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Debutantes from Texas practice their curtsy during the 54th International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. (Photograph by Mary Altaffer/AP)
Last night, the International Debutante Ball was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Forty-seven young women from all over the world arrived to be "presented to society" (in earlier eras, it meant that the young lady was officially on the marriage market). The AP reports, given that "A debutante's family pays $14,000 for a table plus thousands of dollars for couture gowns, hairdressers and other expenses," some people are wondering if the tradition is antiquated.
"All of that excess. It kind of makes me gag a little," said Rachel Weingarten, an expert on marketing and trends and the author of "Career and Corporate Cool: How to Look, Dress and Act the Part at Every Stage of Your Career."But a consultant whose daughter made her debut said, it's "a beautiful and meaningful coming-of-age ceremony in an increasingly global world." And one deb "who is descended from Venetian nobility that ruled Corfu for 400 years, explained the upside to the pomp and pageantry, "I want to meet international friends and have contacts with people from different countries." Perhaps the girls were enticed by the Gossip Girl episode, Hi, Society.Elayne Rapping, a professor of American Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, said the persistence of debutante balls mirrors the trend of wealthy families throwing lavish bar mitzvahs and Sweet 16 parties. "The economy is so bad that it seems vulgar," Rapping said. "I guess they live in a bubble."
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i heard that chuck didn't go because he's still in mourning.
I think the woman on the far right of this Weegee photograph pretty much sums up most New Yorker's feelings on this debutante nonsense...
http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/weegee09.html
Rather than look at their pictures now, I'll just wait for their first bukkake video.
they used to televise the international on wpix. it's great we've progressed as a society and we no longer lionize the lives of the wealthy on channel 11.
hey, i'll be international friends with the broad from corfu.
Sickening. Too bad the families of these 47 broads didn't invest with Madoff.
No classier way to be declared safe at Home Plate.
Oh gag. One of those girls is actually wearing my Vera Wang wedding gown. WTF?
Glorified meat market for the rich and well connected.
Though I see a lot of Butter Faces in those photos....
"I want to meet international friends and have contacts with people from different countries."
You do? Then join the Peace Corps. Sheesh. These girls and their families obviously have an inflated sense of entitlement and privilege. And as for the girl on the left in the third photo, $14k and they never taught her not to slouch?
What did the debutante say when she got to the ball?
Aughhuughhherruu.
She talked between swallows? How gauche!
""All of that excess. It kind of makes me gag a little," said Rachel Weingarten"
I guarantee Rachel Weingarten's Bat Mitzvah cost more than $14K!!!
...she just hates WASP's who aren't self-loathing.
Well, there are a hell of a lot of assumptions in just a few sentences, aren't there? You have no idea if she's Jewish; it's a GERMAN name, not necessarily a Jewish one. You have no idea if she had a bat mitzvah; a lot of Jews don't these days. And this isn't a WASP event; it's a lot of people convening to bask in their own self-realized importance.
47 left? Pretty soon you'll be married off to your own cousin ... Ah, the trial and travails of blue bloods ... the hook noses ... and lisps ... and hemophilia. The cocaine comes next, but that's not inherited. It is just a way of life.
They should be encouraged to spend lots of money. Its good for the NY economy.
They should be encouraged to spend lots of money. Its good for the NY economy.
I went to school with someone who did this debutante ball nonsense. Nobody knew about it until she mentioned it. Nobody cared, when she did mention it. It was sad in a way; she thought it was the height of importance and outside her own little social circle, it didn't mean anything to anyone.
If they want to play in their very expensive sandbox, it's their choice, I guess.
FU*K you
I read elsewhere from AP that "Each deb is paired with a civilian escort in white tails and a military cadet in a dress uniform."
That's not pairing. That's a menage-a-trois. But I loved the debbie Corfiot's raison fete for joining the knees-up.
It's so very sporting when they all bow down low to reveal their tramp stamps.