Retro Trends: Flowers to Wear

For some customers (those who haven't seen the latest prom and wedding fashions) the very idea of wearing a corsage or a boutonniere may sound old-fashioned. Certainly, flowers to wear were big in the '50s and '60s-and, as we've seen in the last two Creative Edge columns, "retro" can be very trendy. It just requires a little updating. Back in the day, large orchids such as catteyas and cymbidiums were popular. To match today's taste, use smaller orchids like mokaras or dendrobiums, in conjunction with today's fashionable decorative wire. Flowers can be cold-glued to any textured surface such as chenille, sheer ribbon or gauzy wireworks, which can absorb the adhesive for a failproof bond. Next month: earrings and necklaces to match.
For the guys: Guys like their flowers small and sophisticated. They want to convey style as much as the girls do, but it must be understated-that's important! create a backing first, wire together matching lengths of equisetum; add some chenille stem at the top for the glue area; wrap a chenille loop with 24-gauge metallic wire; make a narrow rectangular frame using 12-gauge wire and wrap it with 24-gauge wire and bullion mesh; insert a chenille stem in a stem of quisetum; attach a rhinestone dragonfly with a spiral-coiled stem; make a triangular frame with 12-gauge wire and wrap it with 24-gauge wire and bullion, embedded rhinestones in a mesh. The flowers and berries are individually glued onto these backings with floral adhesive.

For the shoulder: Decorative wire, rhinestones, and fresh color combination are all good ways to update the shoulder corsage. These backlings consist of: 1) for the pink corsage, a doubled length of 12-gauge aluminum wire with a couple of twists, interlaced and looped with No. 40 sheer ribbon (to provide lots of gluing points), fastened to the frame with 24-gauge wire; 2) for the blue corsage, lengths of 12-gauge aluminum wire with the tips fashioned into tight spiral buttons, attached together with 24-gauge wire; the flowers glue down into the spiral buttons, which absorb the glue; 3) for the fuchsia corsage, two sets of 12-gauge spiral-ended wire attached together with 24-gauge wire, with an overlay of intricately looped and twisted strands of the same. Jeweled flower heads were embedded to add visual value and depth, and three dendrobium blossoms were simply glued in at the end.

For the wrist: Floral cuffs are the rage for girls today! They can be substantial keepsake items even after flowers have faded> 1) a simple 12-gauge wire rectangular frame is attached to a ready made wire butterfly with pearl beading. Some chenille stem is wired in to provide a gluing surface. 2) A rectangular frame of 12-gauge wire with a grid of 24-gauge wire is overlaid with sheer ribbon and wrapped with bullion. This is then bent to fit the wrist. Flowers glue securely to the mesh of wire and sheer ribbon. 3) The same style of cuff bracelet as number 2 is adapted with a longer isosceles-triangle shape, so that the pointed end floats over and overlaps the other end. A rhinestone spray is embedded into the mesh of bullion. No ribbon used in this bracelet-it's all wire. 4) A simple irregular-shaped frame ending with spiral buttons is made with 12-gauge wire and overlaid with a rhinestone dragonfly, its wire end spiraled and attached to the cuff form. Flowers are glued to the spirals.

For more information on floral arrangements or to purchase in Tampa, Florida and the surrounding area please check out Skip's Florist