If you were asked to send one thing representing your country to an international exhibition, what would you choose? Why? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice.
Each nation in the world has their traditional costume. When we see the costumes’ appearance, we can define the country where it comes from. Japanese women have Kimono, Chinese women in Quing Dynasty have a Shanghai dress that ladies usually called “cheongsam” dress, the Korean, the African, the Siamese, etc. We are proud of Ao Dai, which is respectfully placed as a National costume of Vietnam, also flowery called: “The fatherland dress”.
The Ao Dai is a Vietnamese national costume, now most commonly for women. The word “Ao Dai” was originally applied to the outfit worn at the court of the Nguyen Lords at Hue in the 18th century. This outfit evolved into the “ao ngu than”, a five-paneled aristocratic gown worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by Paris fashions, Nguyen Cat Tuong and other artists associated with Hanoi University redesigned the “ao ngu than” as a modern dress in the 1920s and 1930s. The updated look was promoted by the artists and magazines of Tu Luc Van Doan (“Self-Reliant Literary Group”) as a national costume for the modern era. In the 1950s, Saigon designers tightened the fit to produce the version worn by Vietnamese women today. The dress was extremely popular in South Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. On Tet and other occasions, Vietnamese men may wear an “ao gam” “(brocade robe)”, a version of the Ao Dai made of thicker fabric.
Academic commentary on the Ao Dai emphasizes the way the dress ties feminine beauty to Vietnamese nationalism, especially in the form of “Miss. Ao Dai” pageants, popular both among overseas Vietnamese and in Vietnam itself. “Ao Dai” is one of the few Vietnamese words that appear in English-language dictionaries.
The Ao Dai is now standard for weddings, for celebrating Tet and for other formal occasions. A plain white Ao Dai is a common high school uniform in the South. Companies often require their female staff to wear uniforms that include the Ao Dai, so flight attendants, receptionists, restaurant staff, and hotel workers in Vietnam may be seen wearing it.
The reason why I prefer Ao Dai as a representative for our country, Vietnam, is that it is not only a normal dress; it is a dress that inside it hide a lot of lessons and advices that our ancestors wanted to send us. Also, Ao Dai gives Vietnamese women a hidden charming, a hidden, natural beauty that cannot be expressed by any other kind of clothes. Today, Ao Dai is such a great costume for lady. It has been honored by people from all over the world and lots of times winning first prize in worldwide competition. A photographer in an international exhibition in Osaka has said: “It has the power to carry the wind”. People all over the world are surprised because the Ao Dai is not as complex as Japanese kimono or Chinese cheongsam, but it has a powerful impression. Ao Dai is only suitable for the graceful, womanish, slender of Vietnamese women. It is private, bashful, and voluptuous. It can exploit the perfect lines of women body. Ao Dai is charming and suggestive, private but can still stress on the body lines and curves of a woman. Ao Dai is obviously a national costume of Vietnam. When guests visit, the homeowner can formally wear Ao Dai as a way to greet the guests. At school, it is the naive student clothing, come and go freely like a butterfly, package the beautiful dreams of the future. In parties, Ao Dai is as elegant and splendid as any other traditional costumes throughout the world. The talent of Vietnamese Ao Dai by its structure is not only a brilliant masterpiece of art but also contains the lesson of life. Vietnamese had to struggle to fight back the foreign aggressions, protected cultural virtues of family rules and traditions so that Vietnam and other Asia countries like or not, have to absorb Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism and Confucius theory. Families, societies are created in the foundation of Three Moral Bonds and Five Constant virtues. Our ancestors taught us closely about the moral of a man, not only in books, but also on household products. It is the keen, clever teaching of our ancestors? If it is correct, Ao Dai is the extremely valuable family annal of all families hidden the teaching of how to be a man. We have to respect, cosset and protect the Ao Dai as a cultural heritage that our ancestors created. Let‘s see some of the structures that emphasize these life lessons:
* The left side of Ao Dai has two laps; the right side has two laps; represent two parents in-law.
* Five buttons in a direct line represents five human characteristics: humane, politeness, nobility of mind, intelligence, faithfulness.
* On the Ao Dai, they often tie two slaps in order to make it look well – proportioned, represents the caressing love between a husband and a wife.
* Ao Dai is worthy to be called: “A charming trait of Vietnam”.
Vietnamese Ao Dai not only tell the outlook of life but also package the Vietnamese spirit: Always absorb the quintessence but sort out carefully dirtiness, strengthen the beautifulness but still have definite characteristics. Ao Dai is the essence of Vietnam and if there is something that best describe Vietnamese culture, it is Ao Dai. Ao Dai should be the representative of Vietnam in any international exhibition.
