I once read that wearing brightly coloured clothes in Vietnam was forbidden, why, and is this still the case?

Question

I once read that wearing brightly coloured clothes in Vietnam was forbidden, why, and is this still the case?

Answer 1

I live in Ha Noi. Bright colors are common. Women are very fashion conscious and dress well (the tourists could take some lessons in how to dress from the locals!). I have seen many bright, colorful au dai (the traditional tunic and trousers that women wear).  The traditional clothing of various ethnic groups can be quite colorful also.

Answer 2

Cambodia Dress

http://www.photius.com/countries/cambodi...

Sources: The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook

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The traditional Khmer costume consisted of a shirt or blouse and a skirt-like lower garment--sampot for women and sarong for men, a tube-shaped garment about a meter wide and as much as three meters in circumference. Made of cotton or of silk in many different styles and patterns, it is pulled on over the legs and fastened around the waist. On ceremonial occasions, elegant sampot as sarong, embroidered with gold or silver threads, may be worn with a long piece of material gathered at the waist, passed between the legs, and tucked into the waistband in back. Members of the urban middle and upper classes may wear Westernstyle clothing at work and more traditional clothing at home.

At home both sexes wear the sampot and the sarong. In rural areas, working men and women may wear loose-fitting pants and shirts or blouses. Many men wear Western-style pants or shorts. A third essential part of Khmer dress is the krama, or long scarf, that is worn around the neck, over the shoulders, or wrapped turban-style around the head. School children wear Western-style clothing to school. The boys wear shirts and shorts; the girls wear skirts and blouses.

The Khmer Rouge were noted for their unisex black "pajamas." Their typical garb was the peasant outfit of collarless black shirt--baggy trousers and checkered krama (a scarf knotted loosely about the neck). French anthropologist Marie Alexandrine Martin reported that the wearing of brightly colored clothing was prohibited under the Khmer Rouge and that women, young and old, wore black, dark blue, or maroon sampot with short-sleeved plain blouses. Women were forbidden to wear Western-style pants at any time. The conical hat characteristic of the Vietnamese has been adopted to a certain extent by Khmer in the provinces adjacent to Vietnam.

Data as of December 1987

Answer 3

weid qstn tat u're asking... coz i did not see this a problem in wearing bright coloured clothes in vietnam... in fact was there this early aug... and to be frank, the locals there dress more colourfully than we tourists.

Answer 4

where the f*** did u get that!?that was not forbbidden.u can wear anything u want.some ppl even wear really really bright colors.oh and gecko u know NOTHING about vietnam.

Answer 5

When was it that wearing bright colored clothes was forbidden in Vietnam? I lived in Vietnam for 20 years and never had any problem wearing bright colored clothes. Are you talking about the commie? Even then we didn't have any problem.

Gecko, you obviously don't know anything about Vietnam or Vietnamese people. The US did nothing for Vietnam but killing innocent people. Look what happened now. Vietnam never got compensated for what the US did ( unlike Japan). It has to take care of itself and is doing quite well considering years of struggling.

Answer 6

where the h**l did u read it from? no, there no law o any kind of c**p for wearing brightly color......

Connie, love ur comment.....

Answer 7

It was never forbidden, at least since I was born.

Oh but don't wear it at funerals though.

Answer 8

when the americans waged war in Vietnam, the locals had to do anything within their means to avoid getting noticed. brightly colored clothes will attract bullets.

thus began the practice to dress dull.

it is sad to hear that the vietnamese have not evolved ever since the troops pulled out.