Page 275 - Trang Phục Việt Nam

clothing was simpler than women’s. In the North and the Central region, the men typically
wore pants with overturned belts and five-panel tunics that extended over the knee. The rich
wore silk or tussore garments and violet, scarlet or blue belts. The end of the belt hung down
in front over the tunic. A white long shirt was often worn under the black gauze tunic. Some
people preferred brown or turquoise tunics with high stiff square collars. The color of the outer
tunic matched well with the color of the inner shirt. During festivals or ceremonies, they wore a
waistband outside the gauze tunic, tied with a knot at the waist. Wealthy and high-ranking
people wore garments made of precious fabrics such as brocade with raised Chinese word
“longevity”, satin and smooth satin.
Since 1925, many people simply wore a white tunic in summer and wore a Western-styled
felt jacket over the tunic, called ba đờ xuy (pardessus), in winter and wound a scarf called phu
la (foulard) around the neck. Garments worn by local mandarins included: black gauze tunics,
Western jackets and vân hài (shoes which had a thick stiff sole, black or turquoise velvet
instep and the two sides embroidered with designs of dragon, flowers, leaves and butterflies).
Other common shoes were shoes made of mountain goat skin, shoes covering the heels,
and hạ shoes made of leather and covering the toes. The famous shoe brands were Chi Long
and Tân Long. Boots that covered the lower part of the leg were mainly worn by those in the
upper class.

The Southern men wore white bà ba garments. The seniors wore white shirts under black
velvet tunics with square high collars. Popular shoes were shiny black leather shoes; shoes
with wooden soles and leather instep; toad head-shaped shoes, Gia Định shoes with a black
shiny instep native to Gia Định province; and wooden shoes with one lace.
Many people still wore their hair in a bun covered with a black headscarf. Men also wore
conical hats, or hats with a flat top in the shape of a half mangosteen. In the North and the
Central region, hats were made of gồi leaves and in the South, hats were made of coconut-
palm leaves. Hat straps were made of rattan or fabric. Hats made from fan-palm leaves,
commonly known as mê hats, or cời hats were the most popular among the poor.
After 1910, many men, particularly those in the cities, had their hair cut short but they still
wound scarves. On rainy days, they carried black or white umbrellas which were often called
bat wing-umbrellas. The poor used a palm-leaf raincoat to shelter from the rain.

In the 1930s, the fashion of short hair parted on one side began to prevail. The seniors wore
tunics and turbans. The turban looked like an already-wound headscarf and it was worn as a
hat so that the wearer did not spend time winding. The turban in the North had the Chinese
word “human” in the middle of the forehead. In the Central region, the turban had a peak in
front.
Besides traditional garments like gauze tunics and turbans, officers adopted Western
clothes.

In the South, officers working for the apparatus of French colonial government such as
village chiefs, canton chief, chief of district and chief of province wound a fabric belt or silk belt
with three stripes of blue, white and red, which was the color scheme of the French national
flag.