VietNamNet Bridge – The wife of the British ambassador, Gill Lever, spoke to Dan Tri about her opinions of the Vietnamese ao dai as she is going to join the Ao Dai Festival due to take place on March 1-4 in Hanoi.

Gill Lever (right), wife of the British ambassador to Vietnam

What do you think of the ao dai?

I like the ao dai it is in my top three. I love the sari from India. It can be very sophisticated and gorgeous and Indian ladies wear it with stunning accessories like bangles and slippers, but poorer women also wear a sari to work in the fields. The vibrant colours of women’s traditional outfits in Nigeria – usually a blouse and a wrap-around skirt - are also beautiful to look at. I liked the bright pinks and creative patterns. But there is something very romantic about the ao dai. As a garment, it is simple but flowing and can suit women of all ages and shapes and sizes. I also like the interpretations of ao dai fashioned by Lan Huong.

As someone working in the British Embassy on political issues, how have you ended up taking part in an event which will feature professional models and famous Vietnamese actresses? Have you ever taken part in any event like this before?

I’m looking forward to taking part and to meeting everybody.  I am pleased to be asked and not nervous at all.  As President of the Hanoi International Women’s Club in Hanoi, I took part in a fashion show organised for our group by fashion designer Ha Truong at Tan My Design last year.  I have also been invited to shows run by students at the London College of Fashion and Design in Hanoi and by my friend fashion designer Le Duyen Huong at Atelier. Last year, the Italian Ambassador and UN Representative helped the Will to Live charity for disabled people organise a fashion show. Women with disabilities modelled the clothes. It was inspiring and showed that whatever your age, job, size or shape, you can be a role model for others. There is plenty of room for diversity in fashion!

Should this ao dai festival be an annual event?

Why not? But fashion moves fast, so it will always be important to find a way to keep things fresh.

And can you share with us a memory that you have about ao dai?

I can tell you a story. A foreign guy liked ao dai and bought one for his wife. But he was not very good at bargaining and he bought only the dress, not the trousers. He took the dress part of the ao dai home to his wife. She tried it on. Of course it had big splits up the sides without the trousers and these showed her legs up to her bottom. She said that Vietnamese women must be very sexy if they wore this outfit for their traditional dress!

DTriNews