giant Texan corsages? is this a thing?

[mominatrix]

Go Big Or Go Homecoming: Supersized Corsages
by CLAIRE O'NEILL
September 06, 2013 3:06 PM






Somewhere in my parents' house, I think I still have a corsage from some dance in high school. A little rose on a sparkly elastic band, which I wore awkwardly around my wrist. You know the drill.

In Texas, though, they have a different drill. Photographer Nancy Newberry recalls her first "mum" — short for chrysanthemum — which her mom made for her in high school. The uniquely Texan homecoming tradition of sporting an "explosion of a corsage," as Newberry describes it, goes back decades.

Traditionally, a girl receives a mum from her boyfriend or loved one — be it Mom or a friend. Boys wear them, too, but with a different name of course ("garters") and a different placement (around the arm).



There are unspoken rules, too. It would be gauche, for example, for a freshman to wear a mum as large as a senior's. The mum's size must correlate to one's seniority in school. Colors and additional embellishments are also reserved for upperclassmen.

So the mum continues to blossom and grow over a four-year period — but also, Newberry says, mums have gotten bigger in general since she was in high school. "Bigger is better, I guess," she says on the phone.

Newberry sees it as a fun way to connect with her past and with teenagers now. Although my mind immediately goes to these amazing portraits by Phyllis Galembo — showing the sartorial rituals of masquerade in Nigeria.

Which isn't a far stretch to Newberry, who can get kind of academic about the project, too. She writes via email: "I am really interested in the mums as ritual objects, how they help shape personal identity and how they become a part of the unique landscape and language of a place."

But let's get real. Who cares about academics in high school?

What's the homecoming tradition in your town? If you live in Texas, put your photo in the comments!

Newberry's work will be on display in San Antonio this month, San Francisco in October and Chicago in November.


www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2013/09/05/219377607/go-big-or-go-homecoming-supersized-corsages?utm_source=NPR&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130906

[there's a slideshow of pics, worth looking at]

[Deleted]

I was going to post this!  But the pictures wouldn't load so I didn't bother.

Yes, it's a thing.  Very much so.  Mine was not THAT big, though.  It pinned to my shirt.  But the ribbons went down past my knee.  My date did a great job on mine and made it nice and light.  So considerate!

When my mom was in school in the 60s, they pinned actual mums on their blouses.  Not sure when the transition to the fake thing happened.

Explaining this to non-Texans is always hilarious.

[mominatrix]

Sept 7, 2013 10:09:46 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

When my mom was in school in the 60s, they pinned actual mums on their blouses.  Not sure when the transition to the fake thing happened.

In the comments, somebody posted a FB album they did of mums, there are plenty of old, real ones, and you see them get bigger and bigger...


www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.441563016036.236100.575341036&type=1&l=d797f7769a

[Deleted]

OK, so I can't get the slideshow to load at work, but for size perspective, I remember pinning mine on the left side of my sweater, and it was about the width of half my chest. Mine was probably average at the time. I know that mine had less stuff attached to it; most girls' mums were heavier than mine, but I specifically requested light and simple.

Also: there are color rules. At my HS, underclassmen had mums and garters in both the school colors (one of which was white). Seniors had them in silver and white. So when I went to homecoming with a junior, my mum was all silver and white while his garter was school colors. You do not fuck with the color rules.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2013 10:12:44 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Sept 7, 2013 10:09:46 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

When my mom was in school in the 60s, they pinned actual mums on their blouses.  Not sure when the transition to the fake thing happened.

In the comments, somebody posted a FB album they did of mums, there are plenty of old, real ones, and you see them get bigger and bigger...


www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.441563016036.236100.575341036&type=1&l=d797f7769a

Oooh, I will have to look at that at home!  (FB - along with everything fun - is blocked here!)

[Deleted]

Also, I have to say that I love talking about these. Mostly because they are SO WEIRD.

Having lived in the same town my whole life, I had no idea they were unique to one region. When I went to college, I put some pictures from HS in my dorm. A couple were from homecoming. My friends were all WTF? So I had to explain it. Explaining the tradition is hilarious. It seems so normal when you're immersed in it, and then you explain it to an outsider, and you start to realize how bizarre it is.

I was surprised to read that some people get mums from their moms. I only had a date to homecoming one year, but I would have DIED before I would have worn a mum from my mom. How completely mortifying.

[pamela]

Ok, no where as huge as the original picture, but that slideshow was pretty realistic of what went on in high school. Is that not done outside of Texas?

[SallyJ]

Not from TX and this is just so very odd to me.

[mominatrix]

Sept 7, 2013 10:22:23 GMT -5 pamela said:

Ok, no where as huge as the original picture, but that slideshow was pretty realistic of what went on in high school. Is that not done outside of Texas?

some of the comments to the NPR piece are people from LA and KY... they did it...


maybe a southern thing?



...but I've never heard of it.

[LoveTrains]

Sept 7, 2013 10:22:23 GMT -5 pamela said:

Ok, no where as huge as the original picture, but that slideshow was pretty realistic of what went on in high school. Is that not done outside of Texas?

NO, its not done outside of texas. 

[lauralala]

There weren't color rules at our school, all mums were blue and gold. They also weren't nearly as big as this one, but I graduated in '92, so clearly things have changed!

[Deleted]

Our mums were in school colors w/ long streamers, and some people did get ginormous ones - like took up their whole front. Mine were about 5-6" across, IIRC and I thought that was huge. I graduated in Houston in '99.

