Fashion history of Vietnam

Published: July 28, 2026 · Updated: July 28, 2026

Vietnamese dress grew from indigenous Southeast Asian clothing overlaid by Chinese influence during a millennium of Chinese rule. From cross-collar robes and the five-panel gown came the country's distinctive dress — the áo dài, a long tunic worn over trousers, and the conical hat (nón lá) — and the modern áo dài became a national symbol.

Fashion history of Vietnam — Author: Charles-Édouard Hocquard — a Nguyễn king in ceremonial dress (1892) Public domain Source

Overview

Two streams — indigenous tropical dress and the Chinese clothing that entered during the domination period — formed the frame of Vietnamese dress. The court wore Chinese-style ceremonial robes while the people kept practical native clothing.

The story of dress

Under the Nguyen dynasty the five-panel gown worn over trousers became standard, the ancestor of the áo dài. Refined in the French colonial period, the modern áo dài is carried on as a national dress.

Periods

Fashion in Early Vietnam trad. 2879–111 BC
Fashion under Chinese Domination 111 BC–AD 938
Fashion in the Ngo, Dinh and Early Le Dynasties 939–1009
Fashion in the Ly Dynasty 1009–1225
Fashion in the Tran Dynasty 1225–1400
Fashion in the Later Le Dynasty 1428–1789
Fashion in the Nguyen Dynasty 1802–1945
Fashion in French Indochina 1858–1945
Fashion in Modern Vietnam 1945–present