What do people wear in Vietnam? Are there any dress codes or cultural considerations tourists should keep in mind?
Understaning the local clothing styles can enhance your experience in Vietnam. Let’s explore check the daily attire of Vietnamese people and essential tips on what to wear when visiting the country.
1. Clothing tips for travelers in Vietnam
1.1. Carrying warm and lightweigth clothes
Vietnam has mild winters but extremely hot summers. Be sure to check the weather and pack accordingly—warm clothes for cold days from November to February and lightweight, breathable outfits for almost all months.
1.2. Respectful attire for temples and heritage sites
Wear modest and respectful clothing when visiting historical sites, pagodas, temples, or cultural landmarks. Avoid outfits that expose the waist, shoulders, or chest. Skirts and pants should cover the knees.
1.3. Beachwear in Vietnam
Most beaches in Vietnam are swimsuit-friendly, so you can comfortably wear bikinis or swimsuits without concern. However, some small local beaches may have more conservative norms.
1.4. Casual wear for city exploration
While walking around Vietnamese cities, you can dress as you like, as there are no strict clothing rules. The only exception is that bikinis should not be worn on the streets.
1.5. Polite attire for attending a Vietnamese family party
If you’re invited to a family gathering, ask the host about appropriate attire. While there are usually no strict dress codes, this ensures you feel comfortable and confident.
2. What do Vietnamese people typically wear?
Currently, daily clothes in Vietnam are comfortable and mostly follow modern, Western fashion styles. The choice of clothing is mainly determined by the nature of the wearer’s daily work.
2.1. Office and business attire
Female teachers and office workers often choose Ao Dai for certain days of the week or month. On the remaining days, women will freely show off their figures with dresses and vests in modern European business attire. Meanwhile, men working in offices typically prefer modern shirts and trousers.
2.2. Clothing for freelancers and traders
Besides some safety priorities, freelance workers or traders often choose costumes with light, flexible fabrics suitable for their work. Ready-to-wear attires such as T-shirts, jeans, or khakis are popular. Middle-aged and older women like soft and elastic fabric outfits.
2.3. School uniforms in Vietnam
For primary and secondary school students:
For pupils, costumes will be uniforms according to the school’s regulations. In particular, uniforms for primary and secondary school students mainly revolve around the criteria of being neat and polite. At the same time, they need to ensure comfort and convenience for students of young age so they can move freely. The outfit is usually a collared shirt made of elastic, cotton, and kate fabric, with shorts, pants, or skirts made from kaki fabric.
For high school students:
Their attire requires more formality. Female students will wear a white ao dai on certain days of the week. On the remaining days, they can choose a polite uniform of a shirt with a skirt or pants and follow the school’s color and fabric regulations. Male students are required to wear long pants and collared shirts.
2.4. Street fashion in Vietnam
Streetwear is always the free outfit group; almost no regulations or rules exist for this clothing style. Vietnamese people can wear anything they want to go out, including tank tops, nightgowns, backless tops, short and long skirts, etc.
However, overly sexy outfits are less popular on the streets of Vietnam. This feature partly results from the cultural and religious defaults that each person maintains.
2.5. Traditional clothing in specific regions
In certain regions of Vietnam, such as Ethnic minority areas in the Central Highlands or the Northwestern mountainous region, people here will have typical costumes made from Brocade, having their cultural style. Ao Ba Ba costumes are well-known daily in the Southwest and the Mekong Delta.
However, these typical costume patterns of ethnic groups or each part are uncommon in Vietnamese life. They are only a cultural symbol of each specific region and ethnic community. Therefore, you only have the opportunity to see these typical costumes in a few localities and will not see them again in most cities of Vietnam.
Overall, the fashion style in Vietnam today is very airy and open-minded, bringing a lot of modern Western breath. Although most companies, offices, and schools have their own regulations on clothing for their employees and students, in general, they still emphasize aesthetics, dynamism, convenience, and modernity and respect the aesthetic outlook of each individual.
3. Costumes for special events
Like most countries around the world, Vietnamese people pay attention to choosing appropriate outfits during special events, ensuring politeness and formality for both the wearers and the events they participate in.
3.1. Clothing for traditional and religious ceremonies
Distinctive and polite clothing is required at festive events related to traditional ritual elements, such as pagoda ceremonies, offerings, incense offerings, etc.
