Vietnamese Traditional Costumes.
Ao Nhat Binh
Ao Nhat Binh literally means square-collared garb. This was one of the casual clothes of the empress dowager, empress consort, and princesses in the imperial city of the Nguyen Dynasty – the last dynasty of Vietnam. When there were informal events, these royal women would wear the ao Nhat Binh instead of the Phuong bao (means the garb of phoenix), which was the noblest clothes of the empresses and princesses. For consorts, female officials and those ladies with high social status, ao Nhat Binh was their noblest clothes.
Ao Nhat Binh is a straight-collared garb, whose collar dangles down, making two parallel lines. The origin of ao Nhat Binh was from Phi Phong garb, which was popular in the Ming Dynasty of China. When wearing ao Nhat Binh, wearers tie a knot with the pieces hanging from the collar in front of the chest and decorate (to hide the knot) with a sculpted gem. On the collar are flowers and phoenix patterns. The garb may be plain with one color or can be embroidered with many circular patterns. On the cuffs, there are five colored lines which are green, yellow, blue, white, and red representing the Five Elements wood, earth, water, metal, and fire.
According to the Nguyen Dynasty decree, the compulsory color of ao Nhat Binh for the empress was pure yellow, sometimes orange. For the princess, it was pure red. Peach, pure violet, and light violet were the colors for the consorts.
For lower status women, there were no required colors. A turban and long white silk trousers were dressed together with ao Nhat Binh.
After the collapse of Nguyen Dynasty in 1945, ao Nhat Binh became a formal garb of upper and middle class to wear in important ceremonies, especially in a wedding.
Ao Tac
To make it simple, ao tac is a variant of the ao dai, but it has loose and large sleeves. This is considered the national costume of the Nguyen Dynasty, because ao tac can be worn by any class in society, from the royal, the officials, to the middle and lower class, and can be worn by both men and women.
Ao tac was worn in important ceremonies and occasions such as a wedding, funeral, Tet, and worship events. You can wear any color you want, but it should be based on the occasion. When wearing an ao tac, your two arms ought to be folded in front of the stomach because the sleeves are long and baggy. This action is to hide both hands and show the humbleness, respect, and elegance in crucial events.
Like the ao dai, the ao tac has a standing and circular collar and is a form of the five-flap gown. It can be plain or decorated by woven patters. An ao dai or five-flap gown with a high collar was worn beneath the ao tac. The reason is in the past, the ao tac was a deluxe costume and only worn for important events, the first layer of clothes was worn to protect the ao tac. Usually, men wore a white gown against their skin while women could wear any color they wanted. This attire can also go with a wrapped turban.
Nowadays, Vietnamese still wear ao tac in such occasions as weddings, funerals, and ancestor worship. The ao tac is also one of the costumes being reimagined in new styles and can be worn whenever we want, not only on special occasions like before.
