The video, which spread quickly across social platforms on June 4, showed the pair moving through the heritage quarter. One had paired the long tunic with a bikini and the other with shorts, in place of the trousers the ao dai is normally worn over.
A local woman approached them after seeing the outfits. Through the tour guide accompanying the group, she explained that the ao dai is a traditional garment that should be treated with respect, and asked the tourists to change before continuing. In the clip she filmed, she held that the manner of dress was unacceptable and said she would wait for the visitor to change. Many viewers praised her for stepping in calmly, arguing that tourists should understand the garment's meaning before wearing it.
The strength of the reaction reflects how closely the ao dai is bound up with Hoi An. The flowing silk tunic, worn over loose trousers, is part of daily life in the town, where students cycle to class in white ao dai and visitors routinely rent one for photographs among the lantern-lit lanes and ochre walls. Wearing it is generally seen as a gesture of respect rather than appropriation, which is part of why pairing it with swimwear struck many Vietnamese as a deliberate inversion of that gesture.
