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'y -W'V-ft1'“EBUTANTE-WISE, the present social season has been for Philadelphia one of the most brtlliant in many years. Twenty-four buds in all have made their debut in society, and as the crown ing effort of the season the ball recently given by Mr. and Mrs. A fred Craven Harrison in honor of their daughter, Miss Kate Shel-don Harrison, has been acknowledged by the press of this city an New York to be the most magnificent debutante cotillion giveneither in the Quaker City or old Gotham for seasons out of memory.The only other affair that crowds the Harrison cotillon for first honors is the Anthony J. Drexel dinner-dance in Horticultural Hall on last Tuesday night. It ws a farewell affair, as Mr. and Mrs. Drexel will sail for Europe early in February to cruise in foreign waters for several months. This* dinner-dance wras only for two hundred guests, while the Harrisons nearer a thousand, but the average cost per guest at the former function t Was considerably greater, as the expense of the affair would not be un er$15,000, possibly more.Of spending fortunes rapidly there are just three or four was, u eTHEIMMENSE SUM PAID FOR THE COMING-OUT OF A FEW MORE THAN A SCOREOF QUAKER CITY GIRLS WHO ENTER SOCIETYfor decorative purposes, until the debutante often stands literally surround-edflowersfill a padded storage van.BeautiesRefresh-a cotillion ball to which a thousand guests are expected to respond, theitems named below are not excessive:Rent of hall for danceDecorationsSupperFavors............................*.....Gowns for mother and daughter...........Invitations, carriages and all other incidentals$(*002,5005.0001.000 500500received on an equality with the family, and too aristocratic by birth to be discarded, these family barnacles are utilized in a variety of ways by be ngassigned to the supervision of certain details of the approaching presentationreception. It is this poor relation who usually goes over the family visiting list, corrects it up to date, and attends to the engraving and distribution oithe invitations. * * *and $1000 is not infrequently spent on the single item of flowers, ments and incidentals will often equal this amount. Although u ordinarily expensive, debutante teas still cost a pretty sum, and every man, even among the rich set, who can afford to go beyond this stagenotfashionable• * *derivedFor a fashionable affair, as many as a thousand invitations are frequently ^ ^ 'fu|, se.ason. regard the first reception merely as the initiative to morehadTotal$10,100sent out; the number who respond is regulated by the number of engagementsand the condition of the weather, but It seldomelaborate affairs.S3000 for the season’s theatre parties is oneThe politethings* * *It is safe to say that the money spent in Philadelphia for the purpose of bringing out society girls would annually rebuild a hundred dilapidated tene-whole list. Men are not so numerous at debutante receptions. pntertains hours for a tea or reception are from u to 7; the nm^u ne mlnd entertainsa profound aversion to afternoon affairs, and a man will oftener than notboxes for the bestter \ theatre party or tweive .in town, but twelve Is a small number, and it more often happens thatV*easiest method of unloading a few thousand dollars off-hand is to “bringout” vour daughter when she has reached the debutante age, and to do it inthe fashion of the smart set of society.When you speak of society in Philadelphia, you are speaking, par excellence of the most exclusive and formal social coterie of any city in the broad' United States. Paraphrasing the Mohammedan dogma, there is no society but Philadelphia society; and this being the case, it is naturally expected that Philadelphia’s debutantes, as the representatives of the younger social generation, should capture the honors for the dash, splendor and costlinessof their debuts. : rment houses; the bouquets and flowers used In the decoration of receptionwould keep every cot in every city hospital supplied with fresh flowersroomsdaily; the price of the food thrown away or not consumed at luncheons and suppers would sustain the almshouse table; and the value of the favors givenat the cotillions would be sufficient to buy a Christmas gift for every child*in the slums.* * ** * *laws.gocietv is an organization governed by a tacitly-understood code of by-To bring out a yourtg gtrl according to the letter and spirit of these hv laws costs a small fortune, even granting that you limit her to the minimum showing recognized by society; but if you are anxious to bring her forward prominently in aristocratic circles and show her up .,b one of the reign-belies of the season, you may spend as high as MOT on her during the three months in which she is making her debut A debutante is not created in a dav After the first reception or tea. as the case may be, where she isformally'presented; follows a season of luncheons, theatre parties, dances, receptions and germans. Five thousand dollars is accounted a trifling expenditure for the season of a debutante, while *50,000 Is an unusual but not an impossible sum; $10,000 is perhaps a fair average for the amount lavishedDebutantes are presented during December and the fore part of January. Untirthat time the fashionables have not as yet returned from their out-of-town places and the social season is not in full swing. Months prior to the actual appearance of the debutante active preparations are going forward in anticipation of the coming event. Mother and daughter spend days and weeks of anxious planning. The visiting list is revised; the modistesclothe his sentiments proper in a bouquet rather than attend in person, greater the number of invitations sent out the more active will be thei eea son of the debutante, and as she is invariably accompanied even where; by her mother, both at the dances arid receptions she gives and ‘h0*«the amount of costuming necessitated is considerable. In the score^ or^two of recepttons that mother and daughter must afterward respond tc neIther Vearsthe same costume more than twice, and It is looked upon as better form to have a new gown for every affair.The color for debutantes will probably always remain white, the dress tobe cut slightly decollete. A wide margin is permissible for fabrics but silk, tqffeta or lace are recognized as the proper thing. The most exquisite andcostly gowns are those of lace, ranging from $5 to $50 a yard or even more.and of the laces, Valenciennes is the most beautiful and by far the most ex-February.roPHILADELPHIALEADSTHECOUNTRYit comes to social eventsooonentertainments during the coming-out season of a young society girl.