|
Product 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.
8 pages of illustrationsCustomers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- The International Best Dressed List: The Official Story
- The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire
- The Other Windsor Girl: A Novel of Princess Margaret, Royal Rebel
- Women of Means: The Fascinating Biographies of Royals, Heiresses, Eccentrics and Other Poor Little Rich Girls
- The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe
- Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown
- Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China
- The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era
- The Mountbattens
- A Lady in Waiting
*If this is not the "The Season: A Social History of the Debutante" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Dec 24, 2024 09:07 +08.