Blog 4

Natsumi Moudry

Blog 4

Inside source: Leshkowich, Anne Marie. "The Ao Dai Goes Global: How International Influences and Female Entrepreneurs Have Shaped Vietnam's ." Trans. Array Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress. Sandra Niessen, Ann Marie Leshkowich and Carla Jones. New York: Berg, 2003. 70-115. Print.

Outside source: Schwebius, Christopher. "Is Modern Japanese Clothing More Western?." Ezine Articles . Ezine Articles, 31 2008. Web. 25 Nov 2012. .

Miss Vietnam, Truong Quynh Mai, was awarded “Best National Costume” in the 1995 Miss International Pageant in Tokyo (Leshkowich, 79). This reflects how the Ao Dai is accepted by many people around the world. Many fashion designers around the world has viewed Ao Dai, made their own style of Ao Dai and included it in their fashion shows. In class we were shown a black pin striped Ao Dai. The Ao Dai is also considered to have hybrid aspects because the Ao Dai has been varied by influences from France, China and the US (Leshkowich, 79). The Ao Dai is worn by a variety of people in Vietnam; brides, performers, models, and those on special occasions wear formal Ao Dai with the hat. High school students, civil servants, tour guides, hotel and restaurant workers wear Ao Dai typically without the hat.

In Japan, kimono is the traditional style of dress; for warm weather the yukata is usually worn. The kimono is worn by brides (with a head piece), people for special occasions, hotel workers (usually bath house hotel workers), those who have arranged marriage meetings, some who go to the shrine on New Year’s day, some who go to funerals (black kimono), those who make tea for tea ceremonies, etc. Girls in Japan who turn twenty also wear a kimono for a day (for Seijin shiki) and take a formal picture, depending on their economic status. The elderly who have stayed with traditional ways also still wear the kimono on a regular basis; these people are usually over 90 years of age. The yukata is usually worn for occasions in warm weather such as obon, omatsuri, firework festivals, etc. When I went to a concert in Japan, I saw some women wearing the yukata shortened to show a lacy skirt underneath. Many youth embellish the kimono/ yukata to look different and start new trends.

The kimono/ yukata is considered very feminine like the Ao Dai. Usually women, when they wear kimono, they put their hair up. When the back of the neck is shown, it is considered "sexy" in Japan. Also, because the kimono is tightly worn, women can only take little steps; they cannot move recklessly. Women are made to have good stature and slow movements when wearing the kimono. Many youth in Japan like to wear yukata on days like omatsuri because it is a special day that it is accepted to look different; on a daily basis Japanese wear western clothes. Youth try to look more attractive and different for their partner on days of firework festivals and omatsuri.

Update on the challenge:

I am surprised to say that I actually did not buy anything from the Black Friday sale this weekend. Although right now I really want to buy a new set of head phones since I can only hear from one side of the headphones I have right now, I did not get new headphones. This Black Friday I worked at my seasonal job back home, and I was too tired to keep up with others in their Black Friday shopping. The parking lot of the mall I worked at was too crowded so I wanted to go home to rest after working an 8 hour shift. After work I did not want to see the mall again this weekend because there were too many people. I just spent the rest of the weekend grocery shopping, studying for my midterm, and spending time with my parents.