Corsages
Body flowers, later known as corsages, became popular long before the time of laundry and bodily cleanliness. Imagine being in a room with someone who had not bathed in weeks, perhaps months. In polite society, men began to carry heavily perfumed handkerchiefs to wave whenever the unpleasantness became too great. One man started the trend of attaching scented flowers to his walking stick, and women followed suit by attaching flowers to their fans. Thusly the early forms of corsages were created.
In the late 1920's, modern corsages came into being, and a market was created that can be quite lucrative for the florist.
Many corsage customers are high school students going to their first prom. Make this a pleasant occasion with a little floral masterpiece, and you will have a customer for years to come.
In order to better serve your customer, you should know something about the occasion. Is it a prom, a dance, banquet, birthday, business luncheon? What type of attire will be worn? What color? What is the age of the person wearing the corsage? Is she petite, tall, large framed, or slender?
Helpful hints for holidays and other labor intense periods:
- Use long-lasting flowers so they can be made up in advance
- Sell corsages on a cash-and-carry basis
- Keep a good stock of pre-made corsages
Minimize your design time by following a few simple procedures. Do as much of the work in advance as possible. Bows can be made and hung on steamers or pined to a Styrofoam board near the work table. Silk and dried materials can be wired and taped and then stored in bags for future use. Post a pricing chart, and be sure to include the cost of wire and tape. And always keep your work area clean!
Design tips:
Be sure to water your flowers and foliage well before using them in corsages. To lengthen the life of the flowers, try taping a piece of damp cotton to the stem ends.
Fillers can add a great deal of interest and beauty to your corsage, but use them sparingly. They are expensive, and they will either run up the cost of your corsage, or they will eat up your profit.
Whenever possible keep samples of materials that reflect the texture and the current color trends. If you can't match the color, suggest silk flowers. However, with the floral spray tints available now, you should be able to match practically any color your customer would want.
Don't hesitate to use outdoor foliages. They can add imagination to the corsage, and they will certainly cut down on the cost. You might be surprised at the treasures you can find in your own yard.
There are many new innovations to enhance the beauty of a corsage. Examples: beads, diamond and pearl sprays, novelties, glitter, lights, etc.
Corsage care:
Corsages should be bagged or boxed to protect them and to hold in moisture. Orchids bruise easily and should always be boxed. Before bagging, mist the corsage lightly. Do not over spray. Too much water will stain the ribbon and cause it to go limp. It can also cause mold. Be sure to leave an air space in the bags so that they will not collapse on the flowers and bruise them. With each corsage, you should include a care card and a corsage pin-two pins if the corsage is large.
To promote sales
- Know your market
- Watch fashion trends
- Control your costs
Corsage mechanics
Corsages must be designed and constructed properly. You don't want your beautiful corsage to fall apart when your customer tries to wear it. Not only would that be embarrassing for you, it might very well lose a customer.
Flowers for corsages are wired to eliminate bulky stems and to allow proper positioning of the flowers. The gauge of the wire is determined by the weight of the flower. Gauge 24 is usually used for roses, carnations, and other heavy-stemmed flowers. Gauges 26 and 28 are used for delicate flowers and fillers. Chenille stems may also be used to wire certain types of flowers. To decide whether to use wire, ask yourself these questions: Do I need to lengthen the stem? Do I need to strengthen the stem? Do I need to be able to position the flower a certain way? Is the natural stem too bulky for the corsage?
There are seven basic techniques for wiring flowers and foliages:
Pierce method
Flowers, such as roses and carnations, that have a thick calyx beneath the flower head, are wired by piercing. Trim the flower stem to a length of ½ to 1 inch. Push one end of a wire horizontally through the calyx using half the length of the wire. Bend both ends down parallel with the stem. Tape the stem, starting just above the pierce. For heavy flowers, use a second wire and crisscross the two.