- The shirt must not reveal the waist or chest, the sleeves and collar must be discreet.
- The color must be neutral, not flashy or multi-colored.
- Both women and men are required to wear pants that fall above the knee, not styled with cuts or slits that expose the body.
- Women are often encouraged to wear the traditional long dress – Ao Dai.
3.2. Outfits for parties, and festivals
At parties, and festivals, Vietnamese people choose elegant outfits that complement their appearance while maintaining politeness:
- Women: Often wear stylish dresses or skirts.
- Men: Typically opt for pants, shirts, or vests.
- Most clothing follows modern Western designs.
3.3. Traditional and modern wedding attire
For traditional wedding attire, the bride and groom usually have 2 main sets during their traditional wedding ceremony, including Ao Dai and Turban, which are worn in front of the altar of ancestors and relatives.
During a modern wedding party, the bride will choose another Western-style wedding dress, and the groom will choose a suit for his wedding party.
> For a more detailed guide on wedding outfits, check out our full article on Vietnamese Wedding Attire.
3.4. Clothing etiquette for the Lunar New Year and Celebrations
For New Year’s wishes and congratulatory parties, Vietnamese people are forbidden to wear dark colors, such as black, gray, purple, or just one tone of white for both shirts and pants. This is because these colors easily create associations with unfortunate events, such as funerals, breakups, and separations.
The remaining cheerful colors- red, pink, light yellow (but not as a whole outfit), green, or blue – are welcome.
In short, the basic criteria for costumes at essential events in Vietnam are politeness and formality. Next, aesthetic features also receive a lot of attention from the wearers. It’s all about ensuring respect for for the event, those attending, and yourself.
4. Vietnamese clothing that may confuse tourists
You will wonder when seeing a few unique clothes in Vietnam appear on the streets.
4.1. Sun protection clothing:
One outfit in Vietnam that often confuses tourists is the sun protection shirt or anti-sunlight shirt worn by women. At first glance, it may resemble a Japanese ninja outfit or traditional clothing Muslim women wear.
In reality, this is protective clothing designed to shield women from the sun. Made of thick, stretchy fabric, it is a loose hooded shirt that covers the head, face, upper body, arms, and hands. The lower part looks like a wide fabric sheet secured at the back with buttons or Velcro fastener. Some versions come as a one-piece suit, covering the body from head to toe.
Vietnamese women wear sun protection clothing only as an outer layer when going outside. This helps prevent sunburn and maintain their fair complexion. Underneath, they wear their regular or more stylish outfits.
These protective suits can make women appear almost unrecognizable in public. On sunny days, the thick clothing layers, combined with sunglasses that hide their eyes, create a mysterious look.
Many first-time visitors find this surprising, as the outfit can resemble something worn by secretive figures, like witches or monks from an unfamiliar religious order.
4.2. Full-face mask:
If masks are only reserved for doctors and people working in laboratories in many other countries, then in Vietnam, masks are indispensable for almost everyone who leaves the house.
They wear masks not to prevent bacteria or disease but to avoid dust and sun protection. Typically, women like their skin still white. The hot climate and the culture of riding motorbikes have made the mask an indispensable item of local life. No one seems uncomfortable with a mask permanently on their face.
As a first-time tourist to Vietnam, don’t worry when you see almost all the Vietnamese on the street wearing masks. No government regulations or religious traditions related to wearing masks on the street exist. The disease factor is also eliminated if you do not receive any recommendations or notices related to this issue from the government or your tour guide.
The mask on the face to protect the skin is typically for females, who want their skin white, which is considered a beautiful feature in the eyes of almost all Vietnamese people.
With these insights into clothing in Vietnam, you can confidently prepare your favorite clothes for a trip to this beautiful country.
We suggest a good experience in Vietnam with a measured tailor service for almost all types of clothes. Hoi An is considered a paradise for this service. You can choose to have shirts, vests, dresses, or skirts made in any style, according to your favorite measurements and designs, but at an affordable price.
Besides, ready-to-wear fashion products in the middle segments, such as T-shirts, khaki pants, jeans, scarves, and underwear, are also rich in design, quality, and low price.
Therefore, consider bringing enough clothes and taking the time to fill your suitcases when you come here. This activity can add a small good memory in Vietnam for your trip to this beautiful country.
