Black and orange silk, a lotus in bloom across her shoulders.
The layer that lives in her bag and looks like a choice.
She keeps it folded in her bag all day, and at dinner it comes out: a silk shawl of black and orange opened across her shoulders, the lotus blooming in the candlelight. On the plane it is a soft layer, at the office a finishing touch, and in the evening it becomes the outfit.
A meter of mulberry silk in black and orange, printed by hand in Hanoi with a lotus drawn from the stonework of the imperial citadel, at sixteen momme with 440 centimeters of hand-rolled hem. It folds to the size of a paperback and comes out of the bag ready to wear.
16 Momme
5A Grade
2 Sides printed
We pay the import duty, not you.
Nothing owed on arrival, nothing added at checkout, and at this size shipping is already free. Sent from Hanoi, most US orders land in 9 to 15 business days.
A gift in mind? Two things before you read any further: it ships from Hanoi, so allow 9 to 15 business days to a US address, and it arrives gift boxed with your note written by hand and no price anywhere in the parcel. There is no size to guess, and our guide to which size to choose shows how each square wears.
Where it goes with her
At the office Thrown once over the shoulders, it stays put all day and looks like part of the outfit.
On a plane It takes almost no room in the bag, and it makes a long flight feel more gracious than any airline blanket.
Over a pillow, overnight A meter of silk, laid flat, covers a standard pillow with enough to tuck under, and no knot is needed.
Over black, in the evening Orange against black is a confident pairing, and at this size the lotus carries the room.
Black and orange is the boldest of the three colorways, made to be noticed; for a wrap that settles quietly into an outfit, Dark Red is warmer and softer.
Same size, other colorways: Dark Red · Pink and Green
The layer that travels light
A meter of sixteen momme silk folds to about the size of a paperback and weighs almost nothing, so it can stay in the bag and be there whenever the evening calls for it.
Three details made by hand
Each one shows once the silk is around her shoulders.
01
Sixteen momme at 44 inches A meter of silk needs weight to fall well, and sixteen momme gives it a soft, steady drape that stays where it was thrown.
02
Four hundred and forty centimeters of hand-rolled hem Every one of the 440 centimeters of edge around this 44-inch square is turned by hand and stitched into a soft, rounded cord, the longest run of hemming we do.
03
A deep black ground, on both faces The orange lotus is laid over a deep black ground, and both faces carry the same ink, so the reverse is as finished as the front at every fold.
A cutting of the silk, for you
Beneath the tissue is a cutting from the bolt your square was cut from, so you can test the silk at home while the square stays untouched.
|
Mulberry silk |
Polyester |
| Held to a flame |
Burns |
Melts |
| The smell |
Like burning hair |
Acrid, like plastic |
| What is left |
Soft ash that crushes between your fingers |
Hard bead, sticks |
If you try it: over a sink, clear of anything that can catch, not with children in the room. A corner is enough. It is a home check, not lab proof.
The silk is tested at the Textile Testing Center, part of the Vietnam Textile Research Institute, an independent body, not our own lab.
Add to bag and check it yourself →
The craft behind $197
This is nearly four times the area of the 26-inch, with 440 centimeters of hand-rolled hem against 260. Both faces are printed, so the whole meter goes under the screens twice, screen by screen and one color at a time.
Set beside the office cardigan, the pashmina in the carry-on and the evening wrap, this one square of silk does the work of all three. Carried three times a week for five years, it comes to about twenty-five cents a wear.
What size silk scarf should I buy?
| 22 in → |
Ponytail, wrist, bag handle · $75 |
| 26 in → |
Headband, ponytail, neck knot · $97 |
| 36 in → |
Full head wrap, sleep wrap · $153 |
| 44 in |
Shoulder wrap, everyday layer, pillow cover this one
|
If the reason you are here is a layer rather than a scarf, this is the size and nothing smaller will do it. A 36 covers a head; only a 44 sits across two shoulders. It is also the only size that carries the composition entire - everything smaller is a cut from the same drawing.
Getting it there in time
If there is a date attached to this, it is worth reading before you order.
Nine to fifteen business days to a US address, counted from the day it leaves Hanoi.
For Christmas delivery in the US, we recommend ordering by November 27.
Ship it straight to her. Sending it to yourself first and forwarding it adds a week you do not need to spend. We write your note by hand and there is no price anywhere in the parcel.
If the date is fixed, write to us at Folkformint@gmail.com before you order.
Which motif should I be looking at?
Our motifs speak to different moments, and this brief map may help:
Buying for someone who carried a hard season with grace A teacher, a retirement, a long recovery belong to the lotus, the flower that rises from the mud untouched by it.
Buying for a person, about who they are For a mother, a new chapter or a fresh start, Phoenix Dance carries the empress's bird, carved in temples as a sign of peace and prosperity.
