High schools in the south of the United States, especially in Texas, often have a tradition of the girls wearing “mums” and boys wearing “garters” to the Homecoming football game. Mums usually consist of artificial Chrysanthemum flowers (originally real Chrysanthemums were used) surrounded by decorated floor-length ribbon and little trinkets. The tradition is that the boys create a personalized mum in their school colors, white and silver for seniors, for their date. Girls make garters for their date which are similar to mums but shorter and worn on the guy’s arm rather than around their neck like mums. The size of the mums and garters tend to grow along with the grade the person that is receiving the mum is in. Around the 1980s, mums were usually about a maximum of three Chrysanthemum flowers and a few ribbons and only worn by the Homecoming Court/Homecoming Prince and/or Princess but as the years have gone by, the size and expectations of mums have increased and have gotten more elaborate and are worn by almost all of the students. Depending on the school, mums can get quite competitive, expensive, and drastically bigger than they previously were intended to be. New items are also placed on mums than there previously were like LED lights, bubble containers, cow bells, feather boas, stuffed animals of all sizes, and even more. They now sometimes act like scrapbooks made of ribbon and even contain passages and photos of the mum/garter-receiver and their date. The detail, size, and price usually varies depending on the school, town, and couple. The tradition is to make the mum and garter after the couple is asked to Homecoming and exchange the night of the Homecoming game and wear it throughout tailgating and the game. Couples often take group pictures with their mums and garters the night of or before the night of the Homecoming Game to showcase them.
I’m sorry, what? This is seriously just mainly a Texan thing? You’re telling me these
don’t
look
familiar
to all
yall
????
Yeah, wintry. I’ve literally never seen these before. They are… intense? Lol
OMG, are you telling me the rest of the US isn’t doing this???Â
we’re telling you that this is NOT happening in the rest of the US. And some of us are kinda side-eyeing you, in a light-hearted loving way, for hanging a craft store’s worth of ribbon off y’alls necks.
You know, I’ve read about the mums and garters practice, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it. What the hell are all y’all doing?
And those aren’t even the big ones.
They get big.
like, BIG. Big enough to hide their entire bodies.
And some of the bodies of anyone standing next to them.
Also, notice the stuffed horse and mums on that guy’s arm. That’s a Texas homecoming garter. But the boys tend to keep them fairly small.
But some guys and girls just say to hell with keeping it tasteful.
Because it’s fun and they’re kids and why the hell notÂ
because
it’s fucking
TEXAS
I had no idea this didn’t happen anywhere else I always hated these things
Y’know, looking through this thread I kept thinking to myself “Goddamit Texas do you have to be over-the-top huge with EVERYTHING?” and being surprised that none of them were in the state’s shape. And then I scrolled to the bottom and cracked up
Texas ya’ll crazy as hell XD
i’ve lived all 32 years of my life in the US and this is the first time i’ve ever seen or heard of anything like this.
I live on the plains and seriously what the heck is that nonsense?Â
Wisconsin native here, I have seriously have never seen or even heard of anything like this.
Same from this Ohio gal. When I was in HS, we exchanged corsages/
boutonnières with our dates for Homecoming, but that was… like… for the dance. I don’t remember doing anything during the game.
