Overview
An áo nhật bình is a long, front-opening robe whose broad, flat collar-piece meets in a rectangle at the chest, giving the garment its name. Its huge sleeves and whole surface are worked in coloured and gold embroidery of phoenixes, flowers, and characters, its colour fixed by the wearer’s exact rank.
How it is worn
It is worn open over an inner robe and trousers, closed with a cord, and crowned with a jewelled headpiece, the great embroidered sleeves hanging wide at ceremonies. Empresses, queens, and princesses each wore prescribed colours — yellow, red, and others — under the court’s strict rules.
History
The áo nhật bình was the standard formal dress of Nguyễn royal and noble women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After a long eclipse it has become one of the most popular garments of Vietnam’s historical-fashion revival, especially for weddings.