Buying for an achievement To mark a promotion, a milestone or a corporate gift, look to the dragon, drawn two ways: Dragon Dreams, large dragons at the corners reading as a picture, and Dragon of Grace, the same animal repeated small in center symmetry.
Buying for a couple For a wedding, an engagement or an anniversary, Lotus Serenade sets two mandarin ducks beneath one flower, the reading made for marriage.
In short: the dragon for what someone achieved, the phoenix for who she is, the lotus for how she carried it, the ducks for two.
“Where would I actually wear something this big?”
Over the shoulders, indoors Thrown once with the ends left long, at the office, on a plane, at a restaurant or the cinema, it is the everyday way to wear the full size.
Folded to a triangle, by day Folded corner to corner and thrown once around the neck with the ends hanging, it reads as generous, deliberate volume.
Belted as a light layer It lies over the shoulders, belted at the waist, and after a little practice it behaves like a garment.
Across a pillow It lies flat across a pillow with no tying and no bonnet.
The illustrated guide in the box has more than twenty ways, most of them for exactly this size.
Buying this as a gift?
It is a gift to buy before the occasion arrives: boxed and ready, it can wait in a drawer for the moment it is needed.
And when someone admires it, she can tell them: a lotus from the old imperial citadel in Hanoi, the flower that keeps its character whatever the mud around it.
For someone who travels for work It lives in her bag between trips, ready for the plane, the hotel lobby and the dinner she did not pack for.
For a teacher, or someone retiring The lotus tells her you noticed what those years asked of her, and it says so without a speech.
For a wife or partner, for no occasion at all On an ordinary Wednesday, a gift with real meaning is remembered long after the birthday ones.
If the gift is for a couple, or for quieter color Two people call for Lotus Serenade, where two ducks share a single flower; a quieter wardrobe calls for Dark Red, warmer and softer than black and orange.
The lotus of the imperial citadel
In Hanoi the lotus was more than a symbol; it was part of the palace itself.
At Hoang Thanh Thang Long, the imperial citadel begun in 1010, the lotus was carved into the stone column bases, its petals opening beneath the pillars of the palace.
Across the eleventh to fifteenth centuries it bloomed everywhere at court: in the ponds within the citadel walls, in sculpture, and on celadon and blue-glazed ceramics.
Behind it lies a Vietnamese saying: the lotus grows near the mud yet keeps none of its smell. It has long stood for keeping your character in hard circumstances, a quiet and lasting kind of strength.
Our studio redrew the lotus by hand from archive photographs of the carved pieces and separated the drawing into screens, and each color is printed by hand in Hanoi, one screen and one pass at a time, panel by panel. Our journal explains what the Imperial Lotus motif means.
The box, the care, and the returns
In the box A rigid gift box and matching bag · the square folded in tissue · a story card naming the motif and its dynasty · an illustrated styling guide · a care card · the silk cutting. Nothing left for you to wrap. Sending it straight to her? We write your note by hand and keep the price out of the parcel.
Washing Silk sheds dust on its own, so every three to five wears is plenty, and a deep ground goes about twice as long as a pale one. Cold water, shampoo or body wash rather than laundry detergent. Squeeze, never wring - and with a meter of cloth, lift it out supported rather than letting the weight of the water pull on one corner. Dry flat in shade, never in sun. Iron on the lowest silk setting while still faintly damp.
Returns Thirty days from delivery, unused and unwashed, in the original box. If the fault is ours, a flaw in the silk, a print error, a seam that failed, postage goes both ways on us and you get a replacement or a full refund. Changed your mind? Thirty days, return postage yours, and if you take store credit instead of a refund we add fifteen percent. One condition: it comes back unused, unwashed and unworn, in its original box.
Specifications
| Material |
100% Grade 5A mulberry silk |
| Color |
Black and Orange |
| Motif |
Co Do Lien Hoa · Imperial Lotus · Ly and Tran Dynasty |
| Source |
Lotus in Thang Long palace architecture, 11th to 15th century |
| Weight |
16 momme |
| Size |
44 × 44 in · 110 × 110 cm |
| Print |
Hand screen-printed, double-sided |
| Edges |
Hand-rolled, hand-stitched · 440 cm |
| Testing |
Textile Testing Center, Vietnam Textile Research Institute |
| Made in |
Hanoi, Vietnam |
Black and orange silk, with a lotus that opens across her shoulders.
Folded in the bag by day, the outfit by night.
Sixteen momme, printed through both faces, 440 centimeters of hem rolled by hand in Hanoi. It arrives gift boxed - or plain, if you ask.
Add to bag · $197
Free US shipping on orders $90+ No customs fees 30-day returns
