I was born and raised in a rural area in Brittany, France. In our region, we only knew of the Bigouden costume as the traditional dress, and foods made from butter and galette cakes.
I gave birth to my first son and when he was seven years old, on the occasion of a carnival at school, he chose to dress up in a completely strange costume at the time. It was not a pirate, prince or forest lord like his classmates, but a golden silk robe embroidered with a dragon, and a pointed white conical hat. At that time, we did not distinguish this costume from Vietnam or China, we only knew it came from Asia.
And 20 years later, as a miracle of fate, in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, not only me but also my husband, daughter, and the whole family of 20 French people in our family all wore costumes made of this silk on my son's wedding day. That was the Vietnamese Ao Dai, a traditional, sacred and familiar costume of Vietnamese people.
Now, Ao Dai has become familiar to me because my daughter-in-law has given me a few sets. And I always support her by wearing it on every occasion of Vietnamese Tet or cultural events in the region organized by my daughter-in-law and the Vietnamese community. As a lover of tailoring, I have also made traditional Ao Dai for my grandchildren.
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