The preacher will instruct audiences how to eradicate stress and control their worries and sadness to keep their soul balanced. Audiences will also have a chance to admire the ao dai (Vietnamese traditional long dress) collection themed Thien sen (Lotus mediation) which was presented to Hue Festival 2012.

After that, guests can enjoy a vegetarian meal in a meditation setting.

The organizer will pick up guests by car at Phan Dinh Phung Indoor Stadium in District 3. Admission is VND120,000 per adult and VND60,000 per child. Contact 0916 726 948for reservations.

source from: thesaigontimes

source from: vov

The exhibition displays the work of local photographers Le Thanh Tung, Quoc Huy and Nguyen Long. It features ten Vietnamese beauty queens, models and actresses attired in white ao dai designed by Duc Hung, Viet Hung and Thuan Viet.

Stylist Vo Thuong, who is organizing the show, said that he has nourished the idea of organizing a photo exhibition to honor the ao dai for years.

He wishes the show can be held annually, Thuong said.

Each picture will be sold for VND10 million (US$500) and all profits donated to help underprivileged students.

On the opening night on February 5, two photos of supermodel Thanh Hang and actress Thuy Nga were sold.

The exhibition will remain open until March 20.

source from: thanhniennews

The ao dai festival will be the highlight of the festival, which will take place from April 7 to 15 in the ancient capital city of Hue. The event will be held on April 10-11, with the presence of the four above beauty queens.

Below are photos of the four beauty queens in the ao dai that they will perform at the Hue Festival:

Diem Huong

Mai Phuong Thuy

Ngoc Han

Thuy Dung

source from: vietnamnet

Ao Tu Than (Four-flapped Dress) Before the ao dai was considered our traditional costume, we had the ao tu than, which translates as the four-flapped dress. The dress is long-sleeved and usually dark brown, with two front and two back “flaps,” or strips of fabric. The two back flaps are sewn together with a seam running down the spine, called the dress’s spine. The two flaps in front are not sewn together but are attached to the back flaps as the well as the sleeves. These two front flaps are knotted in front of the waist. Two blue or light green sashes are wrapped around behind the waist over the back flaps like a belt and tied together with the two front flaps. Together, the front flaps and the sashes dangle like ribbons and move with the rhythm of the woman’s steps. Beneath the dress is a worn a white or bright pink yem, a diamond shaped piece of fabric that covers the chest and has straps from the right and left corners to tie be tied around the back and straps at the collar to secure it around the neck. The bottom corner of the yem is tucked under a long black skirt worn beneath the dress. From the 17th through the 19th century, Vietnamese women wore ao tu than with skirts to differentiate themselves from men, who wore a similar costume with pants. In 1928, during the Nguyen dynasty, Emperor Minh Mang ordered women to wear pants instead of skirts. However, until the 10th century, the familiar costume of young women of the Northern countryside remained an ao tu than and a skirt of rough cloth.

Ao Ngu Than (Five-flapped Dress) During the reign of Gia Long (1802-1819), the ao tu than was transformed into the ao ngu than, which can be translated as the five-flapped dress. The ao ngu than’s design is similar to the ao tu than’s. The newer version has both the two back flaps and the two front flaps sewn together. The four connected flaps are called vat ca (main flaps), and the tiny flap inside attached to the front vat ca is called a vat con (baby flap). Also, the ao ngu than has buttons; the wearer can button it in the style of the modern ao dai or only button the lower buttons, revealing the yem and the vat con underneath. The ao ngu than is worn with loose black pants, often made of the shiny linh cloth. If the ao tu than is the common ordinary dress for everyday work, the ao ngu than is the formal wear for holidays, festivals and marriages. During such occasions, women often wore a non quai thao, which translates as a tasseled-strap hat. It is a large, circular flat hat, used to block the sun. It has a cord-like strap to keep it secure on the head with large tassels at the end.

