One of my must sees in London last week was Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana.  I always found her to be incredibly glamorous and couldn’t wait to see where she once lived.  I was most excited to see a collection of Diana’s dresses on display, many of which I remembered the exact time and location it was worn.  As soon as I saw the black velvet gown on display, I squealed to my husband, “that’s the dress Diana wore to the White House during the Reagan years and she danced with John Travolta.”  This was much to the astonishment of my husband, being that I can’t seem to remember when the credit card is due, and it is on the same day each month.  I guess I just remember the important things… LOL!

In addition to Diana’s gowns, there was also a temporary exhibit called,   “The Last Debutantes.”  For a select group of aristocratic and upper class families, ‘coming out’ had long been a rite of passage.  In 1958 the last of the girls’ made a final presentation to the Royal court before the tradition of court presentations ended.  I wasn’t particularly excited about this being that I was never a “Deb,” nor was my mother or any other family member for that matter.  It just was a whole other world to me that never captured my interest.  But as I started walking around, I became more and more intrigued with the world of parties, dresses and etiquette that was the life of a Debutante.  How fabulous it must have been for these young women to have a magical evening at Buckingham Palace and be able to curtsy to the king and queen and dance the night away.

I was astonished to learn that being a Debutante was not a cheap affair.  I wasn’t surprised one had to have money to participate, but I was shocked at the actual cost.  In April of 1958, Tatler Magazine published an estimate of what the “Season” would actually cost and by today’s standards, a “shoestring deb” would spend 11,000 pounds (that’s $17,581 U.S dollars) and a “deluxe deb” would spend 130,000 pounds (that’s $207,780 U.S. dollars)!!!  I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around these numbers… how could this be?  As I walked through the hall of dresses, I started to get a sense of the elegance and  how much it probably would cost.  Then I saw it… a display donated by a Debutant, Margaret McKay,  in that very last season of 1958.  It was a wall of all the invitations she received in a year’s time.  The sheer numbers were staggering…  overwhelming actually.  I couldn’t imagine having to buy enough clothing and accessories to attend all of these events.  Of course, I stood by the invitation display for nearly 30 minutes admiring all the papers and copy.  I decided to take a few photos to share with all of you … so please excuse my poor photography skills and enjoy!

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Lauren