---
node: fashion_early_vietnam
type: fashion
slug: early_vietnam_fashion
title: "Fashion in Early Vietnam"
lead: "The dress of the Dong Son culture of early Vietnam is known from figures depicted on bronze drums; people wore wrapped skirts and loincloths, and women a breast-cloth (the yếm)."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: early_vietnam_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ngoc_Lu_bronze_drum_surface.gif"
image_author: "Ngọc Lũ Đông Sơn drum, surface decoration (rendering, CC BY-SA 4.0)"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (vietnam region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

The dress of the Dong Son culture, which flourished in the Red River valley, is inferred from figures on bronze drums and bronzes.

## Key garments and style

Thin clothing suited the tropical climate: men wore a loincloth, women a wrapped skirt and a breast-cloth (the yếm). Feather headdresses and ornaments also appear on the bronzes, and tattooing is recorded.

## Transition

When the Han extended their rule in 111 BC, Chinese clothing and textiles entered the region.