A green and pink silk bandana for the newly engaged.
Too soon for the wedding gift, too lovely a moment to let pass.
Someone you love has said yes, and the wedding is more than a year away. A formal present feels early and a card feels thin; what fits is something small, personal and clearly about the two of them. This silk square, with two mandarin ducks beneath a lotus, is exactly that, and its fresh green and blush pink look as light as spring.
Sixteen momme of mulberry silk in a 22-inch square, green and pink, printed by hand with mandarin ducks and lotus drawn from the Ly and Tran Dynasty.
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. Styling notes open the page, and the gift notes follow.
Where green and pink look loveliest
The wrist Wrapped twice and knotted between a watch and a sleeve, two soft colors that read as a detail she chose.
The ponytail Wind it twice around the elastic, knot it on top and let the ends fall, and a plain ponytail is dressed for the day in half a minute.
The bag handle Roll it narrow and wind it up the handle to a small bow; against tan or black leather the pink carries across the room and the green keeps it from turning sweet.
The small neck knot A triangle rolled thin and knotted close at the throat; over a white shirt it is all the outfit needs.
Two gentle notes. Two ducks beneath a lotus speak of a pair, so for a woman whose gift is about herself, Phoenix Dance is the lovelier choice at the same size. And every square below 44 inches holds a passage of one drawing; for someone who will want the whole picture, begin at 26 inches.
Same size, other colorways: Brown and Blue · Brown and Pink
Close enough to admire
The fiber is mulberry silk, a natural protein made by the silkworm, each cocoon wound from a single filament that runs for hundreds of yards.
For all its size, the square has surprising substance, and at sixteen momme a bow on a bag handle keeps its shape from departure to arrival.
This is also the size seen closest: on a wrist it sits about two feet from a friend across the table, where the hand-rolled hem, the edge of the print and the meeting of the two faces at a fold are all in view.
Three small pleasures
01
A bow that stays Heavier silk lets a knot settle and lock, so the square rests where she tied it through the whole day.
02
One small square, four uses Wrist, bag, ponytail or a small neck knot, with no clasp or hardware and room in every outfit.
03
Both colors in one glance A 22-inch square is seen whole, in a single glance, so the two colors must sit in perfect balance, and at this size we print them with special care.
Proof in the box
Every box carries a small cutting from the bolt this square came from, so the test is made on that piece and the square is kept whole.
|
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 →
The craft in a small square
A small square keeps all the handwork of a large one, with its whole edge rolled and stitched by hand, close to an hour of patient finishing.
Both faces are printed, sending the cloth through the press twice, and the motif, redrawn from period architectural fragments, costs as much to draw for a 22-inch square as for a 44. We make each square in our own atelier in Hanoi and send it straight to you, which keeps it at $75.
What size silk scarf should I buy?
| 22 in |
Wrist, bag handle, narrow twilly roll this one
|
| 26 in → |
Headband, ponytail, neck knot · $97 |
| 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 |
A rough guide when this is a gift: the 22 is for the engagement or a shower, the 26 is a warm gift from a friend, the 36 is the one she will use most, and the 44 reads as family. They are the same drawing at four different weights of meaning.
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 we print holds a different wish, and this brief map shows the way.
Buying for a couple An engagement, a wedding, an anniversary, a Valentine's: this motif was made for them, the mandarin duck a sign of faithfulness and a love that lasts. Our guide to the mandarin duck wedding gift tells the story behind it.
Buying for a person, about who she is For a mother, a fresh start or a recovery, Phoenix Dance brings the phoenix, a wish for rebirth in soft pastel green.
Buying for an achievement A promotion, a milestone, a leader, a corporate gift: those call for a dragon, either Dragon Dreams, four large dragons at the corners like a painting, or Dragon of Grace, one creature repeated small in center symmetry, the one that stays lovely when rolled at this size.
What do you actually do with a 22-inch square?
Twenty-two inches covers the wrist, the bag, the ponytail and a small knot at the throat, though a full head wrap asks for more cloth, and none of it takes a pin or a lesson. Our guide to which size to choose sets it beside the larger squares.
The wrist Wrapped twice and knotted, with a bracelet or on its own; pink looks lovely beside both gold and silver.
The bag handle Roll it narrow, spiral it up the handle and finish with a small bow, where it can stay for months.
The ponytail Two turns around the elastic, a knot on top and the ends set loose.
The small neck knot Folded into a slim roll and knotted at the throat, a whisper of pink and green at the collar.
The box also holds an illustrated guide to more than twenty ways of wearing it.
A gift for the engagement
This is the motif made for a couple, at the size and price for the months before the wedding. Its meaning arrives with it, so no card needs to explain.
It also gives her words to share. When someone asks about it, she can say: they are mandarin ducks, the Vietnamese sign of two people who stay together.
For an engagement Small enough not to preempt the wedding gift and personal enough to be clearly about the two of them, and it arrives beautifully boxed.
For a bridal shower Boxed, with no size to guess, and likely still in use long after the shower gifts are forgotten; it slips into her bag for the ride home.
For Valentine's, after the engagement A lovely alternative to flowers that will still be here next year, green and pink reading tender without a word.
When a different motif suits better If the gift is not about a pair, two ducks beneath a lotus can say more than you intend; Phoenix Dance is about her alone and carries a wish for renewal.
The ducks on the palace roof
Behind the motif is a small, charming history.
Palace roofs of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries held terracotta mandarin ducks among their tiles, a pair perched high to bless the home beneath.
Why a duck on a palace? Mandarin ducks pair, and a pair on a roof was a wish for a marriage that holds and a home at peace. The lotus beneath carries the other half of the meaning: it grows in mud, the Vietnamese say, and keeps none of its smell.
Our studio redraws every motif by hand from archive photographs of the excavated pieces, then prints each color in its own pass, panel by panel in Hanoi, and that drawing is the story she gets to tell.
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 |
Green and Pink |
| 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 |
22 × 22 in · 55 × 55 cm |
| Print |
Hand screen-printed, double-sided |
| Edges |
Hand-rolled, hand-stitched · 220 cm |
| Testing |
Textile Testing Center, Vietnam Textile Research Institute |
| Made in |
Hanoi, Vietnam |
One small square of green and pink silk,
for the months between the question and the day.
Green and pink mulberry silk at sixteen momme, both faces printed and the hem rolled by hand in Hanoi. It arrives gift boxed with a cutting you are welcome to set on fire.
Add to bag · $75
Free US shipping from $90 No customs fees 30-day returns
