Downsides of wearing smart clothing
With benefits come downsides. Is smart clothing really as useful as we think? Do we really need to shell out money on the latest wearable tech? Let’s consider some downsides of wearing smart clothing.
Those who expect the latest tech at a budget price may be disappointed. Technology costs, especially when it is full of intricate circuits and fibers. As such, potential smart clothing wearers should be prepared to pay premium prices for the luxury. Depending on the brand, if a regular jacket costs US $100, we can expect to pay between US $200 - $500 for additional smart tech.
As with most smart technology, clothing tech relies on personal data to do its job. Smart clothing may not be suitable for people who are concerned with privacy and how their sensitive information is tracked and stored. Moreover, it is impossible to know how much data a garment collects when it is not being worn.
3. Disrupts daily life
Technology usually hums along quietly in the background, but wearable tech is literally on our bodies for a large part of the day or night. It also processes our personal data and sends feedback or notifications based on the results. Users can expect to make some slight lifestyle changes to adapt to their new wardrobe additions. Moreover, as most smart garments are designed with electronic components, washing them may be another concern.
Levy Strauss Commuter trucker jacket, in partnership with Google
Wearers of this connected jacket can use hand gestures like swiping, touching, and tapping to access various remote control options of their smartphones.
The tech behind smart clothes
Smart clothes look and feel like our everyday clothes, but they come with a technical twist. Some tech clothing uses advanced textiles with intricately interwoven circuits, whereas others add sensors or hardware to boost its functionality and track biometric and physical data like temperature and heart rate. Some smart clothes can connect to apps via a secondary device like a smartwatch, letting users keep track of their daily habits and workouts.
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Back in 2004, everyone was talking about the Internet of Things and smart clothing was definitely seen as the Future.
However, thanks to technological progress and the amount invested in R&D by several AI and tech companies, smart clothing is not a dream anymore.
On top of that, it’s truly a fascinating world. Smart clothing and e-textiles are at a crossroad between fashion, technology and healthcare.
Myant’s smart clothes that help you stay connected with your dearest ones
Skiin garments sense and react to your body, allowing you to understand your well-being, provide comfort and care when it counts, and stay connected to what matters most.
Later Lê dynasty (1428–1789)
In 1435, Nguyễn Trãi, a scholar official, and his colleagues compiled the Geography (Dư địa chí) based on the lessons he had taught to the prince, who then became Emperor Lê Thái Tông; his teachings also included how Vietnamese were different from their neighbours in terms of language and clothing customs: "The people of our land should not adopt the languages or the clothing of the lands of the Wu [Ming], Champa, the Lao, Siam, or Zhenla [Cambodia], since doing so will bring chaos to the customs of our land".[4]: 138 [13]: 82 They viewed the Ming as having been affected by Mongolian customs in terms of clothing customs (e.g. with their hair hanging down the back, white teeth, short clothing, long sleeves, and bright and lustrous robes and caps) despite returning to the ways of Han and Tang and the people of Lao as wearing Indian-style clothing like the robes of Buddhist monks "like the irrigated fields of dysfunctional families".[4]: 138 [13]: 82 Therefore, they considered that all those styles, including those of Champa and Khmer, should not be worn as they disregarded the customs of the Vietnamese, who continued to follow the rites of Zhou and Song dynasties: in the Dư địa chí, it is written that according to the scholar Lý Tử Tấn, during the reign of Trần Dụ Tông, Emperor Taizu of Ming bestowed a poem saying, "An Nan [Đại Việt] has the Trần clan, and its customs are not those of the Yuan [Mongols]. Its clothing and caps are in the classic pattern of the Zhou dynasty. Its rites and music follow the relationship between ruler and minister, as in the Song dynasty” and therefore Emperor Taizu promoted the ambassador of Đại Việt (Đoàn Thuận Thân) by 3 ranks to be equal that of Joseon.[4]: 138
The Lê dynasty encouraged the civilians to return to traditional customs: teeth blackening as well as short hair or shaved heads. A royal edict was issued by Vietnam in 1474 forbidding Vietnamese from adopting foreign languages, hairstyles and clothes like that of the Lao, Champa or the "Northerners" which referred to the Ming. The edict was recorded in the 1479 Complete Chronicle of Đại Việt of Ngô Sĩ Liên.[4]: 87
The dragon robe (áo Long Bào) was worn in Vietnam since the Restored Late-Lê period, Phan Huy Chú wrote in the Categorized Records of the Institutions of Successive Dynasties (Lịch triều hiến chương loại chí):[14]
"Since the Restored Later-Lê era, for grand and formal occasions, (the emperors) always wore Xung Thiên hat and Long Bào robe...."
