Debutante

About This Book

"Debutante presents a penetrating and entertaining look at American debdom from the colonial era to the present day. Debbing has always been a performance art, created by and for women. In its heyday in the nineteenth century, the debut signified the formal presentation to elite society of a young woman of substance who was eligible for marriage. During the twentieth century, it evolved from the glamour girl galas of the Great Depression to the charity bashes of the 1980s after the "Deb Drought" of the 1960s and 1970s. Karal Ann Marling reviews this colorful history, documenting changes in debdom right up to our own day, when the sisterhood of debs includes African Americans, Latinas, and members of other ethnic groups once carefully excluded: now even economically disadvantaged young women have their coming out, where the emphasis of the event is on community." "In these pages, aspiring debs and curious readers alike will be taken from teas and cotillions to cafe society and discover the rich material culture of debdom, with its flowers and favors, gowns and pearls. They'll also meet famous debs of the 1930s like Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and glamour girl Brenda Duff Frasier; experience black American high society at the debut of Nat King Cole's daughter Cookie; and attend such civic spectacles as Kansas City's Jewel Ball and St. Louis's Veiled Prophet Ball."--Jacket.