Pink and green silk, the softest way to wear a lotus.
Two gentle colors in one quiet harmony.
Blush pink and pale celadon green share this square in a gentle balance, like petals and leaves on a still pond. Knotted at the collar or tied back as a silk head scarf, it reads as soft and considered, and the two colors keep each other company in every fold.
It is the kindest of our three colorways to give when you are still learning someone's taste, calm enough for every day and lovely beside almost anything she owns.
Mulberry silk at sixteen momme in a 26-inch square, the lotus redrawn from stonework of the imperial citadel in Hanoi and printed by hand, each edge rolled by hand.
16 Momme
5A Grade
2 Sides printed
We pay the import duty, not you.
Nothing owed on arrival, nothing added at checkout. Shipping is $20, free from $90. Sent from Hanoi, most US orders land in 9 to 15 business days.
Buying this for someone else? 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. This size and colorway are a graceful choice when you are still learning her taste.
Four ways into her day
The neck knot, over a plain shirt Fold it to a triangle, roll it, wrap once and slide a loose knot off center, the fold that sets both colors close to the face.
The headband A corner-to-corner fold rolled into a soft band and knotted at the nape: half a minute, and her hair is swept back beautifully.
The ponytail wrap Wind it twice around the elastic, knot it on top and let the pink and green ends fall together.
The bag handle Roll it narrow and wind it up the handle to a small bow, where it rests between wearings and never disappears into a drawer.
Pastels feel considered more than celebratory, so when the day itself is the occasion, Dark Red carries the same drawing with more ceremony, and Black and Orange is the one for evening.
Same size, other colorways: Dark Red · Black and Orange
What the eye and hand discover
The fiber comes from the silkworm: mulberry silk is a natural protein, each cocoon wound from one continuous thread that runs for hundreds of yards.
The two colors sit at almost the same lightness, so neither overtakes the other as the light changes; by a window and at a dinner table, the square keeps its quiet balance.
And it stays where she places it. At sixteen momme the silk falls in one piece, and a knot rides through a commute, a meeting and a dinner without needing her hand.
Three gentle luxuries
01
Weight for an easy knot Its weight keeps a knot in place, so it can sit loosely and still stay put.
02
One square, four accessories Neck, hair, bag and wrist, with no clasp or hardware, and at home with every outfit she owns.
03
Both colors at full strength On a two-color ground, both colors must be laid down with equal care, or the softer one slips out of sight at arm's length. Here the pink and the green each go down at full strength, one screen and one pass apiece, so the square reads as both colors from across the room.
A proof of your own
Each box brings a cutting from the bolt your square was cut from, so the test is made on that small piece and the square stays as it came.
|
Mulberry silk |
Polyester |
| Held to a flame |
Burns |
Melts |
| The smell |
Singed hair |
Acrid, like plastic |
| What is left |
Soft ash, 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 heart of $97
A far cheaper square is usually polyester, a different cloth that may pass in a photograph, and she will feel the difference the moment she lifts it.
Every part is handwork. The hand-rolled hem takes close to an hour across the 260 centimeters of this square, and two colors at full strength send the cloth through the press twice as often as a single ground, then twice again for the second face. The motif is studied from period architectural fragments and redrawn in our studio, and because we make each square in our own atelier in Hanoi and send it straight to you, it costs $97.
What size silk scarf should I buy?
| 22 in → |
Ponytail, wrist, bag handle · $75 |
| 26 in |
Headband, ponytail, neck knot this one
|
| 36 in → |
Full head wrap, sleep wrap · $153 |
| 44 in → |
Shoulder wrap, everyday layer, pillow cover · $197 |
The honest split by what you want it for: hair off the face and a neck knot, this one. Hair covered completely and slept in, the 36. A layer over the shoulders or across a pillow, the 44. Pink and green is printed in all four sizes.
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?
Each motif holds its own meaning, and a short map will lead you to hers.
