It's a way to demonstrate your ardent devotion to the love of the next two weeks of your life, show school spirit, or simply get attention. Mums have been coming back each year since the trend started in 1962, when a few girls decided to start wearing mums accompanied by a few ribbons.
The mums have seemingly gotten more elaborate each year. In the 80's they got as big as the dress sleeves. But neither the recession, nor questions of taste, have made anyone turn down the volume this year. In fact, the only rule that has endured in mum making is: the bigger the better.
Charity Drabik, owner of Mum's the Word in Dallas, said recession worries and trimmed budgets haven't affected the mum business.
"Right now it doesn't have to. Business seems to actually have picked up," said Drabik. "I'm actually seeing that the pricing is about the same, if not a little bit more."
One might think kids would want to save a few dollars by leaving out a few ribbons, or teddy bears, or plastic football helmets, but rather, they're going all out.
"What the kids want are fuller mums. A lot of the mums out there are flat so mine are designed to be more full and meet the needs of what the kids are looking for," Drabik said.
Trends may come and go, but Drabik said what kids want in a mum seems to stay the same.
"The taste has basically stayed the same. The gaudier and the bigger the better."
Are you going to a homecoming soon? Send us a picture of your mum and we will include it in our online gallery. Send photos to isee@nbcdfw.com.
Holly LaFon has written for various local publications including D Magazine and Examiner.
