History of Vietnamese wooden clogs through the ages

In the past, in the hot and humid climate, along with the habit of growing wet rice of the Vietnamese people, and being good at using boats, the Vietnamese people often went barefoot. At the end of the 10th century, King Le Dai Hanh sometimes went shirtless, wore a loincloth, and went barefoot. During the Tran Dynasty, people all went barefoot, the skin on their feet was very thick, making them very agile when climbing mountains and not afraid of thorns. Only the nobles wore leather shoes, but when they went to the palace, they had to take them off. In general, the ancient Vietnamese people rarely used clogs.

Most rural people go barefoot, except when they take a bath in the evening and put on clogs to clean their feet before going to bed, or they have a pair of “good luck” shoes to save for long trips or parties.

1. 3rd Century

• Bà Triệu: Ivory clogs “When going to the mountains, Trieu Au often wore a type of clogs called kim de kich” (Book of Giao Chau Ky).

• Văn Lang: Cao Bang stone clogs

“The Stone Clogs” is the story of Lord Luc Van Thang participating in a competition with other lords to win the throne by making clogs from stones. Today, the “stone clogs” still exist in Na Va hamlet, Be Trieu commune (Hoa An) as a testament to the longevity of the legend “Cau chua cheng vua” (Nine lords compete for the throne).

2. Early Le Dynasty (980-1009)

• Bamboo clogs/ wooden clogs, curved toe, straight woven straps

In the countryside in the old days, on cold winter days, when women went to festivals and ceremonies, they often wore clogs made from bamboo. Clogs worn indoors were carved from wood, with curved tips to protect the toes, and had vertical straps woven from rattan instead of horizontal leather straps like clogs in modern times.

Officials had to wear wooden clogs to enter the palace.

3. Before 1910

• Guốc Vông

(Simulation of “vong” clogs from artisan AmReborn) 

In the South, there were “vong” clogs, made from the trunk of the vong tree, mostly homemade for use, both thick and rough, each side had a rectangular hole.

To attach the strap, people inserted a wedge of wood on each side, if they walked for a long time or tripped, the wedge would loosen or fall off, they would stop and sit down to tap, pat, and insert it again to make it firm. The strap of the clogs at that time was simple, anything could be used as a strap if it was sturdy and flexible, including dry coconut shells, which were most often used as straps (according to author Vuong Dang).

4. 1910-1920: Saigon clogs

• Guốc Saigon (Painted clogs)

This is a type of clog with one strap, nailed at both ends, across the five toes, which was spread starting from Saigon (so it is called “Saigon clogs”) throughout the South and throughout Vietnam. He said that at first, these clogs were not painted; then painted black or dark brown (probably using lacquer) so they were called “painted clogs” to distinguish them from “unpainted clogs” (according to author Vuong Dang).

• Guốc ngù

Originated from a type of Indian clog called Padukas. It has a wooden lining under the foot carved with beautiful flowers and leaves. Indians not only used ivory clogs, but also iron, silver, and wood. From India, the Padukas were carried by ships from the Indian Ocean, through the Strait of Malacca to Malaysia and Indonesia, which had a large Chinese population. From there, the Chinese brought them to Saigon, possibly from the Ba Ba (Malaysians of Chinese origin) for their wives and children to wear, gradually spreading to wealthy Vietnamese women, cai luong artists… This type of Padukas has no strap, only a piece of ivory, bone, or wood (called a “ngu”) wedged on the front of the clog to clamp the big toe and index toe when you want to walk. This clog is valuable because of the “ngu”, but later because of the ivory “ngu”, this type of clog quickly faded away. The story goes that when the price was too high, reaching 20 dong, the husbands felt miserable because their wives wanted to buy not just one pair but several pairs to wear depending on their work, so they conspired to ask a journalist to write a story to scare the women. The newspaper that published the story was Luc Tinh Tan Van, the writer was Mr. Tran Van Chim, the plotter was Mr. Tran Trieu Vinh, who worked at Gieng Nuoc police station. The article asserted that if women wore ivory clogs, they would have uterine pain, because ivory contained poison, and every day the skin rubbed against the poison would seep into the body and cause illness. The news spread quickly, from word of mouth to word, and the women were afraid and stayed away from ivory clogs. The Chinese lost a big profit, but the men were overjoyed. However, the women were freed from expensive clogs but were inconvenient because they could not walk quickly, were not steady, and quickly tired their toes because they had to exert effort to keep them from slipping off.

5. 1930-1945

• Guốc Phù Lưu

“Very beautiful and elegant, it is Phu Luu clogs”

The shop’s introduction focuses on the wearer’s comfort: “The clogs are both polite and scientifically calculated, not harmful to hygiene. The feet can walk naturally without leaning in or leaning, and can be plump according to health”

• Guốc Phú Yên

This type of clog is higher than the clogs produced for sale, the toe is slightly curved up, in front of the toe there is a hole punched from top to bottom, in the back there is a horizontal hole. The clog strap is a string, can be made of soft, comfortable fabric to avoid foot pain. The clog is threaded through the horizontal hole, brought forward and then brought down to the hole below, similar to the strap of Japanese sandals today. The curved part prevents the strap from touching the ground to avoid wearing out quickly and breaking quickly.

Clogs for women are slightly waisted in the middle, while clogs for men are not waisted so they are called boat clogs.

