Ca phe sua da, or iced coffee mixed with sweet condensed milk, will officially become the next Vietnamese specialty featured on Vietnam’s national costume at a Miss Universe Pageant.

The organizing board of Miss Universe Vietnam held a press meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday afternoon to reveal the national costume that Hoang Thuy, the first runner-up in Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 and Vietnam’s representative for Miss Universe 2019, will wear at the international beauty contest to be held this December in the United States.

The ca phe sua da dress, designed by Nguyen Tran Minh Duc, pays tribute to one of Vietnam’s most popular beverages – milk coffee.

The costume survived two rounds of voting and selection to earn a spot amongst the top three entries in a design contest that has been held annually to choose the national costume since 2016.

Hoang Thuy and a panel of judges were eventually won over by the ‘out-of-the-box’ and selected it as the official national costume for the upcoming international beauty pageant.

This is not the first time a Vietnamese food has been recreated as a national costume.

Last year, a creative banh mi outfit, featuring the famed Vietnamese bread, won the national costume design contest.

H’Hen Nie, Miss Universe Vietnam 2017, donned it at the Miss Universe 2018 contest held in Thailand, where she finished in the top five.

Speaking at Thursday afternoon’s press conference, Hoang Thuy said that she loves the ca phe sua da-inspired costume and hopes it will bring her luck at the upcoming competition in the States.

A majority of Miss Universe Vietnam contest’s fans, however, do not share her enthusiasm, with many agreeing that it lacks the elegance compared to the other two costumes that made it to the top three in the selection contest.

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