Making Their Bow

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6954, 6 July 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)

Making Their Bow

DEBUTANTES, PAST AND PRESENT... A COMPARISON OF THE FORMA*. VICTORIAN ERA WITH THE BRIGHTER COURTS OF TODAY.

HE

HE modern , debutante will never know how much she has missed, for though . she may shudder at the formality of the past, she will

never realise the immense enjoyment that went with it (writes Gertrude, Lady Decies, in the “Daily Chronicle”). The Victorian drawing rooms and the stately Court balls, to a-young girl, were great ordeals, and for days beforehand the very thought of them induced a cloud of depression, but when the eventful night arrived, the pageantry and the splendour' swept all sense of awe away,, and made a memorable epoch in a' debutante’s life.

The modern girl is no longer harassed with conventional dress, and with the simpler etiquette at Court, her presentation is not now a dreaded ordeal. But in a way she loses, for the drawing rooms of the past were memorable occasions, full of ceremonial pageantry, which marked an epoch. And the Royal balls no less picturesque. These were held in what was once the music room of Buckingham Palace. There is still the musicians’ gallery opposite the Royal dais, with a floor of parquet. On each side were tiers of seats for the chaperons, who remained seated until the arrival of the Royal party, which passed down the room preceded by the Lord Chamberlain and Court officials, who walked backward. The Queen was always magnificently jewelled, and the corner of the room occupied by members of the Diplomatic Corps was indeed a magnificent sight. Besides the Court balls, there was the stately dinner party, which went on for two hours or more,, and started about eight o’clock, a different hour from the modern party today, which is often after nino o’clock. The Victorian dinner party was an awesome affair, but with it there was a sense of enjoyment, for the guests were clever conversationalists, and an amusing story is told of a young debutante who grew so interested in a discussion that she precipitated her oysters into the lap of her white satin gown. But though the Victorian debutante had not so many parties as the modern girl, she enjoyed them more, the dates were few and far between, and she had something to look forward to. The modern girl, during the season, has a surfeit of balls and parties, and, while only in her teens, is allowed to attend two or even more dances on one night—a most reprehensible habit. Miss Modern does not suffer from hysteria, but at the close of her first season she often has a breakdown, and it is only because she does too much. It cannot be right for a girl to stay up until four in the morning, or attend a night club, often returning without her chaperon, who has left her earlier in the evening. In the past no chaperon would leave her

charge, even if she had someone else to hand her on to. She Was a Good Picture

In a way, I think the flowing dress of the period assisted the debutante. It gave her a status, a power, poise, self-possesion, and made her a younger replica of her mother, the stately gown adding immeasurably to her looks. She was like a good picture in a fine frame. I wish the debutantes of both ages could meet. It would be so amusing.

Little Miss Victorian would be shocked with the slim, boyish silhou* ette of the modern girl. And what

would she say to the modern hosiery bill, when in her day they wore black woollen stockings? And think of a London season without yards of madapollam cambric,, cambric longcloth, mull, nainsook, mercerised lawn and all-over embroidered muslins. It would be the modern debutante who would swoon If she had to wear the Victorian Princess petticoats and the boned corsets. And what about the picture hats! The modern girl today is at a dismarriage. Her hail-fellow-well-met advantage with the impermanence of psychology makes her an excellent comrade to her husband, but she has not the subtle fascination of her forbear.

In Miss Victorian’s air of reserve there was mystery. She never gave herself away. She allured, and-she held man’s wavering affections. As the years went on, her sympathetic understanding broadened, and hers became no narrowed judgment. She was kindly and self-possessed. Her determinative energy ruled her husband and her home. Jn time she became a woman of the world, and, though confined to the domestic side of life, her intelligence had a wide range of thought. She was often a witty conversationalist, and gave to the world a race of men almost unsurpassed. Miss Modern has assurance, poise, an adaptable nature, and she will no doubt use her independence in a fine fearless way. She has taken her place beside man in office and in workshop, and it is early days to criticise her. She stands between two worlds, Jier emancipation has won. her the vote, and it is > difficult to say ultimately what she will become, —posterity can only judge that.