Brown and blue silk, the easiest gift a man will ever choose for her.
Quiet, warm and wonderfully easy to get right.
If silk has always felt like a language you were never taught, begin here. Brown and blue is the pairing you already know from your own wardrobe, it belongs to no season, and it looks at home knotted at her collar or tied back as a silk head scarf. When you are unsure, this is the colorway that lets you choose with confidence.
A 26-inch square of mulberry silk at sixteen momme, printed by hand with a Ly and Tran Dynasty motif of mandarin ducks and lotus, every edge rolled by hand. She can tie it in two seconds, and it looks lovely from morning to night.
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. Nothing to wrap, and the gift notes follow further down.
Why brown and blue is the gentle choice
It suits the way she already dresses Brown is a warm neutral and blue a calm one, so together they sit easily beside almost anything she wears, with nothing to test and nothing to second-guess.
It belongs to no season Pastels speak of spring and jewel tones of winter; this reads all year, a comfort when you buy in March for a birthday in October.
It goes with what she already owns Most wardrobes rest on navy, black, camel, denim and white, and brown and blue settles in beside all five.
It speaks softly of the occasion Our softer colorways of this motif lean toward the bridal; this one carries the same drawing in a register that suits a birthday, a thank-you or an ordinary Tuesday.
For a wedding, an engagement or an anniversary, when the occasion should be felt at once, Green and Pink carries the same drawing and reads as bridal from across the room.
Same size, other colorways: Green and Pink · Brown and Pink
What she will notice in her hands
The fiber is the beginning: mulberry silk, a natural protein spun by the silkworm, with each cocoon unwound as one filament hundreds of yards long.
Then the two colors play. Against camel the blue comes forward, and against denim the brown does, so the same square takes on a new character with each outfit she pairs it with.
And it stays where she puts it. At sixteen momme it falls in one piece, and a knot holds through a commute, a meeting and a dinner with no fuss.
Three quiet comforts
01
A weight that holds There is body enough in the cloth for a knot to lock, so it rests exactly where she tied it all day.
02
One square, four accessories Hair, neck, bag and wrist, with no clasp or hardware and no size to get wrong, the detail that makes clothing so hard to give; our guide to which size to choose shows how this square compares.
03
A clear, warm brown A true brown is mixed from several colors, so it takes care to keep it warm and even across every panel, never drifting gray or orange beside the blue. Here it holds its depth from edge to edge.
Proof she can hold
In every box is a small cutting from the bolt her square came from, so the test can be made on that piece and the square stays untouched.
|
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.
Rather not hold a flame to anything? The silk is tested at the Textile Testing Center, part of the Vietnam Textile Research Institute. Outside lab, outside paperwork.
Add to bag and check it yourself →
What $97 brings her
A far cheaper square is usually polyester, a different cloth that may pass in a photograph; lift both and the difference in weight and drape is plain at once.
Every stage is handwork. The hem is rolled by hand, close to an hour of work, and each color in a drawing of birds, lotus and insects has its own screen and its own pass. The motif is studied from period architectural fragments and redrawn in our studio, and because we make every square in our own atelier in Hanoi and send it straight to you, it comes to $97.
What size silk scarf should I buy?
| 22 in → |
Wrist, bag handle, narrow twilly roll · $75 |
| 26 in |
Headband, ponytail, neck knot this one
|
| 36 in → |
Full head wrap, sleep wrap, all the 26 does · $153 |
| 44 in → |
Shoulder wrap, and the only size the whole composition fits on · $197 |
If you are buying this as a gift and you are not sure, take the 26. It is the only square that does hair and neck equally well, which means it is the one she is most likely to actually use rather than admire.
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?
Every motif we print carries its own meaning, and this short guide sorts them.
Buying for a couple An engagement, a wedding, an anniversary, a Valentine's: of our four motifs, this is the one made for love, and in this colorway it wears its meaning quietly. The mandarin duck stands for faithfulness and a lasting marriage, and our guide to the mandarin duck wedding gift tells the whole story.
Buying for a person, about who she is A mother, a new chapter, a recovery: Phoenix Dance brings the empress's bird, a symbol of rebirth and quiet strength.
Buying for an achievement A promotion, a milestone, a leader, a corporate gift: those are for our dragons. Dragon Dreams sets four large dragons at the corners, composed like a painting, and Dragon of Grace repeats one creature small in center symmetry, a surface of fine, even pattern.
“She will not know how to tie it”
She will, and quickly: nothing to pin, nothing to memorize, and each of these four comes together at the mirror in less than a minute.
The headband Fold it from corner to corner, roll it into a band and knot it at the nape, the tails tucked in.
The ponytail wrap Wind it twice around the elastic and knot it on top, letting the ends drift down.
The neck knot Fold it into a triangle, roll it, wrap once and set a loose knot off center; over a white shirt, it finishes the look.
The bag roll Roll it narrow and wind it up the handle to a small bow, where it waits on the days she leaves it off.
The illustrated guide in the box shows more than twenty ways, so neither of you needs to look anything up.
Giving it to her
Choose this colorway when you want the gift to be right and the occasion to stay gentle. It needs no size, it arrives boxed, and it comes with a story built in.
When someone admires it, she will not need to say who gave it; she can say: they are mandarin ducks, and in Vietnam they stand for a love that endures. That is a lovelier moment than the scarf alone.
For a wife or partner, on no occasion at all The loveliest version of all: a meaningful gift that arrives on an ordinary Wednesday, for no reason but her.
For a birthday, when you are unsure of her taste Brown and blue is a gentle, easy choice, with no size to find and no season to match.
For a couple married many years Our other colorways feel like a new marriage; this one speaks of a love that no longer needs to announce itself, fitting at twenty years.
When the occasion should be obvious For an engagement, a wedding or an early anniversary, this colorway may feel too quiet; Green and Pink carries the same drawing and says it clearly.
Why mandarin ducks sit on a roof
This is the detail she will love to repeat, because it explains why the motif exists at all.
Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, the roofs of palaces carried terracotta mandarin ducks set among the tiles, a pair keeping watch over the home beneath.
Why a duck on a palace? Mandarin ducks are known for pairing, and a pair above a home was a blessing, a wish for a marriage that endures and a household at peace. The lotus beneath them carries the other half of the meaning: in Vietnamese it is said to grow in mud and keep none of its smell, the image of keeping one's character when circumstances do not deserve it.
Our studio redraws every motif by hand from archive photographs of the excavated pieces, then cuts one screen for each color and prints panel by panel in Hanoi, a drawing that belongs to this house.
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.
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 |
Brown and Blue |
| Motif |
Uyen Uong Lien Ha · Lotus Serenade · Ly and Tran Dynasty |
| Source |
Mandarin duck ridge-tile figures, Thang Long and Hoa Lu |
| 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 brown and blue silk,
the gift you can choose with complete confidence.
Brown and blue mulberry silk at sixteen momme, printed through both faces, each 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
