The Daily Cougar
November 7, 2007

Students showed up by the hundreds Sunday to celebrate to celebrate culture in the Vietnamese Student Association's second annual A Fashionable Date.

The fashion show at the University Center Houston Room was attended by an audience of around 400 students, parents, dancers, fashion designers and models.

The main benefactor was the Sunflower Mission, whose goal is to elevate the educational level of people in Vietnam by building schools and aiding in educational assistance programs. In 2006 the organization raised $109,000 that went toward the building of classrooms in Vietnam and $37,000 toward scholarships.

Fashion shows kicked off the festivities. The main outfit exhibited was the áo dài, the traditional dress of Vietnamese women. The áo dài, is a long, elegantly embroided dress that often reaches the ground and is tight-fitting around the curves, emphasizing the female silhouette.

The more traditional styles of designer Andrea Nguyen were first in the line up Sunday night. Two-tone dresses with bright shades of green, yellow and turquoise with natural, organic adornments traversed the catwalk. Nature was the main theme, with most of the dresses adorned with flower and leaf patterns.

Nguyen's display of semi-traditional áo dài followed, with higher neck-lines and softer colors such as pinks, yellows, whites and light blues. Gone were the natural patterns, replaced with soothing pastel colors.

Keeping up with the fashion timeline, Nguyen followed with a modern collection. The patterns now were playful, and for lack of a better word, modern. Sharp angles and creative green and red details adorned one black áo dài, while another displayed a festive mix of orange, red and white. Bust lines were lowered and the long-sleeves of the previous collections disappeared and were replaced with spaghetti straps.

Students showed up by the hundreds Sunday to celebrate to celebrate culture in the Vietnamese Student Association's second annual A Fashionable Date.

The fashion show at the University Center Houston Room was attended by an audience of around 400 students, parents, dancers, fashion designers and models.

The main benefactor was the Sunflower Mission, whose goal is to elevate the educational level of people in Vietnam by building schools and aiding in educational assistance programs. In 2006 the organization raised $109,000 that went toward the building of classrooms in Vietnam and $37,000 toward scholarships.