Through many portraits and images of rulers during the Ming, Joseon, and more recently, during the Nguyễn dynasty, one could see that this standard (the wearing of Long Bào) existed for a long period of time within a very large region.[14]
Smart Clothing: Fad or trend ?
When we think about fashion, smart clothing is not necessarily something that comes right into your mind. Yet, according to many forecasts made by different studies, the market is expected to reach US$ 4 to 5 billions in 2024 and 6-7 billions by 2027. In 2019, the market was valued US$ 1.2 billions.
Indeed, Covid-19 definitely had an impact on the projected growth. In countries such as Italy and Spain, there has been a dip in the demand for smart clothing at first and the pandemix slowed down all operations. However, the smart clothing market is likely to exhibit positive growth in post-pandemic period.
Benefits of wearing smart clothing
Smart clothing may seem like a cool gimmick, but there are real benefits, too. Let’s take a look at some ways smart clothing can enhance your lifestyle.
1. Monitors health conditions
Most people strive to live a healthy life, and tech clothing can help us achieve just that. Smart clothing can help people with existing health conditions keep an eye on their vital statistics. It can even flag potential health issues and can inform wearers of impending medical events.
2. Improved athletic performance
If you are curious to know how workouts benefit your body, smart clothing can help. Everybody wants to train at peak physical performance, and clothing technology can give us hints to help us improve. Smart clothing can track the data required to optimize performance and keep our bodies in top shape.
A good night’s sleep can do wonders for our productivity, mood, and overall health. Smart clothing can monitor a person’s sleep quality including when they fall asleep, wake up, and how many times they wake up during the night. This helps people struggling with irregular sleep patterns or insomnia to track their sleep quality through movements at night.
What is smart clothing?
Smart clothing is a category in itself. It’s clothes that have been enhanced with technology so that it can perform a wide range of functions. They can have aesthetic or performance enhancing purposes.
Smart clothes enable better communication with other devices, analyze and sense the stimuli. They can pass on some data that can be analyzed to predict and prevent injuries, diseases and protect the wearer from future dangers.
Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945)
During unified period of Vietnam, the people in the northern and southern regions of Vietnam (i.e. previously Champa) continued to wear their local ethnic clothing.[1]: 1–2 In the Southern regions, the people continued to wear their local clothing and became increasingly similar whereas in the northern regions, the clothing worn was very varied.[1]: 1–2 When the Vietnamese started to assimilate the majority of the Cham and the Khmer Krom living in their new conquered southern territories; and the Vietnamese-ification of the Cham and the Khmer Krom lead to them adopting Vietnamese style clothing while at the same time retaining several distinctive ethnic elements.[1]: 21
Áo ngũ thân (predecessor of the current áo dài, which made of 5 parts) with standing collar and trousers was forced on Vietnamese people by the Nguyễn dynasty. Skirts (váy) were banned due to Emperor Minh Mệnh's extreme Neo-Confucianism.[16] However, it was up to the 1920s in Vietnam's north area in isolated hamlets where skirts were worn.
The Vietnamese had adopted the Chinese political system and culture during the 1,000 years of Chinese rule, but after the Qing conquest of China, Han Chinese were forced to adapt to Manchurian customs like wearing a queue. So the Vietnamese viewed their surrounding neighbors like Khmer and the Han Chinese under the Qing dynasty as barbarians and themselves as a small version of China (the Middle Kingdom) who still maintained Han culture (civilised culture).[17] By the Nguyễn dynasty, the Vietnamese themselves were ordering the Khmer to adopt Han Chinese culture by ceasing "barbarous" habits like cropping hair and ordering them to grow it long besides making them replace skirts with trousers.[18]
Áo tràng vạt was still worn during Nguyễn dynasty. Other styles of clothing were also created during this time such as the áo nhật bình and the áo tấc [vi] (formal wear for rituals and formal occasions).
The áo dài was created when tucks which were close-fitting and compact were added in the 1920s to the áo ngũ thân. The Chinese-influenced clothing in the form of trousers and tunic were mandated by the Nguyễn dynasty. The Chinese Ming dynasty, Tang dynasty, and Han dynasty clothing was referenced in order to be adopted by the Vietnamese military and bureaucrats by the Nguyễn Lord, Nguyễn Phúc Khoát (Nguyễn Thế Tông) from 1744.[4]: 295
Imperial headgear "Mũ Xung Thiên"
Ceremonial dress of Marshall
Student uniforms of the imperial academy
cap, with ornamented gold
Mandarin boots and shoes. Gilded metal, Nguyễn dynasty, 19th-early 20th century
Gilded metal hat, Nguyễn dynasty, 19th-early 20th century. Object for worship
A mũ cánh chuồn made out of metal and horse hair during the 19th century, Nguyễn dynasty.
