Dressing Up Debutantes

Dressing Up Debutantes PDF Author: Michaele Thurgood Haynes
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
For ninety years, young society women in San Antonio, Texas have donned custom-designed dresses and trains to take part in the Coronation of a queen and her court. These royal robes, which weigh fifty pounds and more and cost an average of $18,000, are highly embellished with rhinestones and beads. The Coronation is part of the ten-day, century-old festival celebrating the final battle of the 1836 Texas revolt against Mexico. This book provides a significant contribution to the study of social elites in Western society through a material culture analysis of the Coronation costumes worn by the Euro-American debutantes. Set against the backdrop of a city undergoing many demographic, socioeconomic, and political changes, the themes of Coronation pageants represent the mythologized ethnic and class history which reinforces the hierarchical positioning of its participants. The royal robes serve as the canvas upon which this theme is carried out. The Coronation, held in a city with a Hispanic majority, has come under attack for its elitism, but participation in it is still important for the old Euro-American aristocracy and for a very few extremely wealthy Hispanic families. Integral to the continuation of this increasingly contested tradition is the emotional appeal that wearing these intricately decorated gowns holds for participants.

Dressing Up Debutantes

Dressing Up Debutantes PDF Author: Michaele Thurgood Haynes
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 214

Get Book Here

Book Description
For ninety years, young society women in San Antonio, Texas have donned custom-designed dresses and trains to take part in the Coronation of a queen and her court. These royal robes, which weigh fifty pounds and more and cost an average of $18,000, are highly embellished with rhinestones and beads. The Coronation is part of the ten-day, century-old festival celebrating the final battle of the 1836 Texas revolt against Mexico. This book provides a significant contribution to the study of social elites in Western society through a material culture analysis of the Coronation costumes worn by the Euro-American debutantes. Set against the backdrop of a city undergoing many demographic, socioeconomic, and political changes, the themes of Coronation pageants represent the mythologized ethnic and class history which reinforces the hierarchical positioning of its participants. The royal robes serve as the canvas upon which this theme is carried out. The Coronation, held in a city with a Hispanic majority, has come under attack for its elitism, but participation in it is still important for the old Euro-American aristocracy and for a very few extremely wealthy Hispanic families. Integral to the continuation of this increasingly contested tradition is the emotional appeal that wearing these intricately decorated gowns holds for participants.

The Daughter of Highland Hall

The Daughter of Highland Hall PDF Author: Carrie Turansky
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 160142499X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
What if the title, the estate, the life of security and splendor… what if it isn’t enough? Strong-willed and beautiful, debutante Katherine Ramsey feels ready to take the London social season by storm, and she must. Her family estate, Highland Hall, has been passed to older male cousin Sir William Ramsey, and her only means of securing her future is to make a strong debut and find a proper husband. With her all-knowing and meddling aunt as a guide, Katherine is certain to attract suitors at the lavish gatherings, sparkling with Great Britain’s elite. When a shocking family scandal sidelines Katherine, forcing her out of the social spotlight, she keeps a low profile, volunteering with the poor in London’s East End. Here Katherine feels free from her predictable future, and even more so as a friendship with medical student Jonathan Foster deepens and her faith in God grows. But when Katherine is courted anew by a man of wealth and position, dreams of the life she always thought she wanted surface again. Torn between tradition and the stirrings in her heart for a different path, she must decide whom she can trust and love—and if she will choose a life serving others over one where she is served.

The Season

The Season PDF Author: Kristen Richardson
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0393358534
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A Smithsonian Best History Book of 2019 In this enthralling history of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson sheds new light on contemporary ideas about women and marriage. Kristen Richardson, from a family of debutantes, chose not to debut. But as her curiosity drove her to research this enduring custom, she learned that it, and debutantes, are not as simple as they seem. The story begins in England six hundred years ago when wealthy fathers needed an efficient way to find appropriate husbands for their daughters. Elizabeth I’s exclusive presentations at her court expanded into London’s full season of dances, dinners, and courting, extending eventually to the many corners of the British empire and beyond. Richardson traces the social seasons of young women on both sides of the Atlantic, from Georgian England to colonial Philadelphia, from the Antebellum South and Wharton’s New York back to England, where debutante daughters of Gilded Age millionaires sought to marry British aristocrats. She delves into Jazz Age debuts, carnival balls in the American South, and the reimagined ritual of elite African American communities, which offers both social polish and academic scholarships. The Season shares the captivating stories of these young women, often through their words from diaries, letters, and interviews that Richardson conducted at contemporary balls. The debutantes give voice to an array of complex feelings about being put on display, about the young men they meet, and about what their future in society or as wives might be. While exploring why the debutante tradition persists—and why it has spread to Russia, China, and other nations—Richardson has uncovered its extensive cultural influence on the lives of daughters in Britain and the US and how they have come to marry.

The Last Debutantes

The Last Debutantes PDF Author: Georgie Blalock
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063009307
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Fans of The Kennedy Debutante and Next Year in Havana will love Georgie Blalock’s new novel of a world on the cusp of change...set on the eve of World War II in the glittering world of English society and one of the last debutante seasons. They danced the night away, knowing their world was about to change forever. They were the debutantes of 1939, laughing on the outside, but knowing tragedy— and a war—was just around the corner. When Valerie de Vere Cole, the niece of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, makes her deep curtsey to the King and Queen of England, she knows she’s part of a world about to end. The daughter of a debt-ridden father and a neglectful mother, Valerie sees firsthand that war is imminent. Nevertheless, Valerie reinvents herself as a carefree and glittering young society woman, befriending other debutantes from England’s aristocracy as well as the vivacious Eunice Kennedy, daughter of the U.S. Ambassador. Despite her social success, the world’s troubles and Valerie’s fear of loss and loneliness prove impossible to ignore. How will she navigate her new life when everything in her past has taught her that happiness and stability are as fragile as peace in our time? For the moment she will forget her cares in too much champagne and waltzes. Because very soon, Valerie knows that she must find the inner strength to stand strong and carry on through the challenges of life and love and war.

