Page 287 - Trang Phục Việt Nam

together at the sides and shoulders. It had buttons under the arm and on one shoulder. The
padded waistcoats had two layers with cotton padding in the middle and it was stitched with
designs of diamonds. The shirt was neat and well insulated. In hard times, the soldiers could
use ducks’ feathers or the bark of antiars beaten to shreds and dried as a substitute for cotton
to pad the shirt. Buttons were made of cloth or colored paper. Footwear was mainly black
rubber sandals.

The people in the fourth zone to the South called the rubber sandals Bình Trị Thiên sandals.
The rubber sandals have a historic value since they were the regular footwear of Vietnamese
soldiers during the resistance war against the French. They were still popular in later years
after the war. After 1950, soldiers gradually had their own uniform that included shirts with two
pockets and shoulder straps and Western trousers with buttons at the leg bottoms to tighten
at the ankle when necessary. The whole outfit was in green or yellow green. They wore fabric
shoes with rubber soles or black rubber sandals.

In the Tây Bắc Campaign (North West Campaign) in 1952, the soldiers were supplied with
long-sleeved padded waistcoats that looked like cotton-padded lumber jackets. They also
used parachute fabric acquired as booty from the enemy to wrap round their bodies in order to
camouflage themselves or keep warm in winter.
In 1953, the soldiers were supplied with the same outfits. In October, 1954, when they took
the capital Hanoi, most of the soldiers were dressed in their own military outfits. In 1958,
military outfits, military badges, regulations on military signs and insignia were promulgated.
Besides ordinary military clothes, the department of military equipment produced clothes of
special design that severed specific duties of the soldiers. Although these clothes were not
regular military outfits, they made important contribution to the Vietnamese army’s resounding
victories.

After the reunification of the nation, the Vietnamese People’s Army continued to develop into
a regular modern army. As a result, the design of military outfits has been studied thoroughly.
The practicality and the aesthetic elements of the outfit are put into consideration. The outfit
should facilitate particular military missions, suit the climate, and have a reasonable
production cost.
In 1982, the regular military outfit of the Vietnamese People’s Army was applied as the
standard for the whole army throughout the country. The outfit was called military uniform K82.

In comparison with previous military uniforms, the K82 uniform has reached perfection in
design. The K28 was produced after the designers had thoroughly studied the military
uniforms of many other countries. However, the Vietnamese K28 uniform still has distinct
features that meet the particular needs of the Vietnamese People’s Army in terms of
practicality and aesthetic qualities.
th
On April 20 1995, the Minister in charge of the Department of Defense issued the decree
338/QĐ-QP on the use of uniforms for military officers, professional soldiers, non-
commissioned officers and servicemen of the Vietnamese People’s Army. The new decree
proclaimed a number of small changes in the military uniforms.