In the midst of many changes in Vietnamese society, Hippie appeared, crept in and gradually took root in the lifestyle of a young Vietnamese community.
Sẽ là thiếu sót lớn lắm nếu người ta nhớ tới Sài Gòn xưa cũ mà trót quên đi Hippie. Hippie không hoa mỹ và đầy rẫy những quy tắc như “Swinging London" mang đặc sệt nét điệu đà của kinh đô thời trang xứ Anh, Hippe phóng khoáng và không lề thói, là biểu trưng cho lối sống tự do của những linh hồn mê xê dịch.
Hippie là một biến thể của cộng đồng nhỏ mang tên “Beatnik" gồm những người ưa sống theo bản năng, đam mê trải nghiệm các chất kích thích cùng lối sống tình dục phóng túng. Năm 1969, đại nhạc hội Woodstock (Mỹ) kéo dài 3 ngày với hơn nửa triệu người tham gia chính là ngòi châm để Hippie bùng nổ, thể hiện rõ những đặc trưng của phong trào phản văn hoá (counterculture). Khoảnh khắc năm ấy được tờ Rolling Stone Rated as one of “50 moments that changed the history of Rock n Roll music”.
nnThe speed of Hippie’s spread to other cultural communities is comparable to high voltage electricity. Not long after the Woodstock music festival, Saigon became the place to welcome this countercultural trend. Without discussing its political factors, Hippie has succeeded in becoming a new living ideal for young people who love peace and promote egoism.
nnOn the streets of Saigon that day, there were a lot of patte pants (flared pants) or, most spectacularly, bell bottom pants (bell bottom pants) with wide legs like… bonsai pots.
nnWhile the previously popular shape of cigar pants was straight, patte pants bulge out from the body to the hem. It is because of this unique style that flared pants were once unfairly accused of being a symbol “lối sống đua đòi, truỵ lạc".
nnPant width is sometimes a measure of style and reflects the wearer’s personality. The wider the pant leg, the greater the wearer’s fashion connoisseurship.
nnThere was once a pictorial that mentioned the characteristics of Hippie style in Saigon as follows: “On Saturday and Sunday afternoons, you have to dress very ruggedly to go on the streets of Saigon to perform fashion shows.” This shows that society at that time viewed Hippie culture with unsympathetic eyes.
nnHippie is expressed in many forms: It can be meticulously embroidered brocade shirts, or plain peasant dresses. More sophisticated outfits include blue denim, dyed fabric, fringed pants…
nnWherever there are Hippie people, there are flowers and grass. Flowers painted all over the streets or attached to Suzuki cars are not enough, flowers are also present in sunglasses to baggy shirts that people don’t bother to tuck in.
Sài Gòn ngày ấy cũng có một "đại nhạc hội Woodstock" rất Việt Nam. Trong hình là ca sĩ Thanh Lan và Duy Quang (cầm đàn bên phải).
nnIn 1971, an outdoor music party was held at Hoa Lu Stadium with nearly 20 thousand people and more than 20 young bands from all over the world.
nnThis is also the cradle for future overseas music talents such as famous singer Ngoc Lan, singer Elvis Phuong, Jo Marcel…
The girls and boys of that day followed Hippie for many different reasons. People who need to find their ego, people who simply want to let the world know who they are. In the eyes of society, children who follow the call of Hippie are children who do not grow up, drifting along the traps of life like a tree uprooted from its roots.
nnCó những cơ quan từng treo biển ở ngoà cửa: “Không tiếp quần ống loe, đầu tóc bù xù". Người ta coi phong cách này là một thứ gì đó lêu lổng, đua đòi và đi ngược lại sự phát triển của văn minh nhân loại.
nnThere used to be groups of young volunteers standing on the streets, scissors in hand ready to… cut off the flares and messy hair of those who passed by.
nnHippie reached its peak in the 70s and gradually declined in the following decades.
nnToday, the concept of Hippie still exists somewhere in the fashion-loving community. Its vitality is no longer as strong as before, but it is enough for designers to remember when they need to find this old material.
Lesson: Manh Hai – Fashion Columnist