From the twentieth century onward, Vietnamese people began wearing Western clothing due to modernisation and French influence. The áo dài was briefly banned after the fall of Saigon, but was reintroduced back into the scene.[19] It is worn in white by high school girls, often as part of school uniform in Vietnam. It is also worn by female receptionists and secretaries. Styles can differ in Northern and Southern Vietnam.[20] The most popular type of Vietnamese clothing today, is the áo dài for men and women, and suits or sometimes áo gấm (modified áo dài) for men.
In the 21st century, some companies and individuals are working on reviving, preserving, and upholding Vietnamese traditional culture, including Vietnamese clothing and designs. In 2013, researcher Trần Quang Đức published the book Ngàn năm áo mũ, marking the first step in restoring traditional costumes in Vietnam. Currently, there are many companies that research and reproduce traditional Vietnamese clothing, for example, a company called Ỷ Vân Hiên started to provide tailoring services of ancient Vietnamese clothing which included the áo ngũ thân and áo tràng vạt.[21] Ỷ Vân Hiên company largely reproduces clothing worn in the Nguyễn dynasty period.[22] Other tailoring companies, such as Trần Thị Trang's company specializes in making ancient Vietnamese clothing which was typically worn between the Ngô dynasty and the Nguyễn dynasty.[23] Painter Cù Minh Khôi and his friends launched the Hoa Văn Đại Việt project which digitized 250 ancient Vietnamese decorative patterns which spanned from the Lý dynasty to Nguyễn dynasty and applied them to variety of modern products such as keychains, calendars, T-shirts, and lucky money packets.[21]
In 2018, a book called Dệt Nên Triều Đại in Vietnamese language and Weaving a Realm in English language was published by the Vietnam Centre, an independent, non-government and non-profit organization which aims to promote Vietnamese culture to the world.[24] The book contained historical facts about ancient Vietnamese fashion, illustrations and photos.[25] The book Dệt Nên Triều Đại only covers the early years of the Later Lê era's clothing traditions from 1437 to 1471 AD after the Ming dynasty's forces were defeated by Emperor Lê Lợi.[25]
In 2008, there was a festival in Huế, where the Nam Giao ceremony[26] was performed again after being revived again for the first time in 2004. Traditional clothing was worn during the ceremony and highlighted the clothing worn during the Nguyễn dynasty (however, some of the clothing of the Nguyễn dynasty in this event are still inaccurate).
The áo dài is considered to be the traditional Vietnamese national garment. Besides suits and dresses nowadays, men and women can also wear áo dài on formal occasions. It is a long, split tunic worn over trousers. Áo translates as shirt and dài means "long". The outfit was derived from its predecessor, the áo ngũ thân, a five piece outfit that was worn in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The male version of áo dài or modified áo dài are also worn during weddings or formal occasions. The áo dài can be paired with the nón lá or the khăn vấn.
Khăn vấn or khăn đóng is a kind of turban traditionally worn by Vietnamese people. The word vấn means coil around. The word khăn means cloth, towel or scarf. It is typically worn with other outfits, most often the áo dài. The Nguyễn Lords introduced the predecessor to the áo dài, the áo ngũ thân. It was traditionally worn with a handwrapped turban. The members of the Đàng Trong court (southern court) were thus distinguished from the courtiers of the Trịnh Lords in Đàng Ngoài, who wore áo tràng vạt with long skirts and loose long hair. Hence, wrapping scarf around head became a unique custom in the south then. From 1830, Minh Mạng emperor force every civilian in the country to change their clothes, that custom became popular in the all of Vietnam.
Áo tứ thân is a traditional Vietnamese dress for women,[27][28][29] especially popular in the Northern region.[30][31][32] It is made from four pieces of cloth, two front panels and two back panels.[33] According to researchers, Áo tứ thân may have originated from the Lý dynasty.[34] Initially, Áo tứ thân was worn by both men and women, but gradually became the traditional dress of women.[35][36]
Áo tứ thân is a symbol of Vietnamese culture.[37][38] It is associated with the image of Vietnamese women who are gentle, graceful, and capable.[39] Today, Áo tứ thân is not as widely used as before.[40] However, Áo tứ thân is still loved by many people and worn on traditional festivals such as chầu văn festivals,[41] village festivals,[42] and Mid-Autumn festival[43][44][45],...
- Vietnam's most famous costume and considered the unofficial national dress with
, they are one of the famous symbols of
ensemble all wearing the áo tứ thân.
ensemble wearing traditional clothing.
Media related to Clothing of Vietnam at Wikimedia Commons
