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It is an institution that seems almost hopelessly out of date, a social relic of bygone times. The very word debutante evokes images of prim, poised beauty, expensive gowns, and sumptuous balls, all of which seem anachronistic in these post-women's liberation times. But as Karal Ann Marling reveals, debdom in America is alive and well and ever evolving.
For thousands of young women every year, the society debut remains a vital rite of passage, a demonstration of female power; debs continue to be viewed as the finest flowers of a distinctive American culture. The debut and its offshoots--the high school prom, the sorority presentation, assorted beauty pageants--continue to emphasize celebrity, class, and community. But why does this peculiar tradition persist? Marling has the answer, as she demystifies debdom and the long-term American hankering after the trappings of royalty.
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, 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 '60s and '70s. 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 café 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 '30s 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.
In sparkling prose graced by a gallery of captivating photos, Marling provides an illuminating inside look at debs and a world that continues to celebrate the spirit and diversity of American womanhood.
This book is part of the CultureAmerica series.
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By Patricia (Queens, New York, USA)
It's good to know there are still wonderfully opulent debuts, (thanks, premegan -- I sure would have loved to see a description of Lauren Bush's debut, now that you mention it -- sigh!)
It's also nice to realize that the book did not go into the depth that it could, and that the style was, indeed, somewhat akin to that used to describe debuts of the past, (thanks, Victory Silvers!)
That said, this is still an interesting and deeply engroosing and
involving book --at least to me. True, it didn't go into as much depth as it could have -- but scholarly tomes are, on the whole, boring. This slightlu-more-than-a-gloss-over of it's fabulous subject book, is intriguing enough for a reader to want to explore the subject more...and, indeed, a very full list of other books touching on the subjects in this book is given at the back, in the chapter, "A Note From The Author". It is not a formal bibliography, but mainly a listing of other interesting books -- many, many of them! -- with the author's concise comments.
This book has wonderful pictures of debutantes -- I greatly wish there were more of them! The text, (and pictures), try to encompass the whole of American "Debdom", from it's beginnings until the date of publication, (2004). I believe, however, that the author has stretched the word "debutante" too much. In this book, it encompasses passages and chapters on high-school proms, Latina quincenaras, Jewish Bat-mitzvahs -- and beauty pageants! These rituals, the author seems to forget, are far different from the formal "debut", in that all a young lady must do to go to a "prom" is to be invited by one youg man, that "beauty pageants" are COMPETITIONS, with PRIZES of money and career opportunities:that Qcenaras celebrate a young lady's growing sexuality, and try to control it, and that a Jewish Bat-Mitzvah is really a sort of dedicatio ceremony, wherein the young women, (mostly they are group affairs, unlike the individual Bar-Mitzvahs, for boys), declare and dedicate their lives and efforts to the continuity of the Jewish people and Jewish tradition. Trying to be inclusive, democratic and "PC" is laudable...but anything can be taken too far. Debutante rituals, lest one forget, started in Europe, and originally, it was only ladies of the court who were presented to the Monarch, who encompassed "debdom". (This tradition continued right up until 1958, in England, when the Queen decided to put an end to it, as TOO many young women, (and their families), were trying to get THEIR prospective debutante(s) presented to the Queen! These debuts -- and their modern counter-parts -- were obviously no high-school proms, beauty pagen4s, or bat-mitzvahs. In fact, Jewish girls, (sadly for SOME Jewish girls), are usually excluded from WASPY debutante balls -- due not only to prejudice, but also ue to the fact that Jewish tradition itself frowns on such "extravagance". However, both the mention of a modern, (though segregated), geuine Jewish debutatnte ball, (The Ambassador Ball, in Chicago), AND a picture of a 1960s, 'could-be-but-wasn't' Jewish debutante, is shown on page 116, with the caption: "When Is A Deb Not A Deb?" Jewish girls did not customarily come out,.but an indulgent aunt had James Rhea paint her neice in deb regalia, anyway."
An entire chapter, "A Different Kind of Debut", is devoted to Black debutantes. Here, the emphasis is on rich young women "giving back" to the community....but they are still wearing ball gowns, make a "bow to society", (and do not wear swim-suits!) A full page picture of a black debutante, her escort shown in semi-silloette to her left, is on page 157.
This Black debutante, and to a lesser degree, the Jewish debutante in the portrait, are, it seems to me, far more REAL debutantes than beauty-pagent contestants!
What must be called "deb trivia" is also within this book. Along with pictures of genuine debs and debutante balls, past and present, are a photo of Sandra Dee and John Saxon, who acted in the movie, "The Reluctant Debutant", post-debutantes doing magazine advertisements for cigarettes and soap (!), and "After the Ball" -- a Barbie doll ensemble in 1966, now made into a fashion-plate!
Awkward moments in debdom are discussed....such as what to do when a previously all-white cotillion must(?) invite a newly-elected Black mayor.
"The Most Famous Deb of All"...Brenda Fraiser, is also discussed. On page 60 is a revealing picture of some women sewing debutante gowns, circa 1890. How achingly sad it must have been to be doing the sewing of a beautiful gown for someone else's debut....and not even being invited to see this other person's debut! Yes, this is definitely a "Politically Correct" book about debutantes!
I'm sure there are more detailed, and better books about debutantes. But this one is all-encompassing, and gives facts and figures, and many pictures. It will suffice until I find a better one!
By Victory Silvers
The book shows us the history of American debdom from the colonial era to the present day. I thought it was going to be more interesting than it was. The more I read, the sillier the whole concept of being a debutante seemed. I also felt like the author copied the style of the reporters who used to report on debutante balls. She would breathlessly describe fabrics for paragraphs, or tell us that so and so had shown up at this ball. It was sort of like reading a trashy magazine you can buy at the supermarket.
By pmegan (Massachusetts)
This book was a fun and quick read, but it wasn't really what I had expected. Since it is published by a University press, I assumed that the book would be a serious history of a rather fun subject. However, I was disapointed that there was no analysis whatsoever on anything that Marling discusses. Instead, it was basically a list of anecdotes, many of which we've heard before.
In addition, I felt that she glossed over some pretty key points: such as the fact that the more ostentatious debutant balls are still alive and well, instead of just having transformed into the democratic prom. There was, for example, no mention of Lauren Bush's debut at the Bal de Debutantes, the party and event circuit that goes on in places like the Hamptons every summer was not mentioned, nor was there any discussion of the "it's for charity" line that the wealthy now use as an excuse to party.
The book is certainly not terrible: it is a quick and simple and fun read. If you ever wanted to be a debutante, the book is definately worth reading. However, the book would have been much better if Marling had gone one way or the other: either made it a picture book filled with historical photos and anecdotes; or made it a serious history that offered some analysis.
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