Budget Debutante Etiquette

All of the Court gowns have many similar features. Unmarried young women must appear in white. The gown must have a train not less than two yards in length and must be cut moderately low in the neck, and the sleeves must be short. A veil similar to that worn by a bride must also form a part of the costume. A bouquet of flowers is also a compulsory feature...

The London Season... At Cut Rate Prices

One girl who was presented last year, boasted of having passed through the ordeal at a cost of less than $50! She managed it by hiring a gown and veil for $30, borrowing some jewels, paying $10 for a carriage and $10 for a bouquet of flowers. It is possible to do it for $175 without hiring or borrowing anything. A fair gown can be had for $125, the veils, slippers, gloves, etc., for $25 more, leaving $25 for the carriage and flowers. This, of course, is shaving matters dangerously close. Usually, the parents of a girl who is presented, give a reception at their hotel or home after the drawing room, and this has grown to be such a fixed custom, that the cost must be reckoned the same as the price of the Court gown. 

All of the Court gowns have many similar features. Unmarried young women must appear in white. The gown must have a train not less than two yards in length and must be cut moderately low in the neck, and the sleeves must be short. A veil similar to that worn by a bride must also form a part of the costume. A bouquet of flowers is also a compulsory feature, but aside from these, the young woman can allow her fancy to run as freely as her pocketbook will permit. It is the Lord Chamberlain who fixes all these rules, and his assistants see to it that they are rigorously adhered to. – London (UP),1896

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