Annie

Hi everyone, my name is Annie. I’m 11 years old. I’m a fifth grader in Van Lang Primary School. I’ve worn ao dai many times before. I often wear them on Tet holidays and weddings. I have many special memories with all my Ao Dai.

First, there are memories of Teachers' Days, when I came to my mom’s school. I wore my Ao Dai there, the special one with swirly blue flowers. The female teachers there all wore ao dai, and the students pinned their chest with beautiful deep red roses to thank for teaching. I felt very proud of my mom when her chest was pinned with the red rose.

Secondly, there are memories about Tet holidays. I wore my ao dai to flower markets (night markets) to take beautiful and meaningful photos. Before my little brother was born, my parents and I always went to my grandparents house on Tet. We’d stay for a week and then go home. But the best of all the memories was my cousin’s wedding, I wore my absolutely best ao dai there, a cream one with a pomegranate tree, with colorful birds all around it, spreading their wings. My cousin looks lovely, in beautiful velvety red ao dai with shiny swirly gold patterns. Her husband wore ao dai too, a shiny indigo one with round complicated patterns. The ceremony itself is a bit long, but very meaningful to my cousin.

The whole of my girlhood, the best memories, all of them, are women with the ao dai. They are my connections to Vietnam.