‘Ao dai’ (Viet Nam's traditional long dress), which accentuates Vietnamese women’s grace, feminity and tactfulness, remains a timeless trend as it features patterns and vignettes which are imbued with the Vietnamese cultural identity. Though Viet Nam’s famous outfit has taken many forms over the centuries, its allure and appeal has never faded away.

A wide selection of ‘ao dai’ with impressive designs on display at the Quynh Anh shop

Located at 78 Nguyen Chi Thanh in Hai Chau District, the Quynh Anh ‘ao dai’ shop has built up a good client base of regular customers.

Ms Tu Anh, the owner of the shop, has realised a dream of setting up her own business involving offering modern ‘ao dai’. This type of clothing features the same core features of the traditional ones, but they feature comfortable fabric materials and a wonderful harmony of patterns and decorative items.

The Quynh Anh shop offers diversified styles of ‘dao dai’ for use in such various occasions as festivals, wedding ceremony rituals, and fashion events.

The tradition version of ‘ao dai’ features its slim-fitting tunic with long side splits from the waist, worn over palazzo-style trousers, plus long sleeves and high collars, elegantly highlighting the graceful curves of a woman’s body.

Meanwhile, modern, modified ‘ao dai’ feature shorter sleeves, and they can be worn with skirts, trousers, jeans and culottes. In particular, the modern ‘ao dai’ boasts a blend of traditional and modern qualities as it carries the same form of the traditional ones but own their own precious value of very impressive patterns.

In  reality, it is common to see many young women put on such ‘ao dai’ with modern designs whilst strolling along streets, taking sightseeing trips, and even having coffee dates with their friends.

A set of ‘ao dai’ with conventional designs currently on display at the Quynh Anh shop is offered for rent at a very reasonable price, hovering between 250,000 VND and 500,000 VND.

Meanwhile, those which feature high-quality materials and special designs are priced at between 500,000 VND and 1.5 million VND per set, and even higher if customers want to buy an outfit designed and created by the shop itself.