Miss Vietnam organizers apologize for beauty's see-through dress incident

Phuong Anh, 24, the first runner-up at the 2020 Miss Vietnam, wore a filmy yellow dress in which the lower part was transparent for the final of the 2022 Miss Vietnam on December 23 as she stepped on stage to give the first runner-up title to Trinh Thuy Linh.

Pham Ngoc Phuong Anh in yellow dress for the final of the 2022 Miss Vietnam on December 23. Photo by Kieng Can

After the event photos of Anh with her legs and hips fully visible under the dress were shared on social media and criticized by netizens.

On Sunday the organizers said in a press release: "It’s very unfortunate that an incident happened to the outfit of runner-up Pham Ngoc Phuong Anh. The dress when seen from certain angles created an unflattering image on stage. The organizers of the 2022 Miss Vietnam apologize to the audience and fans for not having anticipated and being unable to prevent the incident beforehand."

Phuong Anh said she felt "ashamed" after seeing her photos on stage. She apologized to viewers and said she has learned a lesson in selecting outfits.

Pham Kim Dung, the deputy head of the organizing committee, claimed that normally outfits worn on stage are carefully considered before the event, but during the rehearsal, this time not all the lights were turned on, and so the organizers did not realize the problem with Phuong Anh’s dress. She hopes the public would put the incident behind it.

"This outfit is not appropriate even for a beauty contest," a Facebook user, Hoai Nam, commented. "It does not look good on television. She should be more careful the next time."

But there were also some defending Phuong Anh saying people were being too hard on her.

"She wore a bodysuit underneath, not underwear, and so I do not see anything inappropriate here another Facebook user, Minh Ngoc, said. "People are overreacting. I think the organizers are also to blame for this incident. They have a team for monitoring the outfits and still let this happen."

In August, the organizers of Miss Universe Vietnam were fined VND70 million ($2,960) for allowing a judge to walk the red carpet in a see-through ao dai.