Debutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante (/ˈdɛbjʊtɑːnt/ DEB-yuu-tahnt; from French: débutante [debytɑ̃t], 'female beginner'), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" (UK: /ˈdeɪbjuː, ˈdɛbjuː/ DAY-bew, DEB-yoo, US: /deɪˈbjuː/ day-BEW; French: début [deby]) or possibly debutante ball.
Originally, the term indicated that the woman was old enough to be married, and one purpose of her "coming out" was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select circle.
[1] The Ball is held on the third Friday of January across the twenty-three salons of the Vienna Hofburg Palace and includes nine bands of different styles of music, military formations, and dancing troupes from around the world.
[citation needed] The Australian debutante wears a white or pale-coloured gown similar to a wedding dress.
Debutante balls are almost always held in a reception centre, school hall, the function room of a sporting or other community organisation, e.g. RSL club, or ballroom.
[citation needed] Canada inherited the practice of debutante presentation to the local representative of the British monarch.
[5] In early modern times, marriage in the UK was an economic transaction that required a dowry for the woman, who would not inherit her father's estate.
[6] To more efficiently match unmarried women of relatively high-status families to eligible bachelors, Queen Elizabeth I established the tradition of summoning them for formal presentation to the British monarch.
[6] In 1780, King George III organized the first Queen Charlotte's Ball at the Court of St James's in honour of his wife's birthday and to counter criticism that the couple was too frugal.
The season consisted of events such as afternoon tea parties, polo matches, races at Royal Ascot, and balls.
[9] However, the withdrawal of royal patronage made these occasions decreasingly significant, and scarcely distinguishable from any other part of the social season.
The monarchy took a more populist approach, emphasizing the Victorian tradition of garden parties, to which Elizabeth invited people from all backgrounds.
[5] The expression "debutante", or "deb" for short, has continued to be used, especially in the press, to refer to young women of marriageable age who participate in a semi-public, upper class social scene.
[5] In the Roaring Twenties, the more democratic tradition of the high school prom became popular, which is a dance where attendance is open to everyone, not merely high-status families.
The International Debutante Ball has presented princesses, countesses, baronesses and many European royalty and aristocrats as debutantes to high society, including Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, Vanessa von Bismarck (great-great-granddaughter of Otto von Bismarck), Princess Natalya Elisabeth Davidovna Obolensky (granddaughter of the Prince Ivan Obolensky, who was the Chairman of the International Debutante Ball and himself the grandson of John Jacob Astor IV – founder of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel), Princess Ines de Bourbon Parme, Countess Magdalena Habsburg-Lothringen (great-great-granddaughter of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria) and Lady Henrietta Seymour (daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset).
[17] Daughters and granddaughters of billionaire businessmen, high-ranking politicians, such as United States presidents, senators and congressmen, and ambassadors have also been presented at the International Debutante Ball; for example, Tricia Nixon, Julie Nixon, Jennie Eisenhower, Ashley Walker Bush (granddaughter of President George H. W. Bush and niece of President George W. Bush), Lucinda Robb (granddaughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson), Christine Colby (daughter of CIA director William Colby), Hollister Knowlton, Charlotte and Catherine Forbes (granddaughters of Malcolm Forbes), and Christina Huffington (daughter of Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post).
Wearing white gowns and satin or kid long gloves,[21] the debutantes stand in a receiving line, and are introduced individually to the audience.
Cotillions may be elaborate formal affairs and involve not only "debs" but also junior debutantes, escorts and ushers, and flower girls and pages.
The National Cotillion and Thanksgiving Ball of Washington, DC., hosted by Mary-Stuart Montague Price, has met every November for over 60 years with proceeds going to Children's Hospital.
"Old-money" families often send their preteen sons and daughters to dancing classes, called cotillion, and etiquette lessons in preparation for these parties, which launch their children into society and act as major networking events.
Even less grand debutante balls typically require debs to attend a few lessons in social dance, comportment, and in executing their curtsy.
Ukrainian American debutante balls take place in American cities with substantial populations of Ukrainians, such as Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, and Washington D.C. Beside the traditional waltz of the debutantes, one of the highlights of these balls is the Kolomyjka, which usually takes place past midnight.
She makes her debut at a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) debutante ball that her grandmother helped put together.
In BoJack Horseman, the titular character's mother, Beatrice, is shown attending her debutante ball as a young adult through flashbacks in the season 4 episode "Time's Arrow".
In the premiere of The City, Whitney Port's reality show, her co-worker Olivia Palermo describes her first pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes, which she wore to her "Deb" at the age of 18.
"Debut", an episode of Cold Case, tells the story of a young girl who is murdered the night of her debutante ball.
In an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, entitled "Streetwise", detectives investigated the rape and murder of a debutante.
Films with debutante themes include Metropolitan (1990), Whit Stillman's feature film, a comedy of manners set during the deb season in Manhattan, and What a Girl Wants (2003), in which Amanda Bynes plays an American teen whose estranged father is a British lord, and who is presented at a coming-out party.
Bynes is also featured in She's The Man, in which the main character attends a debutantes preparation program and finally a ball.
The Debut (2001), a film on contemporary Filipino-American life, explores a wide variety of cultural themes through an informal debutante event.
