Vietnam's Real Ability ~ Fashion (Written by Ho)

Hanoi has a bit of a different atmosphere from Ho Chi Minh City. There are four seasons, and the people you interact with seem to have a certain reserved elegance about them... or so it feels. Whereas Ho Chi Minh City is like eternal summer, with an overall bright and cheerful feel. I'd heard about it before, but now that I could actually feel that difference for myself, after attending the wedding, I decided to take my time walking around Hanoi. I made a bit of a trip out to a shop I'd wanted to visit. About a 30-minute walk. I thought if it got unbearably hot I might just hop on a motorbike instead, but the weather was so pleasant for walking that I kept going on foot. I wanted to wander aimlessly through town, maybe getting lost in unfamiliar alleyways, having little discoveries and mishaps along the way... I really wanted to feel that kind of excitement too. My destination was a silk products shop. There was a dress I'd been checking out online, thinking "how cute~", and I wanted to see it in person. According to their website, it's a standalone shop with a stylish storefront. https://goldensilk.vn/ Relying on Google Maps, as I wandered along, from up ahead...

I pass by such cheerful-looking madams! Each one wrapped in her own áo dài, wearing a big hat, and some madams even holding flowers in their hands. Talking with big gestures and loud voices, their expressions so full of life... Wait, wait, wait a second — isn't this just like Crazy Rich Asians? https://cinemarche.net/lovestory/crazyrichasians/ Dressed head to toe in the fashion they love, enjoying it to the fullest~ It really feels like they're celebrating life to the fullest. It was seriously so cool. I couldn't help but follow after them and take a photo. Compared to young people heading to work, I felt way more energy from this. No matter how others see you, I really do want to wear the clothes I love~ I learned that in Vietnam, people enjoy having clothes custom-made to order. I'd been thinking "maybe an áo dài isn't for me yet," but now I'm thinking it could actually be fun. Thinking about all that, I headed for the silk specialty shop Lụa Tơ Vàng, but of course it wasn't where Google Maps said it would be — that's Vietnam for you. No matter how many times I checked, I couldn't find the shop. I'd walked all this way for nothing, I thought~ I walked around the area again and again, but there was no shop. What a pain. The pin on the map was pointing right there, but it was a completely different shop. I tried re-entering the address and fumbled around trying different things, and had a hunch that this must actually be somewhere different from what the map showed... So I kept pushing forward... and found it about 500 meters away. It was just the lovely shop I'd imagined, and the staff were so attentive too. They kept telling me to try on more and more. Sure, don't mind if I do! The one-piece dress turned out to have a different design than I imagined... But I got excited about another top instead! It's made of silk as light as a cloud, with Vietnamese-style embroidery stitched onto the shoulder. I tried it on in blue, purple, pink, and green...

In the end, what I bought was a blue color close to navy, in the shade I like — I couldn't be adventurous with it. The shop staff kept pushing purple, though. The other thing they pushed was a jacket with luxurious embroidery on the back. It's a kimono-style jacket and it's really cool, but I just don't have the courage to pull it off~

If I were 20 years younger... I might have bought it. Unlike a sukajan jacket, it's a kimono-style wrap jacket with a short hem that also gives off a Korean or Chinese vibe. I think the embroidery had tiger patterns and monkeys too. Until now, my impression of Vietnamese fashion was that it walked a fine line between tacky and kitschy, but it's really evolving. Bold, daring fashion! I keep thinking how interesting it is~ Since I cut my hair short, styling with scarves has become fun.

I ended up also buying a scarf designed with Vietnamese motifs. The avant-garde design made me think, "wow, this is interesting~~" A small scarf is 3,000 yen each. I usually reach straight for monotone ones, and I already own quite a few — I even have some Hermès ones. But this is Vietnam! Precisely because it's Vietnam, I decided to buy something with an interesting design and color. So I picked a purple one with a psychedelic lotus design, and a navy and orange one (not shown in the photo) said to be made from a Vietnamese plant... Bought two of them! Right away I went and wrapped one around my neck~~ So fun, so much fun I think it might be a little out of step with current fashion trends... How should I put it... I've stopped caring at all about what other people think, and I'm just going to charge ahead in my own original style. Ho-san, it would be nice if you turned into ... someone who loves using scarves too Expat Life Ranking