An ‘out-of-the-box’ idea to recreate banh mi, the famed Vietnamese bread, as a dress has won a contest to officially become the national costume of Vietnam to be donned at the upcoming Miss Universe 2018.

The organizing board of Miss Universe Vietnam held a press meeting and gala dinner in Ho Chi Minh City to announce the national costume at the upcoming Miss Universe 2018 contest to be held in Thailand on Wednesday night.

The “banh mi” dress, designed by Pham Phuoc Dien, casts the wearer as a banh mi vendor carrying a tray of bread around her waist.

The costume will be donned by H’Hen Nie, Miss Universe Vietnam 2017, at the international beauty contest in mid-December.

To come to this decision, the costume design contest organizers had to resort to public votes for the six final designs narrowed down from a pool of submissions by fashion designers in a competition held annually since 2016.  

This is the first time a Vietnamese food has been recreated as a national costume.

Miss H’Hen Nie dons the “banh mi” costume at the press meeting on November 21, 2018.

The “banh mi” design caught the eyes of the public right from the moment submissions were publicized.

Many have showered the banh mi-inspired ensemble with praise, while others have complained that it looks “odd."

Still, the public was stunned to see the ‘new version’ of the costume when H’Hen Nie introduced it at the Wednesday night event, according to news site Zing.vn.

The dress was given a complete overhaul, redesigned as a more refined version of the original idea tailored to fit with the 26-year-old beauty while allowing its homage to Vietnamese culture to shine through.

Miss H’Hen Nie and an organizing representative board introduce the national gift at the press meeting on November 21, 2018.

In addition to the announcement of the national costume, Wednesday’s press meeting also unveiled the national gift – a painting of a Lac Bird and a bronze drum, gold plated and engraved with pearls – that H’Hen Nie will bring to Miss Universe 2018.

Lac is Vietnam’s legendary symbol while the bronze drum is a symbol of ancient Vietnamese civilization.

Speaking at the event, H’Hen Nie said that she has been busy preparing herself for the Miss Universe 2018 competition.

She is scheduled to depart for Thailand on November 29. The finale of Miss Universe 2018 will take place at 7:00 am on December 17.

Miss H’Hen Nie dons the “banh mi” costume at the press meeting on November 21, 2018.

Miss H’Hen Nie dons the “banh mi” costume at the press meeting on November 21, 2018.

Miss H’Hen Nie dons the “banh mi” costume at the press meeting on November 21, 2018.

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