.Traditional Women’s Hairstyles of the North

Aside from the ao tu than and ao ngu than, the traditional “look” of Northern girls included a khan dong and a khan mo qua. The khan dong is a black piece of fabric wrapped around a girl’s long hair so that it forms a tube around the hair. The fabric-entubed hair is wrapped around the crown of the head. Usually, the girl’s hair is a little bit longer than the khan dong, forming a skinny, wispy ponytail sticking out of the khan dong. This ponytail is left dangling down from the khan dong on one side of the head. The Vietnamese call this hairstyle toc duoi ga because the ponytail resembles a rooster’s tail (toc duoi ga means chicken- or rooster-tailed hair). For formal occasions, Vietnamese girls often used khan dong made of black velvet. Instead of the rooster-tailed hair, they would pin the extra hair down and cover their heads with a khan mo qua, meaning crow’s beak kerchief. A khan mo qua is a black, square piece of heavy fabric. It is folded in half into a triangle and worn over the khan dong to cover the hair. The long side of the triangle is placed above the forehead while the two corner of the long side are tied at the nape of the neck (like the American bandana and kerchiefs). Because the khan mo qua is made of heavy, stiff fabric, the long side the of the triangle, or the folded edge, sticks out in front of the forehead in a point, sharp as a crow’s beak.

Ao Dai Cat Tuong (Cat Tuong-styled Ao Dai)

The whole of Vietnam became a French colony with the Paternotre Treaty in 1884. Since then, Western culture has become increasingly influential in Vietnam. In the late 1920s, the artist Nguyen Cat Tuong (also known as Lemur) of the group that published the Ngay Nay magazine designed the new Cat Tuong style of the ao dai, sending shock waves through all classes of Vietnamese women. This was a new French-styled dress worn with pants. It only had two flaps, with puffed sleeves and seams along the shoulders instead of the spine. The flaps and sleeves were trimmed with the same fabric. The collar was trimmed with lace or ruffles. It had buttons starting at the collar, running down in front of the shoulders to under the arms, then straight down to the waist. This new style was too bold, and not many women followed it. Only the most thoroughly modern young women dared to wear it. They often wore this very Western style dress with high-heeled shoes and a neckerchief tied loosely around the neck, accessorizing with a purse and a parasol. Also during this time, it was the new fashion to have white teeth, more appropriate to the modern times. Before, young women of the North traditionally dyed their teeth black.

Ao Dai Mien Nam (Southern Ao Dai) Ao dai in the South during the 1930s and 1940s was loose fitting and made of a heavier fabric, such a brocaded woven silk or velvet, and worn with white or black pants. Southern women often wore their hair in a bun at the nape of the neck. The prosperity of the South showed through the jewelry typically worn by Southern girls: engraved torques, gold necklaces, and jade bracelets.

Ao Menh Phu (Ao Dai Hoang Hau), (Royal Ao Dai) Most elegant and aristocratic of all are the royal ladies of the Nguyen court with their ao menh phu. This ao dai is made of brocaded, woven silk. It is worn under a long cardigan-like robe. The robe is open from the collar down and made of the same material and with a similar pattern as the dress. With the ao menh phu, the royal ladies often wore a khan dong vanh, a fabric crown-like accessory made of starched brocaded woven silk. It is worn on the head and looks rather like a wide headband. This “crown” is also called a khan hoang hau (queen’s kerchief or queen’s scarf). This style of the royal ladies of Hue, the capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty, has become the traditional dress for brides during the marriage ceremony, when the bride becomes of the queen of one man’s heart.

Raglan Ao Dai and Bias-cut Pants In the early 1960s, the fashion designer Dung (pronounced Yung) in Dakao, Saigon, created a new style of ao dai: an ao dai with raglan sleeves worn with quan xeo, or bias-cut pants. Because the sleeves are attached at about a forty-five degree angle to the dress, this style avoids the wrinkles under the arms and around the shoulders of earlier styles. The pants are cut at a bias from soft, flowy material and fitted closely at the hips and loosely at the ankles, giving the wearer a graceful walk, her sandaled feet half hidden in the billowy folds of her pants.

Collarless Ao Dai At the same time as the raglan ao dai, the collarless ao dai also appeared (instead of the traditional high mandarin collar). This trend was started by Madame Nhu, a political figure of the 1950s and 1960s. She often wore boatnecked ao dai. This style gave rise to other collarless styles such as the square neck, the sweetheart neckline, and many others, showcasing the beauty of a slender neck and a white throat, which is especially captivating when the woman wears her hair up elegantly off the neck.

