Posted on 01/04/2009 6:01:57 PM PST by Lorianne
You had to look hard amid the four-foot floral sculptures and the Vera Wang originals to see signs of the economy’s collapse at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday night.
There was the daughter of the Duchesse de Magenta, Pélagie de Mac Mahon, a willowy 18-year-old with chestnut hair who is a great-great-granddaughter of a 19th-century French president. And there were the two sisters from Hong Kong, daughters of a heart surgeon and a jewelry designer, who stayed not two nights but two weeks at the Waldorf, passing the days on the lookout for designer dresses.
Champagne flowed. Men in tails waltzed and fox-trotted with debutantes in long white gowns to music by the 12-piece Lester Lanin Orchestra, a fixture at the ball almost since its inception in 1954. And shortly before midnight, the young debutantes, each flanked by a civilian and military escort, ascended the stage for a deep curtsy.
But the experienced hands, including mothers like the duchesse who made their own debuts in society in this very ballroom, could see the subtle difference in the layout of the hall. And there were fewer debutantes, 47 this year rather than the 58 at the last biennial ball in 2006, and far fewer guests — 662 instead of 976.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
There are rules that apply to threads like this.
I prefer the term debutramps!
This thread is likely to be useless.
Well, if they don’t even know how to spell ‘duchess’ any more, maybe they should just give it up.
Somewhere a feminist is roiling in her grave, for young women to waste such money on such old fashioned values.
Yes, and it states that "coming out" means something totally different in these times....
“Somewhere a feminist is roiling in her grave”
As long as she is in her grave.
that’s a start. Good FReeper.
I’ve never liked those bunched-up dresses like the girl in the center is wearing.
“I’ve never liked those bunched-up dresses like the girl in the center is wearing.”
they look pretty and since I don’t have to wear em that’s all I care about.
i suppose thats sexist but oh well.
Obviously many people like the style, since it keeps showing up. The pictures at the source didn’t show any of the clothes very clearly.
hate to sound crass the but only reason guys click on this link is to see some pictures of cute ladies. i could certainly use more pictures.
My sister and I were asked to be debutantes(not the one in the article) and we turned them down. Nothing against them; it’s just not our cup of tea.
Made my father a very happy man. He saved a lot of money and my mother didn’t really care either.
My sister and I were asked to be debutantes(not the one in the article) and we turned them down. Nothing against them; it’s just not our cup of tea.
Made my father a very happy man. He saved a lot of money and my mother didn’t really care either.
There was one daughter of a famous blogger: Christina Sophia Huffington, whose mother, Arianna Huffington, is co-founder of Huffingtonpost.com.
A debutante’s family pays $14,000 for a table plus thousands of dollars for couture gowns, hairdressers and other expenses.
“It used to be that if you weren’t at least engaged within the year following your debut you were embarrassed,” said Letitia Baldrige, the etiquette author who was Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House social secretary. “Your family sent you abroad to get rid of you for a while.”
The 52nd International Debutante Ball and dinner dance was held at the Waldorf-Astoria on Friday, December 29th.
http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/partypictures/2007/01_08_07/images/Debs/Debs23.jpg
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