Áo ngũ thân | aaarticle.com

The áo ngũ thân is the five-panel gown of Nguyễn-era Vietnam, a long buttoned robe that closed the loose front of the older dress into a neat, side-fastening garment. Worn by men and women, it is the direct forerunner of the modern áo dài.

Overview

An áo ngũ thân has five panels — two front, two back, and a small hidden fifth flap under the front — sewn into a robe that buttons up the right side and stands with a small collar. Closed and tidy rather than open and tied, it reads as more formal and modest than the four-panel dress.

How it is worn

It is buttoned along the right side over trousers and worn with a headscarf or the khăn xếp turban for men, its length reaching below the knee. The number of panels and the modest closed cut carried a Confucian sense of propriety promoted by the Nguyễn court.

History

The áo ngũ thân was made standard by the Nguyễn lords and dynasty from the eighteenth century, unifying dress across their realm, and in the 1930s designers slimmed it into the two-panel áo dài. It has returned in Vietnam’s revival of traditional dress.