A Few Other Styles In the early 1970s, when Vietnamese women were more or less content with the look of the raglan-sleeved ao dai with narrow flaps and a collarless cut, a number of Saigon designers continued to find ways to improve the “quality” of the ao dai with all sorts of fabric: Ha Dong silk, soft domestically-produced fabric, Thai silk, muslin… Along with a number of artists, they introduced dresses with hand-drawn desgins, from modern geometric designs for young ladies to more conservative flower and cloud designs for more mature women. Never before had the flaps of the ao dai been so vivid, so elegant! Following the changing fashion, the flaps have been shortened and lengthened, the collar raised and lowered, the pants made black or white or of the same color as the dress and even decorated with the same designs… Yet these styles, which have become popular everywhere there are Vietnamese women, are still the raglan-sleeved ao dai with bias cut pants. Our national costume, the ao dai, has not only been popularized everywhere in Vietnam but it has also gained admiration abroad: the blue ao dai uniforms of Air VietNam stewardesses; the fluttering ao dai that awaited the audience on the stage of the International Fair in Osaka, Japan, in 1970; the ao dai gracing with its subtle presence the holidays and festivals of Vietnamese refugees on all five continents after 1975. Everywhere it has been, the ao dai has been admired and praised. (Here ends the history of the ao dai as prepared by the Gia Long Alumni Association of Seattle.)

Ao Ba Ba (Ao Canh) Not as famous as the ao dai but still a traditional costume is the ao ba ba. This shirt is made of soft fabric with long sleeves and a round or sweetheart neckline. It has a row of buttons down the center of the front of the shirt. It is slit from the waist down, with flaps extending just below the hips. It is usually worn with black pants. In the Southern countryside, people often use khan ran (striped scarf) – a narrow white scarf of rough material with red or blue checks – to wear around the neck or wrap around the crown of the head. It is used to wipe away sweat and to keep off the sun.

Non La (Leaf Hat) is used in all three regions, North, Central and South. It is a conical shaped hat made of woven, dried leaves. It is used to shade the head and face from the sun when going outside. The typical image of rural Vietnam is a handful of farmers wearing non la planting rice in the fields.

The non la also has a few different styles such as: Non bai tho (poem hat) originated in Hue. It has, between the layers of woven leaves, a few lines of poetry or carefully cut pictures. When the sun shines on a non bai tho, the lines of poetry or the picture appears as dark silhouettes through the thin layers of the hat that is illuminated by the sun.

Non Go Gang takes its name from the village where it is produced, Go Gang. The inside of the hat is embroidered with brightly colored thread.

Today, of all the traditional costumes mentioned above, only the ao dai and the ao ba ba are still worn. With the influence of Western culture, Vietnamese men now wear only Western clothes. In the urban areas, men no longer wear non la, and women wear them only with ao dai or ao ba ba. Except for rural areas, one no longer sees khan ran in common usage. Only elderly women still twist and wrap their hair around the crown of their heads in the traditional Northern style. Since the time of French colonization, the Vietnamese have been increasingly used to seeing and wearing European clothes such as slacks, button-up shirts, vests, jeans, T-shirts, etc… yet our traditional costumes have not been forgotten because of that. At every wedding, every holiday celebration, at fashion shows, the ao dai still appears. In the very gracefulness of the modern ao dai are the hidden traces of that traditional beauty of ao tu than and ao ngu than of our antique past – a beauty that has given the ao dai a singularly honored place in Vietnamese women’s fashion.

Source : seattle

Over 50 girls who came to HCM City on the first two days were measured and tried on ao dai, which were designed by four Vietnamese designers, Vo Viet Chung, Thuan Viet, Sy Hoang and Lien Huong.

Each designer is in charge of taking body measurements and preparing ao dai for 20 competitors. Thuan Viet said on June 18 he got measurements and tried ao dai on 11 candidates from France, Indonesia, India, El Salvador, etc.

He said most of the girls were very beautiful in Vietnamese ao dai because they have standard body measurements. “Miss India was the best in ao dai,” he said.

These ao dai will go to the stage with competitors on the night of June 24 in HCM City in the ao dai competition.

On June 18, many more competitors arrived in HCM City, including Miss Japan, Miss China, Miss Germany, Miss Colombia, etc.