[Kore]

I've def never seen this in Louisiana (though I didn't go to HS here). I first heard of this on these boards a few years ago. It's a cute tradition.

[mominatrix]

pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=homecoming%20mums

[ttt]

KateAggie

I grew up in Georgia and it's definitely not a thing there. At least it wasn't ten years ago.

[josieposy]

This is all new to me. I've never seen it in South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, or Iowa.

[nomad100]

Definitely not a Michigan thing.

Maybe if it was part of the culture but I would have been mortified to wear something like that in HS. I was VERY introverted and wanted to do nothing that drew attention to myself.

[bimbi284]

Texas is weird.

[kapoentje]

LOL at the photo. I'm a Texan and I've never seen one *that* big. We did them but it wasn't a big thing at my school. My senior year mine was sort-of like @angryharpy described, maybe a bit smaller though. Still it was the envy of EVERYONE.

Because, come on, we're talking mums. Go big or go home.

Important note: mums =/= corsages, at least not in my experience. You got a separate, lovely (actual) corsage for the dance itself. Matching your dress of course.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2013 10:51:30 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

I cant get the photos to load.

but I will say this about the garters - around here the boy wears his dates garter to show they fucked before the dance and it is SUPER trashy. no boy plans to wear one, they just do it to be trashy

WHOA.

These garters were not anything a girl would wear.  They were a mini verion of the mum, put on a garter.  Like, you go to Michael's and buy all the supplies and put it together and give it to your date on Thursday night so he can wear it to school on Friday.

Mums and garters made no appearances at the actual dance.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2013 11:01:57 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

LOL at the photo. I'm a Texan and I've never seen one *that* big. We did them but it wasn't a big thing at my school. My senior year mine was sort-of like @angryharpy described, maybe a bit smaller though. Still it was the envy of EVERYONE.

Because, come on, we're talking mums. Go big or go home.

Important note: mums =/= corsages, at least not in my experience. You got a separate, lovely (actual) corsage for the dance itself. Matching your dress of course.

All of this!

I have definitely never seen one as big as that picture.  I'd say the average one at my school was about 1/3 of that size.

My corsage didn't match my dress, but it did match my date's boutinneire (I give up on spelling that word). Because when the girl called to order the guy's flower, you could give the florist the guy's name, and they would make a matching corsage that your date could then go pick up and pay for.

We learn to micromanage early!

[kapoentje]

Sept 7, 2013 11:06:09 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Sept 7, 2013 11:01:57 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Important note: mums =/= corsages, at least not in my experience. You got a separate, lovely (actual) corsage for the dance itself. Matching your dress of course.

My corsage didn't match my dress, but it did match my date's boutinneire (I give up on spelling that word). Because when the girl called to order the guy's flower, you could give the florist the guy's name, and they would make a matching corsage that your date could then go pick up and pay for.

We learn to micromanage early!

I feel like I rarely did a boutonnière (ha, autocorrected) that wasn't a white rose. Maybe the occasional red rose (ooh, bold!) for Winter Formal.

But, add baby's breath? NEVER!!

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2013 11:19:32 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

Sept 7, 2013 11:06:09 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

My corsage didn't match my dress, but it did match my date's boutinneire (I give up on spelling that word). Because when the girl called to order the guy's flower, you could give the florist the guy's name, and they would make a matching corsage that your date could then go pick up and pay for.

We learn to micromanage early!

I feel like I rarely did a boutonnière (ha, autocorrected) that wasn't a white rose. Maybe the occasional red rose (ooh, bold!) for Winter Formal.

But, add baby's breath? NEVER!!

LOL!

My school actually didn't have a lot of dances at all.  I only went to senior homecoming and senior prom.  One of my dates wound up hooking up with my best friend about a month later, and the other was a friend who was failing my mother's class.  Clearly, I was a smashing success with guys in high school!

[taratru]

We had those in southeast NM, too. They're called mums there and they're not made of flowers, so you just buy a huge one and keep it. Mine was the size of a small dinner plate and had ribbons down to my knees.

[geneg]

Mine was about half the width, but was indeed that long.  Yeah, it's a thing.

[Deleted]

Now that I can see the slideshow, I can say that 4,5, and 9 seem like normal size to me. They just picked the most absurd for the cover.

[auntie]

Nobody does this where I live.

It seems as if the DD is an extension of the mother's more is more decorating style. I mean look at that room. Inexpensive dinette chairs that not only have cushions with bows, they have scatter pillows. The curtains not only have a print, they have a cuff and the rod is sporting some sort of obviously faux vine from ACMoore. Even the carpeting has a rug to keep it company.

I have to wonder what the older brother in the creeper portrait and the buck are looking at as they're both gazing in the same direction.

[bimbi284]

Also in the slideshow, everyone either looks super miserable, or super creepy.

[sarabi]

Texan. Mums are definitely important and like the other ladies shared, we only wore them to school that day. I did garters a couple years so they could be worn underneath my cheerleading skirt. And yeah, I've never seen one that big. I may have a picture of my garter senior year. I'll post it shortly if I find it. I had no idea other states didn't do this until recently. They sell them at the grocery store all done up for the neighboring school.

[Michelle]

Oh my gosh Mums. I loved and hated mine. The bigger and gaudier the more your boyfriend loved you. So one boyfriend reallllly loved me, so much that the dang thing took up 2/3 of my torso an d kept nearly pulling my dress off. The next year he got me one with a stick I could hold so I didn't almost throw a disc out in my neck, lol.

Sooooo tacky, but tradition.