quần áo

noun  

• Clothing, clothes

• The land of Vietnam is not large, but it incorporates over 50 ethnic groups. Except for the Kinh or Việt people living throughout the country's plains and occupying the majority, others find their place on the hilly and mountainous areas and are preserving their very own cultures and dressing patterns. A costume contest for all ethnicities in Vietnam, if organised, would for sure be very much interesting.What excites people most could be the both primitive and modern costumes of some groups like the Gia Rai. Women of this group wear nothing but a small skirt. Men would take just a loin-cloth to go on any occasion. Certainly, this is much more sexy than any modern fashions in the West! On the other hand, many others are dressing quite complicatedly. The H'Mông girls for instance would wear a shirt, undergarments, leggings and put on a coiled scarf on their head. Their skirts are usually in cone shape with lots of folds that enhance their gentleness. And it is not less exciting to watch them dance, making the folds wide open. The dressing pattern of each ethnic group reflects their culture, history and conceptions. It also shows their life style and working conditions as well. Also, each subgroup also has its distinction from the rest of the same minority. Take the Tày, Thái, Mường, Dao for example. The traditional Tày's costume for girls is a kerchief tied in a triangle on the forehead, simple indigo dress, belt and silver bracelets and chains. A Mường girl usually wears a medium length skirt, short white shirt and a pair of silver earrings The Thái girls are different. They would wear a colourful scarf, short jacket with silver buttons in two lines and a tight black skirt. The silver buttons and shining decorations look like budding bauhinia blossoms. People of the subgroups in the Dao minority share many similarities while at the same time are a little bit distinct from each other. Girls in the Dao Đỏ (Red Dao) keep their hair long and fold them around their heads covered with a red cloth. They wear indigo dress embroiled with decorations in red. It is understandable that these people wear what suit their way of living and the climate they are in. But at the same time, they also know how to produce cloths, embroideries etc. to make their very own dress. One of the speciality they produce is brocade which has become quite famous and made a worthy export product. Nowadays, their traditional dresses have changed to some extend due to cultural interactions with other minorities and the Viet majority. This trend has been shown most obviously in those groups living near the plains where the Việt people are present. The culture of the Việt which forms the majority of their population greatly influences other minorities' cultures. Theoretically, this is a normal phenomena. In the last 10 years, thanks to the renovation process in the country, the pace of cultural, economic interactions among all ethnic groups have been increasing considerably. The process of rapid urbanisation can be found now even in hilly areas. As such, traditional and ethnic cultural activities experience deep changes both for the better and the worse. In some regions, it is now a little difficult to find a youth wearing his/her traditional costume. Although the middle-aged are still keeping with traditions like those in Thanh Hoá or Hoà Bình, it seems many of them have been 'Vietnamised'. The farther they stay from the plains, the more they could keep their dressing, patterns and traditions. It is something worth thinking of when there is a clash between traditional characteristics and a modern life style. Many among them have shifted from skirts and loin-cloths to jeans and plants plus a Western style shirt though the things they are wearing are local made and not quite in vogue The new way of dressing has been introduced to these remote areas by local civil workers who have had chances to go down to the country's urban areas or by teachers sent from such places. In many places, traditional dress is still overwhelming modern new one. With increasing awareness, ethnic people are trying to preserve their dressing patterns in a modern society, combining them to make new designs. This proves to be a good trend worth studying. Modernity does not always coincides with beauty. Fashion development should incorporate both cultural traditions and modern life For these ethnic people, there would be no traditional festivals held if their traditional dresses were dropped out. There would be no more cloth ball contests of the Thái if these people wear fashion wears. Many Vietnamese as well as foreign tourists have found themselves infatuated by the rượu cần (wine pot to be drunk together) and the Thái girls' dance in their on-stilts houses. The guests would fly with the dance rhythms. And that is what is attracting tourists to Mai Châu (Hoà Bình province)