Week 9-Uyen Ngo

Growing up, my cousins would scream every Tet at the idea of wearing an ao dai. For me, I have always loved it. There was something about it. When I wore it I felt so feminine and elegant, yet so strong and independent. To me, the ao dai was representative of everything a Vietnamese woman is. Like me, many others say it as "a quintessential symbol of Vietnamese national identity, tradition, and femininity" (Treen). It was interesting to learn that, while it is something that has been around for centuries, its revival, in some ways, was what propelled it into the fashion world. "The revival began when the people of Viet Nam rediscovered not only the tradition beauty of this garment, but also the desire to update it for a modern generation" (Valverde). I think it is important to note that the people of the fashion industry in Viet Nam were able to use the ao dai as a way to show the world what Viet Nam's people are all about without ruining the meaning and integrity of the piece, a risk that is always present when rebranding anything.

To me the ao dai really is the essence of the Vietnamese people, fiercely independent but remarkably flexible, "borrowing and adapting what they found to their liking from many other cultures, merged it with their own rich heritage and created a syncretic yet highly distinctive material culture that is uniquely Vietnamese"(Treen). This might seem ridiculous to others, the ao dai holds so much meaning in its flaps and loose fitting silk pants. And I might be biased, but I believe it is so rare for a piece of clothing to embody so much representation and so much emotion for those who truly understand the meaning and resilient behind it. I also find it is a way to pass along the spirit of our people to the generations that follow, especially the generations that will soon be primarily made up of American born Vietnamese. It is a way to connect them to a country that is thousands of miles away but a part of their blood. While China used the Olympics to show the world what it was about, Vietnam used this centuries-old garment to paint its picture to the world.

Works Cited

"San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles" Ao Dai: A Modern Design Coming of Age 2009: Catalogue