Mums 101
Mums—and garters, their male counterparts—are homecoming staples all over the state of Texas and a rite of passage for high schoolers. If you went to high school here, you know: extravagant faux chrysanthemums with yards upon yards of ribbon (usually in one’s school colors) trailing down to nearly one’s feet and adorned with glitter, charms, baubles, bells and even plush animals dressed to match the creation’s wearer. Each one unique and personalized!
If you aren’t from around these parts, WELCOME!! You are likely wondering where this (ahem) over-the-top tradition originated from.
Homecoming, that wonderful autumn rite, tends to coincide with the blooming of chrysanthemums. Somewhere around the 1930’s it became tradition to gift your date with a corsage made of these fall flowers. Though the history of that corsage’s evolution is somewhat unclear, the first iterations of what they have become today likely made their appearance sometime around the 1960’s where these traditional corsages began to include ribbons adorned with Greek letters indicating fraternities and sororities. The decoration and personalization of these accessories continued to grow and really exploded in the 80’s and 90’s.
Today, a silk flower has replaced the chrysanthemum as the centerpiece for homecoming mums and it is not uncommon to find hundreds of students covered (quite literally) in these magnificently monstrous creations in the halls of their alma mater the day of the Homecoming game. Each one showing off their school pride by displaying their unique and memorable adornment!
So, newbies, welcome to the party!
What Makes Up a Mum?
Mums are comprised of two main parts: the crown and the base.
Both start out relatively simple, but get increasingly more elaborate with the addition of plush animals, premium ribbons, personalized cutouts, lights and much more! Continue reading to see a full breakdown of all of our offerings. After selecting your desired mum or garter, you can visit the add-on section of our shop to browse all the "extras" we offer.
Crown Styles
A mum’s crown can come in many shapes and sizes. With our Customized packages, we can make just about anything you can dream up, but our standard styles are below.
Cutouts
Cutouts are 2D shapes that represent something about you! We have several options, anything from football helmets to your graduation year to your monogram. This is one way the wearer displays their various interests and accomplishments. Upper-classmen in particular love to adorn their creations with all the cutouts associated with the many memories of their high school experience.
Ribbons and Braids
Ribbons and braids are what fill up your base. Our packages include various levels of sparkle and glitz/specialty ribbons and multiple braid options. Additionally, there are always ways to further personalize your selection and bulk up your base in our shop.
Traditionally, Homecoming Mums were made in the school’s colors with a metallic accent for the underclassmen and in white/silver or white/gold for uppclassmen. This tradition is still followed by many however, it has become increasingly more popular to set yourself apart by choosing a specific theme or non-traditional color scheme that highlights your interests and personality. This is especially the case for upperclassmen! After a few years of dipping their toes in this tradtion, they are usually ready to go “all-in” and really stand out with bright and unexpected color combinations!
We love seeing all the fun combos and ideas our upperclassmen come up with! These works of art usually require hours upon hours of time to create and because of that we usually begin taking orders for larger and more specialty/customized mums and garters for our returning customers by the June before each Homecoming season!
Bling and Embellishments
Bling and embellishments are all the things that make your mum/garter truly shine. All of our designs have a touch of glitz but if you would like to make your selection a little more “ta-da” we highly suggest adding the Bling package to your creation. This will upgrade your ribbons from just the traditional floral ribbon to include more specialty and boutique ribbons. The Bling package also gives you extra trims and finishes that make the end product truly shine!
Can I Add Anything to my Mum?
Each mum package details what is included in the description. But, sometimes a package will have almost everything you want, but not quite. Good news! You can select additional braids, trinkets, cut-outs, and other finishes to your creation by visiting the “add-on” section in our shop after you’ve made your initial mum package selections. This gives each student the opportunity to highlight their activities, achievements, and interests which is just one of the many reasons the homecoming mum tradition is so awesome!
Did We Miss Anything?
Still have a question that isn’t answered here? Shoot us an email at ktxmums@gmail.com! We’re more than happy to help!