I had thought ao dais had become almost obsolete after the Vietnam War ended. But this morning I was driving in an outer suburban area of Northern Virginia, and I saw on the other side of an intersection a young woman who looked from afar like a fluttering white angel. It was a Vietnamese woman wearing the first ao dai I’ve ever seen in my life. She was backlit by the morning sunlight, making the filmy white fabric look like a dream vision. It was like sighting a rare bird in the wild. She hopped and skipped across the intersection like she was stoned or possessed, turning and twisting around, bobbing and dancing. She was probably going to church, as there was a church near the corner she was crossing to. Possibly she moved so strangely because her shoes fit badly, I’m not sure. The ao dai is one of the most graceful, elegant garments in the world, like air made visible, like a dress woven of clouds.
I once worked with a beautiful young Filipino girl. One very hot summer day she wore a loosely fitting, all white top and slacks, they seemed to be made out of some type of gauze. I am certain she wasn’t wearing anything underneath that outfit, quite certain. She never wore that outfit again, I’m not sure if the boss instructed her not to, or she got tired of stepping on men’s tongues all day.
I had to google ao dai to know what it was you were talking about… I’ve never heard the term but after seeing it, recognize what you’re talking about, and have to agree that they’re beautiful.
I absolutely love traditional SE Asian female clothing. It’s some of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen… especially those silk shirts with the high collars and the diagonal flap on the front. Not sure what it’s called but one of the servers at my favorite local chinese restaraunt always wears one and it’s just so classically beautiful.
Interesting, I see them every now and then in Japan used as formalwear at weddings. Among the brides’ friends, the clothing styles seem to be about 70% western dresses, 25% kimonos, 4.5% china dresses, and .5% ao dais.
That’s funny, ao dai seem common enough in my neighborhood. 
I liked your description of it very much. Another one I’ve heard is, “Covering everything, concealing nothing.”
Was she wearing one of those hats as well? Are they making a sequel to Good Morning Vietnam?
Ao dai’s are the sexiest garment ever devised.
(I need to add Vietnam to my list of Spring vacation places. Do they have the same sort of tourist infrastructure as Thailand?)
(Sigh)
The ao dai ( the ‘d’ is pronounced as a ‘y’) is indeed a beautiful garment. It is very modest in theory, yet sexy to the point of the Vietnamese govt. thinking of banning them for schoolgirls. The traditional white version is still the ubiquitous clobber for schoolgirls in VN.
My wife is Vietnamese, and she wears western clothes exclusively, except for the occasional wedding or cultural event when the ao dai comes out. This is the norm amonst Australian Vietnamese women, and probably the same in the US.
The government is thinking of banning ao dai for shoolgirls because they’re too sexy? I think you must have heard that wrong. In the south, ao dai are the required uniform for girls in high school. In the north, they are more practical and wear western style uniforms.
ao (áo) = shirt
dai (dài) = long
It’s pronounced “ow yie” in the south, as TheLoadedDog said, but “ao zie” in the north. Technically, ao dai is only the top part the tunic-style shirt, but really it refers to the whole outfit. That leads to a vaudeville-like routine here:
“Gracie”: I was wearing my ao dai today, and all the boys were staring at me.
“George”: Why?
“Gracie”: I forgot to wear the quan dai (pants portion).
Spring here is January and February. Tourism isn’t as highly developed in Vietnam as it is in Thailand, but mostly that’s a good thing! Drop me a line when you’re in town!
They look so beautiful! envies
I just bought one on Ebay. I’ll let you know if they do anything for short, pear-shaped, middle-aged white women ;).
It sounds like you’re talking about a cheongsam.
That’s it. I love them.