There ‘s something you have known very early since you were a child. And there ’s something deep inside your heart when it was a part of your life, your memories. The Ao dai has come to my heart by that way!

I saw people wear Ao dai, but never thought about it ‘till the day when I was in my lovely white uniform for the first time. It was and still is our national custom. Amazing! A beautiful white light color shone on me. I felt a wind of change, something new just blew through my heart. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was thrilled and I was excited awaiting the beginning of the new school year.

I have worn Ao dai for 6 years–3 years in high school, then 3 years in university, and I still like wearing it now. There was a time I loved wearing Ao dai the way I love our country. And today I still wonder what people (especially the boys) think about when they see a girl in Ao dai? Whatever the answer is, I always feel more beautiful when wearing Ao dai. I feel luxurious in it.

Ao dai is usually made from soft material such as silk, satin… It has two long flaps over the lower body. And you can see the similar in Asian clothes. Their clothes usually have at least one long flap. Example: Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, India traditional customs. See http://vnexpress.net/gl/van-hoa/2010/03/3ba19cfb/

That is about the similarity in the culture amongst Asian nations. Do you know the reason why? It is because we have a similar natural condition, that is water! Most of Asian nations border on the sea or have many rivers. The long flap is like a soft and flexible current. When you wear an Ao dai, especially white Ao dai, imagine a river streaming out. Yeah, I love white Ao dai. It brings back memories of my high school time. “That flowing river” would light up and make it wearer more sparkling and glistering in a sunny day. And in rainy days, I really felt like a streaming river myself, completely wet, though with an all-covering raincoat!

In the old days, Ao dai was usually worn with a cone hat. Nowadays, it’s hard to see someone with both Ao dai and cone hat, except in advertisement photos. Fortunately for me, I saw one recently, in my university! Was she embarrassed when I was not the only one who stared at her? She was awesome! A very beautiful Vietnamese woman. She was young and gentle. She was a connection between tradition and modernity. She did what she wanted, and I was grateful for that. One more time, the girl in the Ao dai really touched my soul.

That girl is a rarity amongst many girls who don’t like wearing the Ao dai today, because of the inconveniencies associated with it. A rule requires Ao dai uniform for high school and university students. During my freshman year at university, I wore the Ao dai willingly. I wore it in both sunny or rainy days, even everybody in my class broke the rule. They didn’t wear it, but I did. Someone poked fun at me: “Principle is principle!”, but they didn’t know that I wore Ao dai with all my love and loyalty.

There are some other traditional clothes in our country such as four-panel traditional dress, loose-fitting blouse. But if you ask me, I will say: “Only Ao dai really touches my soul!”

Ngọc Nho