For the people who love Hanoi and the beauty of the capital with thousand years of culture, the gentle image of the Trang An girls will never fade.
To the Hanoians, especially Hanoi girls, who are known to be humble and modest, the elegant is shown not only by the words of speech but also in their delicate and discreet dressing. The girls always speak gently, politely with standard pronunciation. They do not say curses or call each other impolitely in the street … They step smoothly and flexibly without creating any sound of the footwear…
That is the reason why a famous writer, Chu Lai, praised the Hanoi girls. In his book named “Hanoi – The girls”, he wrote: “The Hanoi’s prides are the green trees and the girls. The Hanoi girls are very special: The more difficult and dangerous the life is, the more beautiful they are. They own a beauty regardless of circumstances. The girls in Daily life are beautiful. The girls in the war are more beautiful. It is a fragile and ethereal beauty.
In the past…
The costume of a Hanoi girl at the beginning of 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century, the beauty of a Hanoi girl was attached to “guoc moc” (wooden clogs), “ao yem” (the camisole), “non quai thao” (a traditional Vietnamese flat palm hat) or “Ao tu than” (the four-part dress). This beauty has come into the mythical poetry and became the inspiration for many poets and musicians when they remember about Hanoi.
On the other hand, the image of Hanoi girls was best shown in the paintings of “To nu” (4 paintings of Hanoi girls in the traditional costumes) by Hang Trong folk art painting artists. These paintings are the image of young women with an elegant and discreet beauty and tranquility in the prosperous urban.
Hanoi girls in the middle of the twentieth century usually did not make-up flashily, but they still made many gentlemen from the North to the South attracted by their natural beauty with white skin, black hair and charming smile.
A Hanoi girl in Ao Dai
Traditional Ao Dai (Vietnamese long dress) was a ‘treasure’ of Hanoi ladies in the past. In the middle of the 20th century, Hanoi girls liked the tropeze long dresses to hide the body shape and the long black hair which was neatly tied with a turban.
However, since 1950, with the advent of Western cultural movement, the traditional Ao Dai had been more stylized. Hanoi women were more confident when wearing the long dress with drop waists and bob sleeves to highlight the feminine look of a girl. Even so, the Ao Dai, at that time, was still very discreet and attractive but not too revealing.
Hanoi women in the middle of the twentieth became fascinating by their noble and elegant appearance. It was so beautiful that a writer said: “In particular, the faces of Hanoi women are fascinated in every eye, every heart from the worker to the poet.”
At that time, their beauty was adorned by colorful long dresses; woolen scarf as well as many kinds of necklaces and earrings… The Western culture was imported into our country, although it is influenced more or less, the girls in Hanoi’s Old Quarter such as Hang Dao, Hang Bac, Hang Ngang, Trang Tien streets also made up lightly and kept the gentle spirit of speaking and walking.
… and nowadays
Over time, because of the influence of Western culture, the life is growing so the lifestyle of Hanoians also changes. “Ao yem” and “Guoc moc” has been gradually replaced by the western dresses, silk trousers, and shirts. However, the young Hanoi girls still retain their discreet and shy beauty – an image in contrast with the stylish Saigon girls in short skirts, bob hair and colorful ribbons. They no longer wear “khan mo qua” (the kerchief) and use colorful handkerchiefs instead of that .
The classic, gentle and delicate beauty of Hanoi girls inherited from the cultural beauty of people in Thang Long – Hanoi with thousand years of culture in the past has been maintained up to now.
If being the true Hanoi girl, they are beautiful in the appearance and elegant in the behavior.
The beautiful girls of Hanoi always own the beauty of gentleness and feminine.
A modern Hanoi girl
The neatness is the characteristic of the beautiful Hanoi girls: Luxurious but not flashy, simple but nice. Although they are wearing normal clothing, their clothes are still neat and discreet.
Hanoi girls know how to make-up in the best way: The powder, lipsticks and a drop of perfume in the hand or in the handkerchief are enough to make many people passionate.
The Ao Dai or long dress with a unique cultural feature of Vietnam, only Vietnamese people have, also experiences many changes. From 2000 up to now, the cultural exchanges, together with the great economic development, and modern outlook have enabled designers to be creative, so Ao Dai is also transformed in many different colors and types and officially recognized as the national costume of Vietnam.
Today, some famous designers are still creating new style of Ao Dai to fit the modern of Hanoi girls such as Ao Dai with short sleeves or Ao Dai with jeans… Some designers also find the beauty of interference between the old and the present when applying the new material into Ao Dai.
The modern Ao Dai brings a new appearance for Hanoi girls
Even now Hanoi girls do not wear Ao Dai as a casual outfit like in the past, Ao Dai is still a formal dress to wear on important occasions. Especially on the national holiday, Ao Dai becomes a costume with many national identities.
Today, the blooming current fashion trends: cool and sexy increasingly makes the pure beauty of Hanoi girls in the past disappear on the streets.
Hanoi girls in current daily clothes
Some Hanoi girls give us another look of the girl beauty. They make-up carefully and wear fashionable clothes to highlight each curve of the body. That is called the beauty of modern women and rare people can hold on to that beauty. After that, in the rush of Daily life, many people suddenly remembered the gentle and elegant beauty of the old Hanoi girls.
Although the beauty of Hanoi girls has changed over time, it still has a unique feature which cannot be confused with the beauty of girls in other regions. We hope that the above article will help you gain some interesting information.