The final competitors will arrive in HCM City today, June 19, including many Asian beauties, such as the competitors from South Korea and the Philippines.

A welcome party will be held on June 20 in the evening, with the presence of Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori.

If the first part impressed the viewers with classical beauty, the second part called “Borderless Ao dai” showed images of Vietnam in the process of integration. Originating from patterns and designs of the traditional costumes of some foreign countries such as South Korea, India, China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand, designer Minh Hanh created a unique collection that combined the Vietnamese traditional style. For instance, she used the colours of the Sari, the brocade patterns of the Xa rong (the traditional winding skirt of the Kh’mer) and the image of the cherry blossom in the Kimono. The collection helped create new ideas in decorating the Vietnamese Ao dai.
The fashion evening ended with Ao dai designs for dynamic and creative women in modern society. All designs were creatively modern, attractive and highly applicable.
The fashion show left a long-standing impression on the audience and gave them a thorough view of the traditional Ao dai of the Vietnamese.

Source : nccorp

Ho Chi Minh City’s Southern Women’s Museum Wednesday has just received three ao dai from the collection titled “The Thousand-year-old Sacred Dragon,” designed by Nhat Dung, on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8.

The clothes, which were made for the Thang Long-Hanoi’s millennium celebration in 2010, includes a 13.6-meter-long velvet ao dai embroidered meticulously with dragon patterns from the 9th century Vietnamese Ly Dynasty .

According to an ancient myth, the Vietnamese people are descended from a dragon and a fairy. To them, the dragon brings rain, essential for agriculture; and also represents the emperor, prosperity, and power of the nation.

The 32-year-old designer also donated his two other ao daimade for the Miss Ethnic Vietnam pageant and the Sea and Island Festival in 2010.

The three ao dai will be exhibited at the museum from now until Vietnam’s Women’s Day on October 20.

Local model Trang Nhung wearing the 13.6-meter-long ao dai embroidered with a Ly Dynasty dragon pattern at the ceremony in which designer Thuan Thang donated his ao dai to the museum.

source from: tuoitrenews

There are 50 photos featuring ten famous beauties including Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang, supermodel/actress Thanh Hang, Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam World 2010 Diem Huong and Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011’s winner Hoang Thuy in white ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) designed by Duc Hung, Viet Hung and Thuan Viet. The photos were taken by three fashion photographers Trinh Quoc Huy, Nguyen Long and Le Thanh Tung.

According to Thuong, the exhibition’s purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for poor students in remote areas and to honor the beauty of Vietnamese women on International Women’s Day tomorrow.

The exhibition is just the start of numerous of ao dai display activities by Thuong in Vietnam.

Benefactors who wish to help out poor students can buy a photo priced at VND10 million each. Organizers expect to hold ten charity trips to the provinces of Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Vinh Long from April to December.

The photo display runs until March 20 at the Rex Hotel Saigon at 141 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1.

source from: thesaigontimes

There are 50 photos featuring ten famous beauties, including Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang, supermodel/actress Thanh Hang, Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam World 2010 Diem Huong and Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011’s winner Hoang Thuy in white ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) designed by Duc Hung, Viet Hung and Thuan Viet. The photos were taken by three fashion photographers Trinh Quoc Huy, Nguyen Long and Le Thanh Tung.

According to Thuong, the exhibition’s purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for poor students in remote areas and to honor the beauty of Vietnamese women on International Women’s Day tomorrow.

The exhibition is just the start of numerous ao dai display activities by Thuong in Vietnam.

Benefactors who wish to help out poor students can buy a photo priced at VND10 million each. Organizers expect to hold ten charity trips to the provinces of Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Vinh Long from April to December.

The photo display runs until March 20 at the Rex Hotel Saigon at 141 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1.

Below are some pictures displayed at the exhibition:

Duong Truong Thien Ly, the second runner-up of Miss Vietnam Universe 2008.

Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang.

Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung.

The first runner-up of Miss Vietnam 2010 Hoang My.

Miss Vietnam Global Jennifer Pham.

Huynh Bich Phuong.

Supermodel Thanh Hang.

Actress Thuy Nga.

Miss Vietnam World Diem Huong.

Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011 Hoang Thuy.

source from: vietnamnet