Clogs produced in Phu Yen are not painted, keeping the original white color of the wood, usually the ink tree.

• Guốc Huế, guốc Kinh (guốc dòn)

Clogs produced in the capital Hue are called Kinh Clogs. These are clogs made from coconut or light wood, painted white, with embroidered tips and glitter

Hue clogs are painted either in one color or in two colors (usually black and brown), usually on the sole of the foot is a light-colored triangle.

In the past, only wealthy people wore painted clogs, some places called them crispy clogs, so people said “Chần giay chân chân crisp” to refer to rich and classy people

• Guốc Phi mã

For a long time, I searched for a needle in a haystack

The Phi Ma shoe style has now been found

In Hanoi at the same time, Phuc My shop in Quan Thanh launched a type of Phi Ma clog with a very high heel, carved by machine. It was introduced as: “wearing Phi Ma, your legs will be longer, the back of your belly will be more prominent, very elegant” but this type “does not expand much” “maybe because the girls have sprained ankles”.

6. 1950-1960

• Guốc Yên Xá – Hà Nội

The place was once considered the “capital of wooden clogs”

Wooden clogs were produced in Do Dong village (ie Yen Xa, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi), in Ke Giay (Lien Trung commune, Dan Phuong district, Ha Tay province) at house number 12 Hang Ga, now moved to Bach Mai street in Hanoi to be painted, varnished and then sold.

The most prosperous period of the craft village was from 1980 to 1985 with 5cm and 7cm clogs. The products made by the village in the past often had an elephant-shaped seal stamped on the clogs.

• Guốc Sài Gòn

In Saigon, women still wore clogs, many with flowers painted on the inside of the clogs and straps made of clear, slightly yellowish white plastic. At that time, the clacking sound of clogs was no longer heard because clogs were lined with rubber soles for comfort and durability. In the mid-1960s, women had many choices for their feet. They liked to wear beaded slippers with ao dai, followed by the trend of pointed-toe high-heeled clogs, a variation of Vietnamese clogs but originating from the West.

7. After 1975

There are still people wearing wooden clogs with clear plastic straps, painted white and shiny with oil. This woman is about forty years old, has three children, and is the daughter-in-law of a wealthy family who owns land in the Phu Nhuan Railway Station market. Her figure is still well-proportioned, with white skin. She often wears a short-sleeved shirt and black American A silk pants. On her feet are white clogs that hug her slender white legs with a pink heel, standing out under the shiny black color of the pants. That is a very beautiful image of clogs on the feet of Vietnamese women, making me wonder at that time why are clogs so beautiful that fewer and fewer people wear them?

8. AmReborn Reborn Wooden Clogs

After a long period of oblivion, it was thought that Vietnamese wooden clogs would gradually fade into the past, but in 2020 when the Covid epidemic hit, life was stagnant, then a young girl named Lily Hoang appeared, bringing a new breeze to Vietnamese wooden clogs with the project AmReborn – I am reborn, with the desire to revive wooden clogs – the beauty in the cultural baggage of the Vietnamese people.

What is special about AmReborn wooden clogs?

“The clogs we sell are made by Annamese craftsmen with wood from Annam soil, Langsa nails, Langsa oil and paint, and we do not use anything from China. We think that although it is a humble profession, we can use them for Annamese people, so they do not have to use clogs from foreign countries” (Excerpt from an advertisement of a “cloak-making shop” of a group of brothers in Saigon in the Luc Tinh Tan Van newspaper published in September 1919) (2)

AmReborn not only inherits the characteristics of ancient Annamese wooden clogs, especially Yen Xa wooden clogs, but also promotes that beauty to make wooden clogs more suitable for the new era with the following distinct characteristics:

• About the shoe mold:

– Lighter, smoother, less clacking: AmReborn recycled wooden clogs overcome the weaknesses of being heavy, noisy, and somewhat primitive of old wooden clogs by applying new techniques and technologies to make the clog mold lighter, the sole of the clog is lined with an extra layer of super durable, anti-slip rubber, reducing the clacking noise of the clogs.

– Higher aesthetics: Recycled wooden clogs also help the clog molds have higher aesthetic value when bringing rich Vietnamese cultural motifs according to themes onto the clog molds through hand-painted art.

• About the clog strap:

– More aesthetic: AmReborn recycled wooden clogs fully promote inherent skills and experience in making handmade products such as: hand painting, hand embroidery, hand embellishment… to create unique patterns or synchronize with the patterns on the clog mold to put on the clog strap to create a perfect work of art.

– More flexible: With creative thinking and always focusing on the user, AmReborn recycled wooden clogs also create new clog straps with high flexibility, when customers ordering online from a distance can easily adjust the clog straps to best fit their feet.

– In sync with fashion: To make wooden clogs easily recognized, loved and used by modern users, AmReborn wooden clogs are always designed based on AmeReborn co-branded fashion designs, so that the clogs become suggestions and the most suitable accessories when worn with fashion designs.

– Experience space: AmReborn wooden clogs are located in the AmCàkê experience space – Regenerating the quintessence of the North – a place that will help foreign tourists find their way to the indigenous Vietnamese culture when traveling in Vietnam; women will be nostalgic about their childhood and youth wearing wooden clogs; young people and children will experience the ancient culture of their grandmothers and mothers, thereby loving and giving rise to the desire to preserve the culture of wooden clogs through workshops on making, painting, and embroidering wooden clogs…