The Ao dai is the traditional dress of Vietnamese women. It consists of a long silk tunic that is slit on the sides and worn over loose pants. Nowadays, women usually wear it, especially on special occasions. However, many Vietnamese women today often prefer to wear modern clothing at work, because it is more convenient. Now fashion designers want to change the traditional Ao dai. Some have printed lines of poetry on the Ao dai, so they look modern and very fashionable. Other designers have added some symbols such as suns, stars, crosses and stripes to the Ao dai, so Vietnamese women can continue to wear the unique dress, which is now both traditional and fashionable.
