Debutante Ball (1958)

Debutante ball, 1958

A debutante is a young woman of an aristocratic or upper-class family who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, comes out into society at a formal “debut”. Originally, the term meant the woman was old enough to be married, and part of the purpose of her coming out was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select circle.

Queen Charlotte’s Ball by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1959)

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Queen Charlotte’s Ball, London, 1959 via

Lee and Jackie at a Debutante Ball (1951)

Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill by Cecil Beaton for Vogue at a debutante ball, 1951 via

Lee Radziwill and Jackie Kennedy Onassis by Cecil Beaton for Vogue at a debutante ball, 1951 via

Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis by Cecil Beaton for Vogue, 1951 via

by Cecil Beaton, bromide print, January 1951

Lee Radziwill by Cecil Beaton for Vogue at a debutante ball, 1951 via

Debutantes (1899)

Debutantes Lady Blanche Ruth Brooke Tatton Grieve and Mrs. Bouchier, (née Flora Bathurst Greive), 1899.