Hairstyle over times
According to Selection of Strange Tales in Lĩnh Nam, people in Giao Chi (An area of Vietnam in Hung kings era) had haircut and bare heads. From Tran Dynasty, men shaved their head and looked like a monk, while women had short hair in a bun with bangs across the forehead. When the Ming invaded Dai Viet, to replace the custom and practice, they forbade people from hair cutting. In Nguyen Dynasty, Vietnamese preferred long hair. Young boys shaved their head and left only a pinch of hair on the top, while little girl had two buns on both sides. All the adults kept their hair long. Males had chignon over the top, while female may make a bun (in the South) or wrap the hair around the head with central parting (in the North). People enjoyed silky straight hair and saw curly hair as “bamboo roots”. There was even a prejudice that women with curly hair are easy to get jealous. [from Dat le que thoi – Custom & Practice in the village - Nhất Thanh] Photo and retouch by Chi Trịnh: five-panel dress of Nguyen Dynasty, the origin of modern Ao dai - made by Lan Chi Hoang. Model: Hoang Minh Chau Makeup: Phuong Tu Minh
We would like to thank Vietnam Ancient who helped us with the chart and pointed out some of our mistakes.