Buying for someone who stayed gracious through a hard season A teacher, a retirement, a long recovery, a woman who kept her character when circumstances did not deserve it: this is the motif, for the Vietnamese say the lotus grows in mud and carries none of its smell.
Buying for a person, about who she is For a mother or a woman stepping into a new chapter, Phoenix Dance brings the empress's bird in soft pastels, a symbol of renewal.
Buying for an achievement A promotion, a milestone or a corporate gift calls for a dragon, and we draw two: Dragon Dreams, large dragons at the corners like a single picture, and Dragon of Grace, one creature repeated small in center symmetry.
Buying for a couple When the gift celebrates two people, Lotus Serenade is the one: two mandarin ducks resting side by side under the same lotus.
“I love these, but I would never know how to tie one”
None of these needs skill or practice, and with no pins or rings to manage, each comes together at a mirror in under a minute.
The neck knot A triangle, rolled and wrapped once, knotted loosely to one side; over a white shirt it completes the look.
The headband Fold it on the diagonal, roll it into a band and knot it at the nape, the tails tucked out of sight.
The ponytail wrap Wind it round the elastic two times and knot it on top.
The bag roll Roll it narrow and spiral it up the handle to a small bow.
The illustrated guide in her box draws more than twenty further ways to tie it.
Giving pink and green
This is a lovely square to give when her taste is still a mystery to you: soft, calm and easy to welcome into any wardrobe.
She will have a story to tell, too. When someone admires it, she can say: it is a lotus from the old citadel in Hanoi, the flower that rises from the mud untouched.
For a teacher, or someone retiring The meaning is specific, and it is why this motif is the right choice: a quiet thank-you for all that their years of patience asked, no speech required.
For a mother, no occasion at all A gift with meaning, given on an ordinary Wednesday, touches her more deeply than the same gift on a day she expected something.
For someone who has never worn a scarf No skill and no size to guess, and at 26 inches it moves easily between hair and neck; our guide to which size to choose shows where she might go next.
When another square suits better For a couple, Lotus Serenade brings two ducks beneath the same flower as the marriage motif; and when the gift should feel like an event, Dark Red carries the celebration.
The lotus, carved into the palace
The lotus is a symbol everywhere, and in Hanoi it also held up the palace.
Excavations at Hoang Thanh Thang Long, the imperial citadel begun in 1010, uncovered stone column bases carved with lotus petals, the bases that carried the palace roof.
The flower appears throughout that eleventh to fifteenth century layer as well, in the ponds inside the citadel walls, in sculpture, and glazed onto the court's ceramics, from pale green celadon to blue-glazed ware.
In Vietnam the lotus is said to rise from the mud with none of its smell, the old image of a person who keeps her character when circumstances do not deserve it.
Our studio redraws the motif by hand from archive photographs of the excavated pieces and cuts a screen for each color, printing panel by panel in Hanoi, and our guide to what the Imperial Lotus motif means tells its full story.
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 Easier than people fear, and less often. Silk sheds dust on its own, so every three to five wears is plenty. Cold water, shampoo or body wash rather than laundry detergent. Squeeze, never wring. Dry in shade, never in sun, and keep it away from perfume sprayed after it is on. Iron on the lowest silk setting while still faintly damp. One note specific to a pale ground: it shows the mark hair oil leaves sooner than a dark one, so worn in hair it wants washing more often than one worn at the neck.
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 |
Pink and Green |
| 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 |
26 × 26 in · 65 × 65 cm |
| Print |
Hand screen-printed, double-sided |
| Edges |
Hand-rolled, hand-stitched · 260 cm |
| Testing |
Textile Testing Center, Vietnam Textile Research Institute |
| Made in |
Hanoi, Vietnam |
One square of pink and green silk,
as calm as a lotus pond at dawn.
Pink and green mulberry silk at sixteen momme, both faces printed, the edge rolled by hand in Hanoi. It arrives gift boxed with a cutting you are welcome to set on fire.
Add to bag · $97
Free US shipping from $90 No customs fees 30-day returns