Inventing the Fiesta City

Inventing the Fiesta City PDF Author: Laura Hernández-Ehrisman
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826343112
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
The story of how the multicultural identity of San Antonio, Texas, has been shaped and polished through its annual fiesta since the late nineteenth century.

Debutantes and the London Season

Debutantes and the London Season PDF Author: Lucinda Gosling
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0747813337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
Until the middle of the last century, London's social calendar was dominated by 'the Season', a round of social events and parties during which the daughters of the upper classes made their 'debuts'. Debutantes and their families descended on the capital from all over Britain to take part in this elaborate process that in its blend of glamour, great privilege and archaic and sometimes comic ritual is emblematic of a world now lost. From the preparations and formalities of court presentation to the exhausting round of parties that followed, Debutantes and the London Season is a detailed look at a phenomenon that was central to the lives of generations of privileged young ladies.

The Last Dance of the Debutante

The Last Dance of the Debutante PDF Author: Julia Kelly
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982171650
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
In this “glorious dance through the traditional glamour and suffocating expectations of a bygone era” (Genevieve Graham, USA TODAY bestselling author), a group of young women are swept up in a life-changing journey as they become three of the last debutantes to be presented to Queen Elizabeth II. When it’s announced that 1958 will be the last year debutantes are to be presented at court, thousands of eager mothers and hopeful daughters flood the palace with letters seeking the year’s most coveted invitation: a chance for their daughters to curtsy to the young Queen Elizabeth and officially come out into society. In an effort to appease her traditional mother, aspiring university student Lily Nichols agrees to become a debutante and do the Season, a glittering and grueling string of countless balls and cocktail parties. In doing so, she befriends two very different women: the cool and aloof Leana Hartford whose apparent perfection hides a darker side and the ambitious Katherine Norman who dreams of a career once she helps her parents find their place among the elite. But the glorious effervescence of the Season evaporates once Lily learns a devastating secret that threatens to destroy her entire family. “Woven with heartfelt emotion, this novel is a captivating, unforgettable story of one woman’s journey to find love, truth, and, most importantly, herself” (Kelly Bowen, author of The Paris Apartment) in midcentury Great Britain.

The Debutante

The Debutante PDF Author: Kathleen Tessaro
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062014315
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
A brilliant, unforgettable novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfume Collector. Can the secrets of one woman's past change another woman's future? Cate Albion is a gifted young artist at a crossroads in her life. Looking to escape New York for the summer, she takes a job in her aunt's London auction house and is soon sent on assignment to the English countryside to value the contents of Endsleigh House, the once gracious but now crumbling estate of a former Jazz Age socialite. There, hidden in the back of a dusty bookshelf, Cate discovers an old shoebox, and inside, a peculiar assortment of objects, including an exquisite pair of 1930s dancing shoes; a faded photograph of a handsome young sailor, and a rare Tiffany pearl and emerald bracelet. Intrigued, Cate sets out to learn more about the box and its contents, and becomes immersed in the mystery of its owner, Diana “Baby” Blythe, the younger of the infamous, glamorous Blythe sisters. Bright, beautiful, and reckless, Baby was the most famous debutante of her generation . . . until she suddenly disappeared entirely from view. As a shocking tale of love and betrayal begins to unravel, Cate finds herself being drawn deeper into Baby's tragic life story—one that will force Cate to confront some dark truths about her own choices.

Dressed in Time

Dressed in Time PDF Author: Margaret Maynard
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350032778
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Through object-based case studies of garments from the ancient past through to the 21st century, Margaret Maynard reveals the countless ways the temporal is woven into our attire. From the physical effects of age on garments to their changing cultural significance, time and fashion are inextricably linked. Every garment has its own pace and narrative, and every dress practice is rich with temporal associations: 'wearing' time in the form wristwatches, marking key moments in time from marriage to death, 'defying' time with beauty products, preserving and re-imagining time through vintage, and concepts of 'timeless' and 'classic' styles. This ground-breaking book presents a complete rethinking of the study of global fashion history, revealing the complex nature of changing fashion when viewed through the lens of time and challenging Eurocentric approaches such as the periodization of style and the arbitrary division of 'western' and 'non-western' fashion. Fashion in Time is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion and dress history, material culture studies, cultural anthropology, archaeology and related fields.

The Season: A Social History of the Debutante

The Season: A Social History of the Debutante PDF Author: Kristen Richardson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608743
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
A Smithsonian Best History Book of 2019 “Sparkling.” —Genevieve Valentine, NPR Kristen Richardson traces the social seasons of debutantes on both sides of the Atlantic, sharing their stories in their own words, through diaries, letters, and interviews conducted at contemporary balls. Richardson takes the reader from Georgian England to colonial Philadelphia, from the Antebellum South and Wharton’s New York to the reimagined rituals of African American communities. Originally conceived as a way to wed daughters to suitable men, debutante rituals have adapted and evolved as marriage and women’s lives have changed. An inquiry into the ritual’s enduring cultural significance, The Season also reveals the complex emotional world of the girls at its center, whose every move was scrutinized and judged, and on whose backs family fortunes rested.