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Feb 13, 2020 · In an age of Facebook and Instagram and dating apps, a ball created by, and for, the wealthy — back when formal dances were a way to meet potential mates and be introduced to “polite society” —...
May 26, 2024 · Debutante balls, a staple of high society for centuries, have undergone a fascinating evolution since their inception in the late 18th century. These lavish events, which served as a means of introducing young aristocratic women to potential suitors, reached their peak of extravagance and popularity in the 1920s.
- The Daughter Problem
- A Country Rite of Passage
- A Mark of Wealth and Class
- Chinese-Australian Communities Embrace Deb Balls
- One Young Woman Campaigns For Change
- What Will The Future Look Like For Debutante Balls?
- Credits
Kristen Richardson became a bit of a history detective when she first tried to trace debutante balls right back to their starting point. After a lot of legal and social research the writer “figured out it was actually because of the Reformation —not solely, but it was precipitated by Henry VIII,” she says. When the infamous monarch broke away from ...
Maria O’Sullivan still remembers all of the details of her debutante ball. The academic now works at Monash University in Melbourne, where she researches human rights and refugee law. But before her legal career began, she took part in a debutante ball through her school in Canberra in 1989. “There was quite a strict dress code so we couldn’t wear ...
In the wealthy communities in the US and even Russia, where Kristen researched debutante balls, she says these balls are often also used to signify wealth and class. In places like New York, she says, some balls have celebrities attend and the events are covered by fashion magazines. Television show Gossip Girl, which followed the fictional lives o...
Michael Louey was just a teenager when he attended one of the last debutante ball held by the Young Chinese League in Melbourne during the 1980s. “It was exciting leading up to the event, the boys went out to hire suits and we knew the girls were arranging their dresses,” he remembers. Ball organisers would pair young people up to do the ball toget...
Kiana Prewett always knew she wanted to do a debutante ball. “I guess it just was growing up as a young girl seeing it on TV and the magic of it all and I just wanted to experience that,” she says. “And coming from a lower socio-economic class it just seemed so fancy.” In 2014 she had a chance to take part through her school Mount Clear College in ...
After writing a book about the history of debutante balls, Kristen has come to believe that they are an “unkillable” tradition. She spent a lot of time talking to young women about why they wanted to take part in a debutante ball. Kristen says there are a range of factors which influence the popularity of balls including politics and culture, class...
Reporting: Elise KinsellaPhotography: Danielle BonicaDigital production: Sian JohnsonEditor: Kate HigginsA big deal or waste of time? Inside the 'unkillable' tradition. of debutante balls. These balls began hundreds of years ago in England as a way for wealthy young women to make their debut into high society. Think opulent ballrooms and stolen glances like in the series Bridgerton. Featured in this story. Add to cart. Transcript.
- Daina Oliver
Jun 16, 2020 · The debutante ball tradition came from the aristocracy in the UK. It's incredibly exclusive, it's classist, it's sexist. It was a way for lords and royalties to trade daughters because daughters were property. Even at the very core of it, it's this problematic artefact. And yet as an Aboriginal, it's a really huge thing," Nakkiah Lui told Hack.
Jul 9, 2024 · Debutante and cotillion balls quickly became a staple of Southern culture, particularly in the antebellum era. The South’s strict social hierarchy and emphasis on tradition made these events an...
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Oct 24, 2019 · From the roaring ’20s on, debutante balls were taken more seriously across the country. We spoke to Nancy, a North Carolinian who made her debut in 1978, whose mother debuted in 1945 and whose daughter debuted in 2010.