VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday held a workshop on selecting Vietnam’s national ceremonial costumes, garnering diverse opinions from experts and researchers in the fields of history, art and culture. The conference on the issue has been held three times before but so far no final official decision has been made.

Vuong Duy Bien, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, speaks at the workshop on selecting Vietnam’s national ceremonial costumes on Wednesday in HCMC’s District 3. 

“It is time to have the official national dresses in diplomatic events to assert the national character and position in the international stage. The costumes are required to be simple but elegant, modern but traditional as well as suitable with the weather and human taste,” said Vuong Duy Bien, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Many issues were raised in this workshop, among which the idea of choosing ao dai (traditional long dress) for women and khan dong (ready-to-wear turban) and ao dai for men were supported by most of the participants.

It is quite undisputed that ao dai will be the national dress for Vietnamese women because it is the distinctive costume of Vietnam, which stands out from others. The most controversial issue today is the formal dress for men.

As an advocate for Western suit for men, Ph.D Tran Ngoc Them, director of the Center of Theoretical and Applied Culturology, HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said: “It would be a perfect match between the style of Western suit for men and the charm, grace and female nature of ao dai.” To him, the ceremonial costume should not only present the national identity but also diplomatic and integrative character.

Like Them, Bien also advocates for Western suit for men due to its formal, manly and high-bred characters. Furthermore, it is also widely used by most politicians in the world today.

Objecting Them’s idea, Ton Nu Thi Ninh, former vice chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the current president of Tri Viet Institute for International Studies and Exchange, said that the diplomatic costumes should convey the national character, so it will be good if men also use ao dai and khan dong.

She suggested that Vietnam take reference from Japan or South Korea who are very successful in using national dresses of kimono and hanbok in cultural and political events.

Meanwhile, Prof. Nguyen Viet laid emphasis on materials, colors and patterns of costumes. To him, the national ceremonial dresses need to expose contemporary characters and such dresses should not necessarily stick to any particular traditional design. “The important thing is we have to classify political events and cultural exchanges, domestic ceremonies and solemn international summits, then we will find the answer for the question of what we will wear to present Vietnamese characters,” he added.

Agreeing with Viet, Le Hoang Chau, chairman of HCMC Real Estate Association, showed his strong support for ao dai as it is full of attraction and charm as well as dynamism of Vietnamese women. However, he suggested that ao dai for men should be stylized and made of strong materials to present power and manliness.

Prof. Huynh Quoc Thang from HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities considers dresses as a signal to communicate, to show off personalities and as a cultural symbol, saying that ‘We can have many designs, many colors and materials, but we need to assure the beauty, convenience, elegance and attraction for costumes. Ceremonial dresses can bring national characters but they cannot be weird and peculiar.”

He also said that the colors should be based on yin and yang philosophy of Oriental culture in harmony with nobility of modern times and must be accompanied with weather and geographical conditions.

Adding to the ideas of Thang, Prof. Tran Long said that the national official costumes need to present the history. Meanwhile, Doan Thi Kim Hong, the First Mrs. World of Vietnam, who won the Mrs. Congeniality Title at the Mrs World 2005 Pageant in India, shared that she feels proud of Vietnam’s ao dai as international friends express high appreciation and respect for the costume. “There is no reason to deny ao dai as official national costumes for both men and women,” she said.

Since the early 1990s, the selection of national dresses has been discussed at many state-level meetings, and many fashion design competitions have been held but the final decision has not been made. Although there are concerns, many officials, researchers, experts, and diplomats have confirmed that Vietnam needs to have its official national dresses.

For sure, Vietnam will have national dresses to reflect the cultural identity of Vietnam to international friends. But the problem now is the disagreement in choosing which dresses will be the national dresses.

The workshop will be continued today in Danang City to collect ideas from other experts and researchers to come to a final decision as soon as possible.

Source: SGT