Vietnam´s official travel and tourism guide

CLOTHING
Evolution of the costume
In Viet Nam, there are 54 ethnic groups, many of them have a unique and specific style of clothing. The traditional costumes of native Vietnamese nations are generally colourful and woven with natural fibre, such as hemp, silk, or cotton. These materials are fine, stable, light and appropriate for a tropical climate. The diversity and abundance of Vietnamese ethnic clothing cannot be completely detailed in this section; as such, we will only discuss the traditional clothing of the Viet, the most numerous ethnic group of Viet Nam.
Historically, royal regulations determined the colour of clothing. Civilian suits for men could only be brown, black or white; yellow was only used for kings; red was used for high-grade mandarins; and blue or green decorated the outfits of lower grade mandarins. For men, the traditional costume of the Viet was brown clothing with turbans and wooden shoes or sandals. Formal dress was a combination of white and black. Women wore black skirts and jackets and light brown shirts. Formal dress for women involves three tunics: a black or light brown one, a light yellow one, and on the inside, a rose one. When worn, all three are buttoned together at the rib cage and the parts from the chest to the neck are folded out to show the three different colours. The outfit is topped off with the omnipresent conical hat. With the modern times, the clothing of the Vietnamese ethnic groups have been influenced by foreign dress. Some traditional clothes have been lost as they are substituted with more modern interpretations.
Traditional Ao Dai
With the intention of changing the way people dress to eradicate ancient habits, the 18* century lords and mandarins in Hue created the ao dai. Supposedly, the ao dai combined the beauty of dress from all three regions, the North, the Centre, and the South. The design of the ao dai was based on the long tunics of the Cham women. Starting from Hue, the ao dai became common dress for women throughout the country. The features or lines of ao dai have changed a little, depending on personal style. The actual ao dai fits tight against the body, showing a supple curved line that is appropriate for the tiny stature of Vietnamese women. The dress drops down to the shin and body has a fairly high cut slit. All the features of the ao dai attempt to reveal the secretive and gentle beauty of Vietnamese women.
Conical Hat

According to ancient documents, the non la first appeared in Viet Nam around the 13th century, during the Tran Dynasty. Since then, I the hat has become closely connected to the: Vietnamese people. The non la does not differentiate between sex, age or social standing; the non la is worn by all Vietnamese. The hat is made from materials readily available in Viet Nam: palm leaves for the cone, bamboo for the frame, fibre from moc trees for thread, and coloured material for the chin strap. As the non la is closely associated with the Vietnamese costume it has been reflected in literature, poetry and music