Page 284 - Trang Phục Việt Nam

During the Nguyễn Dynasty, state funeral ceremonies were sumptuous and extravagant.
The mourning clothes of the royal family, mandarins and soldiers were of many complicated
designs.
Besides the rituals of the state funeral, people in feudal society had to follow other strict
practices dutifully when their families were in mourning.
There were five types of mourning outfit: trảm thôi, ti thôi; cơ phục; đại công, tiểu công; ti ma.
The type of mourning outfit one wore depended on the relationship with the deceased. The
deceased also had particular clothes that included headscarves (bức cân), face-covers (khăn
minh mục), gloves (các thủ bạch), dark colored gowns, white gowns, white pants, belts,
shocks and shoes. The number of garments should be odd and the garments should have no
buttons.
After the August Revolution, mourning clothes have been much simpler, for example, the xo
shirts. The attendants at the funeral can now wear normal footgear. Many people do not wear
traditional hats or hold sticks when they are at the funeral. The close relatives of the deceased
simply wear a pleated black band around their arms for several days after the funeral
ceremony. Some people have a small piece of black cloth stitched on the chest. In some
families, the relatives simply wear mourning headbands and normal clothes. The closest
relatives of the deceased such as husband, wife and children wear xo scarves with two
ribbons hanging down. The other relatives wear white headbands. The friends wear black
bands around the arm or small pieces of black cloth on the chest.

Religious clothes

Nowadays, Vietnam has many religions, the two major ones being Buddhism and
Catholicism which have large organizations and a considerable number of followers.
Religious clothes have many noticeable features.

Clothes of the Buddhists

Vietnamese Buddhism is divided into two major branches: Mahayana and Hinayana. The
Mahayana monks used to wear robes made from coarse cloth and dyed with brown tubers.
Nowadays, they wear brown robes of better quality that can be died with industrial dye. Both
male and female Buddhists wear a brown short cánh shirt and brown trousers for everyday
wear. On business, they wear baggy robes with round stand-up collars and brown buttons.
The Hinayana monks however wrap themselves in a piece of unsewn brown or orange cloth
in a number of different ways. The usual way of dressings uses several pieces of cloth, the
first two worn as an undergarment and known as y nội or y an đà hội. Then the y vai trái or y
uất đà la tăng is put on according the following procedure: the cloth is wrapped from the back,
passing through the right armpit, over the chest and covering the left shoulder leaving the right
arm and the right shoulder exposed. The end of the cloth on the left shoulder hangs down to
the front.
Formerly, Buddhist monks wore nón tu lờ (bamboo hat with a long ribbon and a small knob
on top). The hat was made of palms and had a wide brim. Nowadays, they wear leaf hats, cat
hats or brown hats on sunny days. In winter, they wear circular brown woolen hats. The top of