Frog (fastening)
A pankou (simplified Chinese: 盘扣; traditional Chinese: 盤扣; pinyin: pánkòu, also called huaniu (Chinese: 花纽; pinyin: Huāniǔ; lit. 'flower buttons') or panhuaniu (Chinese: 盘花纽) in China, or frog knots, frogs,: 40 : 253 Chinese frog closures and decorative toggles in English) is a type of ornamental braiding closure made out of cord, consisting of a button (oftentimes a Chinese button knot for a traditional oriental style: 76 ) and a loop; it is used to fasten garments without creating an overlap.: 40 Its purpose is to act as a fastener as well as providing a decorative closure for the garment.: 40 It is especially used on the cheongsam, where the frog represents the cultural essence of the dress.
| Type | Fastening made of fabric |
|---|---|
| Material | Diverse, including silk |
| Place of origin | At least the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), China |
| Pankou | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 盘扣 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 盤扣 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Huaniu | |||||||
| Chinese | 花纽 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | Flower buttons | ||||||
| |||||||
| Panhuaniu | |||||||
| Chinese | 盘花纽 | ||||||
| |||||||
| English name | |||||||
| English | Frogs/ Frog closures/ Frogging/ Decorative toggles | ||||||
Frog fasteners are usual to garments of Asian design, such as a shirt or coat with a mandarin collar, which features frog fasteners at the shoulder and down the front of the garment. In the design of a garment, frogging is the use of braided, frog fasteners is a detail of the overall design of the garment.: 253