Page 281 - Trang Phục Việt Nam

From 1954 to 1975, in the unoccupied areas of the Central region, the clothes of normal
people stayed almost the same. In the occupied areas, dress styles were varied. The
garments for the senior men included gauze tunics, or black, deep blue satin tunics
embroidered with a flower designs, or the Chinese character “Longevity”. These were worn
with white so trousers and a turban. Polished leather shoes or black shoes were common.
Some men wore Western garments. The youngsters wore shirts, jackets, neckties, Western
trousers mainly in bright colors, leather shoes or sandals and had their short hair parted in
the middle. They wore mũ cát (sun-hats), or hats with visors. In fact, the men in the Central
region, especially those in HuếCity were more interested in their clothes, more so than those
in the North and the South.
During this time, in the rural areas of the South, besides áo bà ba, many people wore
Western-styled shirts. In the occupied cities, particularly in Sai Gon, men’s clothing was
markedly westernized. Most of the men wore shirts, jackets, Western trousers made of many
fabrics and with many colors and designs. Common footgear included Western shoes,
sandals, xăm pô shoes (shoes with high heels and spongy soles), and many other kinds of
plastic footgear. The men wore plastic, felt, leather or fabric hats with visors. Western fashions
were flooding the Southern clothes markets and received an enthusiastic response from the
youngsters. Popular Western garments were seamed shirts, shrinkable shirts, T-shirts with
prints of popular personalities, scenery, or a printed text on the front or the back.
Since 1975, Western trousers have been the most popular garments for most of the men of
all age groups in the country. Trousers are native to Europe and they were introduced to our
country by the French invaders.
Wedding outfits
During the time of the Nguyễn Dynasty, on wedding days, princesses wore a five-phoenix
hat made from horsehair. The hat was inlaid with gold. Five gold phoenixes and a big red
flower were attached to the hat. The tassels of the hat were made of 120 beads of pearl and
crystal. The robe was a length of red satin with loose sleeves embroidered with designs of
flowers and phoenixes. The robe was kept in place with a red waistband. The skirt was a
length of white satin patterned with phoenixes and interwoven with silver motifs. The red
shoes were also embroidered with phoenixes.
Traditionally, in the North, brides wore three-dress suits. The outermost dress was a dark
colored gauze gown. The two inner dresses in pink, green, yellow or blue showed through the
gauze. The áo cánh shirt was worn under the three-dress suit and the innermost garment was
a pink neck bra with white laces. The ensemble was tied with a black floss belt with fringed
ends over another pink, or celadon silk belt. The bride rolled her hair up and kept it in place
with a headscarf tied with a gold or silver butterfly shaped pin, letting one short lock of hair fall
down. On the way to the bride-groom’s house, the bride wore a flat palm hat with fringes and
shoes with curved-toes.

Jewelry for brides included gold or silver earrings, a set of chatelaines, a knife, a finely
carved silver lime tube worn at the waist.