* * *and mantuamakers pay their /espects; the floral decorator bows; the caterer makes his call; and, some morning when the paternal is sunk in blissful reveries over a rise in stocks, be is touched-on the shoulder-for coin of a bright yellow shade, and awakens with a start to find that Gladys no longer cares whether all Gaul is divided into three parts or if the French primer as-Just how this sum could be reached Is demonstrated by the following crlbes the ownership of the table to the sister of the uncle’s nephew.Gla-figures:First receptionTheatre parties and suppers. 4Duncheons and dinners.......ix * * ................Gowns for mother and daughter Final cotillion ball ..........$2,0003.0002.000 5.000* * ♦3,00010,000II%m.i§S§;_i_ $25,000Tota 1 —. ................................... * ’Dances are the most expensive entertainments that can be given, and acotillion is looked upon as “the” thing. The favors alone at the Harrison cotillion cost $2500? they consisted of a large variety of Parisian trinkets in sterling silver,'all mounted in rich floral designs. The cost of the entire affair is not known, but it is positively asserted that it could not have been less than $10,000, and the chances are it came to a thousand or two over. ForV A . dys is no longer a child.cThe debutante age is 18. If a girl graduates from her seminary or private academy before that time, she usually employs the interim, previous to the date of coming out, in perfecting herself In the graces of deportment. Hermusical education, if she possesses any talent, has naturally already beenattended to* if she has not been able to outgrow entirely the awkwardness ofthe schoolgirl period, she is given a course of training in conjunction with her dancing lessons; any impediment in her speech is corrected by a course in elocution, and the instruction may go so far as to include the formal behavior of the reception hall. There are women in this city, who, with blue blood circulating through their veins, but unfortunately classed among the reduced gentlefolks, manage to make a good livelihood by teachingwhist, euchre, polite converse and the allied arts to the. scions of society. In this connection the “poor relative” often figures conspicuously; too poor to beA single costume of this fabric can cost as high as a thousand dol-pensive.lars. ^ # ♦ *v * * arP usually given at home, although permanentDebutante rec i - arrange with hotel managers for the use of theirsuburban residents generally arrange w been ta.tea and reception rooms. Th.s season large S P dbooed and the debutante is presented by Tne muuiei *helped to receive by a host of friends* * *The most conspicuous feature of a debutante tea or reception as distin-ine mo. cjnspit o s the abundance of flowers. In ad-guishing it from other similar functions, is t D9a„HPadition to the festoons of smilax and the banks o v 0 e s, m debutanteand orchids which the floral decorator has arranged beforehand, the debutan te receives dozens of exquisite bouquets. No debutante could P°*»‘Wy carrj_the flowers lavished upon her by admiring friends, and the more poimiar g Hs receive as many as seventy-five different floral offerings. The average num-ber of bouquets received by debutantes is not far f#om y. *bouquets nowadays are not as elaborate as those of t e s £ , V ‘A $100 bouquet ten years ago was quite as frequent as a $-lt; bo qu y.Many of the bunches of flowers sent are as large in cj?cum l ? ^head of a barrel, and with the exception of a very few bunches alenough are invited to fill four boxes. Of course, the entire party is afterward taken in carriages to a fashionable hotel, where ^ a sumptuous dinner is «rved. A very f6w th6lt;itr6 partifi®. on this scal€ft it is unnsc^sswy to state,will cause an appreciable diminution* * *But this is not all, for it is a matter of obligation with the mother of the debutante to give one or two luncheons in the course cf the season; andif the father can afford it, he gives the debutante a daiice in January or* To compete with this round of pleasuring, the supply of costumes has been sorely taxed and mother and daughter are constantly get- ,ting their wardrobes replenished.er and daughter is $5000 during the debutante seasonWith careful management and economy, $10,000 can be made to go along way in launching a debutante into the social element, -and it can bedone very respectably for this amount. That is, she can be given a presentation reception, a theatre party, a luncheon and a small cotillion, and havea variety of very pretty gowns thrown in. For $25,000 a more elaborate program can be carried out; the decorations will be more profuse, the suppers more pretentious, and a greater number of entertainments offered. The entire amount said to have been spent on MiSS Kate Sheldon Harrison this season, including the cotillion ball and all other funotiobs incident to a debutante, wijl fully amount to $30,000, if not more.A fair average outlay for gowns for moth-Tlie “Cigarette Face.A Birmingham scientist has studied and analyzed the faces of smokers. He divides them into three principal classes: (1) The pipe face; (2) the cigar face; (3)stem. These are crossed by finer lines, caused by the pressure of the lips to retain the stem in position. You may see these lines In the face of Prince Bismarck, who Is rarely without his pipe.While the cigar is of softer material,the cigarette face. •*«...The most common form is the pipe it is larger and thicker, and, as it is usu-face. The constant use of the pipe, as most smokers use that article,, has its effect upon the face, because it is habitually carried in the same position Every lover of the pipe, although he may not be aware of the fact, has a favorite way of holding his pip© between his teethand lips. - „After long continuation of the habit, small circular wrinkles form parallel tocurvature of the lips around the panded.ally held in the same position in the mouth, the same unnatural curvature cf the lips and the accompanying fine linesand wrinkles are the result. Mr. Rockefeller, the American millionaire^ is agreat ctgar smoker The eigarette face is very common, and is famllir to most people. There is always a nervous expression hovering cm it, and the nostrils are generally ex-theA
Newspaper Details
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Sun, Jan 30, 1898
Page 25
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
DC, USA 11 May 2022
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