US and Vietnam ended. The Vietnamese people came from Hai Phong were those who travelled by boats along with the Chinese-Vietnamese seeking for refugee status due to political issues. Hai Phong is one of the most important ports of Vietnam; it is a place where ships coming in and out everyday. The people here wanted to escape out of the country because some of them are political prisoners and others are criminals. From the perspective of many Vietnamese, the Hai Phong people are the most aggressive people; however, they do not want to involve in political scene. The North Vietnamese who came in the 1930s are those were sent to study abroad under the French regime; most of them were doctors or scientists. After 1975s, the North Vietnamese started to come to Canada in the form of visa student or visitors. However, the North Vietnamese were afraid to identify themselves as Northerners because there were tensions between the Northern group and those from the South. Because of the ethnic divisions, people started not just looking at each other differently, but also treating them in a superior-inferior relationship. The Southerners thought very proud of themselves because they were the first one who settled in Toronto whereas the Northerners stayed closed within their community and avoided to identify themselves for coming from the North. In most of the events celebrating the Vietnamese culture in Toronto, the Southerners would celebrate their way of life rather than accepting the Northern traditional style. For many Northern Vietnamese, “Ao Dai” is the national symbol representing their proud of the country’s victory for gaining its independence. However, for many Southerners, it reminds them of their shame and tragedies that they have experienced. After the war between the US and Vietnam ended, many Southerners was threatened for prosecutions due to political reasons, they were forced to seek for refugee status outside of Vietnam. Most of them left Vietnam to Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Indonesia by boats. During that time, many of them died because of accidents, boat hijacking, illness and the lack of food. Those who managed to survive stayed in refugee camps for years and waited for acceptances from Canada, the US, Australia, Germany, France and England. Because of their unpleasant experience, the southerners accused the north people for causing their lives miserable. They would not want to associate or do business with any member who comes from the north. Today, the situation is a little different especially when the Canadian government established a strong diplomatic relationship between Canada and Vietnam. As a result, the South Vietnamese starts to accept the co-existence with the northerners. For instance, in many television channels and radio broadcast, we hear the voices of a Vietnamese woman with northern accent and in some music videos; we also see some of the Vietnamese singers wearing the “Ao Dai” on stages. The image of “Ao Dai” has changed over the time. At one point, it became a political statement distinguished the north people away from the south. On another point, it is the image of home and the feeling of being proud to be Vietnamese. Despite the changes, the “Ao Dai” becomes a significant symbol representing the culture of Vietnam. Furthermore, it tells us about the physical process of migration and the journey across the seas. Not only has that, but also the “Ao Dai” related to the construction of identity and memory of home as the migrants pass through the borderlands. In this regard, both of the identity and memory is significantly affecting the attitudes and relations towards the migrants.

Bibliography

Cunningham, A. Patricia and Lab, Voso Susan (1991), “Dress and popular culture”. Bowling Green State University Popular Press, pp.1

Gosden, Chris and Marshall Yvonne (1999), “The cultural biography of objects”, World Archaeology, vol.31, no.2, pp.169-78

Parkin, D (1999) “Mementoes as transitional objects in human displacement, Journal of material culture”, 4(3), pp.303

Roach, Marry Ellen and Joanne Bubolz Eicher (1965), “Dress, Adornment, and the Social Order”. New York: John Wiley, pp. 44, 83

Schamberger, K. et al. (2008) “Living in a Material World: Object biography and transnational lives”, In D. Deacon, P. Russell and A, Woollacott (eds). Transnational Ties: Australian Lives in the World. Melbourne: ANU E-Press (http://epress.anu.edu.au/transnational_citation.html) Xuan Phuong and Daniele Mazingarbe (2004). “Ao Dai: my war, my country, my Vietnam”, Jonathan E. Meyers eds, New York: Emquad International