Corsages fall out of fashion

The florist industry has undergone numerous changes in the 75 years Judy Hacker’s family has owned Chattanooga Florist.

One of the most notable shifts has been the changing culture of corsages, she said.

“Our biggest season for corsages (in the past) was Mother’s Day, followed by Easter and proms,” said Ms. Hacker, 68. “There used to be a tradition that on Mother’s Day, you’d wear a red corsage or boutonniere to church if your mother was alive or a white one if she was deceased.”

The tradition was so popular that florist employees worked around the clock on the day before Mother’s Day to assemble and deliver the corsages to customers across Chattanooga.

Mrs. Hacker’s husband, Bob Hacker, 70, recalled delivering the corsages throughout the night.

“We wanted the flowers to be fresh, so we delivered them after 3 a.m., leaving them on people’s porches, or, in some cases, they would hear us pull in the driveway and greet us at the door,” he said. “We’d pack up our cars with corsages and then go back to the store for a second trip. By the time everyone went to church on Sunday morning, they had their flowers.”

The same held true for Easter, Mrs. Hacker said.

“Women wore corsages on Easter Sunday,” she said. “We delivered hundreds throughout the night.”

The custom began waning with the onset of women’s liberation, Mr. Hacker said.

“When people started dressing down in the early 1970s, the tradition of wearing corsages became less popular. Today, we only see two or three at Mother’s Day and Easter,” he said.

Corsages continue to be popular during prom season, however, Mrs. Hacker said.

“But they have changed a lot in the last decade,” she said, noting that teenage girls rarely wear a corsage on the upper front of the dress. Instead, today’s teens wear the corsages on their wrists, ankles and toes.

“The toe corsage is the latest trend,” she said. “The girls either go barefooted or wear flip-flops with their prom dresses.”

While the flower, typically a rose or orchid, was the focal point of a corsage in days gone by, today’s corsage displays colored curled wire, crystals, beads, sequins, and a small rose or orchid, Mrs. Hacker said.

“Today’s girls like a lot of bling,” she said.

Though some young men keep with tradition of buying corsages for their prom dates, many girls purchase their own corsages, Mrs. Hacker said.

“Girls would have never done that in my day, but they want to get something that perfectly matches their dresses,” she said. “Today, the corsage is more like a fashion accessory.”

While Chattanooga Florist has undergone changes throughout the decades, there’s at least one thing that hasn’t changed, Mr. Hacker said.

“We’re open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day,” Mr. Hacker said. “People just don’t need flowers delivered Monday through Saturday from 9 to 5. Things happen unexpectedly, and if someone needs flowers on a Sunday, for example, we’ll get the flowers to them.”