The holder of the Miss Ocean Vietnam 2014 title donned her extravagant ocean-themed ao dai (traditional Vietnamese long gown) worth over US$200,000 in the National Costumes round of the ongoing Miss International Beauty Pageant 2014 in Japan on Tuesday.

Dang Thu Thao, 19, looked dazzling in her ao dai known as “Bau Vat Cua Dai Duong” (Ocean Treasures) during her performance last night at the beauty contest, which is one of the world’s four largest.

According to famed Vietnamese designer Vo Viet Chung, who created Thao’s ao dai, the elaborate costume conveys a message about the conservation of seas and oceans, which have been damaged by alarming pollution. The costume, which is mostly pearly white, is accompanied by a light outfit made from pearls, manmade diamonds, and Swarovski crystals.

The lace patterns on the body of the costume are intricately shaped as corals, while the traditional headdress boasts two cascading, wavy bands of silk.

The sophisticated costume was hand-crafted by 15 people over a period of 2,000 hours.

The costume, headdress and pair of pearl earrings cost nearly VND5 billion (US$235,338).

Thao became Vietnam’s representative at the pageant under the consent of the Vietnamese Performing Arts Department and Elite – a model training company which sends Vietnamese contestants to the pageant.

The beauty, who hails from the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, is 1.71m tall and boasts body measurements of 91-63-90.

She was crowned Miss Ocean Vietnam 2014 at the finale held in the south-central province of Binh Thuan in late May.

The Miss International Beauty Pageant 2014, in its 54th edition, kicked off in Tokyo on October 27 and will wrap up next Tuesday.

In the picture box at the top of this story, Tuoi Tre News offers photos of the stunning national costumes donned by the contestants from other countries during last night’s show.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!