A small bouquet of flowers worn on a woman’s dress or wrist, typically for formal occasions—a piece of botanical jewelry that connects fashion to the ephemeral beauty of the natural world.
The word corsage originally referred to the bodice of a dress (from the French corps, meaning body), and a corsage was a cluster of flowers sewn or pinned onto that part of the garment. In the nineteenth century, a corsage of fresh flowers was an essential element of evening dress for formal occasions, chosen to complement the gown’s color and the season.
By the early twentieth century, the corsage had become a specialized product of the florist’s art, constructed from carefully selected blooms wired together and attached to a pin or wristband. The wrist corsage, worn on a band around the hand, became a staple of American proms and homecoming dances in the mid-twentieth century, a tradition that persists despite its association with teenage formality.
The corsage matters to fashion because it represents the intersection of clothing and ephemeral art. Unlike a piece of jewelry, a corsage will last only a single evening. Its beauty is contingent on its perishability. To wear a corsage is to make a choice for the moment, accepting that the flowers will wilt and be discarded—a reminder that fashion itself is an art of the present, always about to become the past.
