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The National Debutante Cotillion and Thanksgiving Ball is an annual dance and formal debutante presentation of young women in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1949 [1] by Miss Mary-Stuart Montague Price, [2] one of the grande dames of Washington society. "Studie", as she is affectionately known, continues to serve as Chairman Emerita.
Hundreds of young ladies, their families, friends, and escorts have "had a ball" at Washington's oldest and most prestigious debutante presentation. [3] Recently, changing customs and raised social consciousness have altered the debutante tradition. In the past, "coming out parties" were a rite of passage, where young woman were presented to polite society. Today's Debutante Cotillion is more often a recognition of an already accomplished and assured young woman. Organizers describe today's debutante as a mature, active and involved young woman, striving for success in college and a chosen career, and dedicated to supporting the charity work of the National Debutante Cotillion Foundation. The Washington Post described the Cotillion as "networking in a ball gown." [4]
Growing national prominence has broadened the Cotillion's geographic base. Originally, only area families participated. Today young women from many states travel to Washington to be presented. Regional Chairmen from many states including California, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas recommend young women and their families for participation. Inclusion is by invitation.
Guests call themselves members of the "Cotillion Family" and often come back for many years, befriending the debutantes and their families, and creating lasting relationships. Debutantes can formally participate in the ball for up to three years, with different colors representing their increasing confidence and sophistication: debutantes wear white, post-debutantes wear black and the post-post debutantes wear red. [5]
The National Debutante Cotillion Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all-volunteer public charity, which supports humanitarian works and organizations, including the Children's National Medical Center of Washington, DC. The primary fundraiser for the foundation is the National Debutante Cotillion and Thanksgiving Ball, presented each year on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature food and beverages, and often conversation, music, dancing, or other forms of entertainment.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-profit group, the organization promotes education and patriotism. Its membership is limited to direct lineal descendants of soldiers or others of the American Revolution era who aided the revolution and its subsequent war. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and have a birth certificate indicating that their gender is female. DAR has over 190,000 current members in the United States and other countries. The organization's motto is "God, Home, and Country".
The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With 298 Junior League chapters in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom as of 2024, it is one of the oldest and largest of its kind. Members engage in developing civic leadership skills, fundraising, and volunteering on committees to support partner community organizations related to foster children, domestic violence, human trafficking, illiteracy, city beautification, and other issues. Its mission is to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
A quinceañera is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday that is common in Mexican and other Latin American cultures. The girl celebrating her 15th birthday is a quinceañera. In Latin America, the term quinceañera is reserved solely for the honoree; in English, primarily in the United States, the term is used to refer to the celebrations and honors surrounding the special occasion.
A debutante, also spelled débutante, or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" or possibly debutante ball. Originally, the term indicated that the woman was old enough to be married, and one purpose of her "coming out" was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select circle.
A ball gown, ballgown or gown is a type of evening gown worn to a ball or a formal event. Most versions are cut off the shoulder with a low décolletage, exposed arms, and long bouffant styled skirts. Such gowns are typically worn with opera-length white gloves, vintage jewelry or couture, and a stole, cape, or cloak in lieu of a coat. Where "state decorations" are to be worn, they are on a bow pinned to the chest, and married women wear a tiara if they have one. Although synthetic fabrics are now sometimes used, the most common fabrics are satin, silk, taffeta and velvet with trimmings of lace, pearls, sequins, embroidery, ruffles, ribbons, rosettes and ruching.
A ball is a formal dance event often characterised by a banquet followed by a social dance. Ball dancing emerged from formal dances during the Middle Ages and carried on through different iterations throughout succeeding centuries, such as the 17th century Baroque dance and the 18th century cotillion. Several variations exists such as the masquerade and debutante ball as well as the more modern prom.
Bachelor and Spinsters Ball or Bloke's & Sheila's Ball events, known locally as B & S Balls or simply B&Ss, are hosted regularly in rural Australia.
The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the appropriate time to reside in the city rather than in the country in order to attend such events.
The first dance is an element in a number of traditions, being an opening of a certain dance function: ball, prom, wedding, etc.
The Fleur de Lis Ball is a formal cotillion ball in St. Louis, Missouri, for adolescents of affluent society around the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, started in 1958 by a group of Catholic upper-class women. It teaches etiquette and ballroom skills to young debutante women and men. Four years of classes end with the Fleur de Lis Ball itself, which benefits Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. Female guests wear white debutante gowns with gloves, and are escorted and presented to the Archbishop of St. Louis. It is one of two major cotillion balls in Saint Louis.
A debutante dress is a pure white ball gown, accompanied by long white gloves and pearls worn by girls or young women at their debutante cotillion, although this may not always be the case. Debutante cotillions were traditional coming of age celebrations for eligible young ladies ready to be presented to society as ready for marriage.
The debut is a traditional Filipino coming-of-age celebration which celebrates a young woman's 18th birthday, the age of maturity in the Philippines. Although also reaching legal maturity at 18, a Filipino man may mark his own debut on his 21st birthday, albeit with less formal celebrations or none at all.
The International Debutante Ball is an invitation-only, formal debutante ball, to officially present well-connected young women from upper-class families to high society. Founded in 1954, it occurs every two years at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The African-American upper class, sometimes referred to as the black upper class, the black upper middle class or black elite, is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net worth. The group includes highly paid white-collar professionals such as academics, engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors, politicians, business executives, venture capitalists, CEOs, celebrities, entertainers, entrepreneurs and heirs.
Caroline Lind is an American rower, and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the end of 2014 she was ranked #1 female rower by International Rowing Federation.
The Queen Charlotte's Ball is an annual British debutante ball. The ball was founded in 1780 by George III as a birthday celebration in honour of his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom the ball is named. The Queen Charlotte's Ball originally served as a fundraiser for the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital. The annual ball continued after Queen Charlotte's death in 1818, but was criticised by the British royal family in the 1950s and 1960s and folded in 1976.
Pauline Redmond Coggs was an American social worker, educator, and civil rights activist. She focused on combating unemployment, civil rights violations, poverty, and racism, as well as supporting communities of color, women, and other marginalized factions within the United States. Coggs began as a community organizer in Chicago, then served as a race relations adviser within the Office of Civilian Defense before assuming a position at the Washington DC Urban League. Her activism focused
The Terpsichorean Club Debutante Ball, commonly known as the North Carolina Debutante Ball, is an annual debutante ball held in Raleigh, North Carolina. The ball, hosted by the Terpsichorean Club of Raleigh, is the oldest and most prestigious debutante ball in North Carolina. Originally organized in 1923 as the Raleigh Fall Festival, the formal debutante ball formed in 1927 with the founding of the Terpsichorean Club. The ball is held every year over Labor Day weekend in downtown Raleigh. It is the only remaining state-wide debutante ball in the United States.
