For centuries, peasant women typically wore a halter top (yếm) underneath a blouse or overcoat, alongside a skirt (váy).[5] Influenced by the fashions of China's imperial court, aristocrats favored less revealing clothes.[6] In 1744, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát of Huế decreed that both men and women at his court wear trousers and a gown with buttons down the front.[3][nb 2] Writer Lê Quý Đôn described the newfangled outfit as an áo dài (long garment).[nb 3] The members of the southern court were thus distinguished from the courtiers of the Trịnh Lords in Hanoi, who wore cross-collared tunics and long skirts.[7]