week2 xinyu yang

Asa141

Week2

Xinyu—Yang

"Ao Dai Revival” 

"Clothing, social empathy and the power of stepping into someone else's shoes".

The article "Ao Dai Revival" by Kieu Linh Caroline Valverde, the author mentions that before 1975, Ao Dai was a daily choice for Vietnamese people, and they would wear AoDai when they attended important occasions. But after the war, Ao Dai became a symbol of capitalism seen by communism and was hard to see. Even with the lack of materials, it is difficult for people to get the fabrics that Ao Dai needs. Not just for the Vietnamese, Chinese has a similar situation. In fact, aside from communism, Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan，their national costumes have also become a symbol due to the influence of Western culture and politics. National costumes (such as kimonos and hanbok)  will only be used in important scenes such as festivals, weddings, and coming-of-age ceremony, etc.  Ao Dai appeared to be a culture and property in the Vietnamese who fled Vietnam at the time. As the author mentions, the traditional AoDai lacks a modern aesthetic. Young Vietnamese are also beginning to use the new design for Ao Dai. I think this can also be seen as a fusion of Vietnamese culture and Western aesthetics. As mentioned in the article "Clothing, social empathy and the power of stepping into someone else's shoes”; Michael Hurt states that fashion is a medium of communication and a junction of art and life. It also can promote people's social empathy and mutual understanding.

Q:In the American society, what is the difficulty in the daily use and popularization of traditional Asian national costumes?