Victorian debutante

The process of achieving a societal debut in the late nineteenth century was one in which eighteen-year-olds got their first taste of all the splendour that money could buy. Yet at the same time, t…

I recently discovered a fascinating cartoon online, originally from Harper’s Bazaar in 1870, but entirely apropos for the earlier nineteenth century. Take a look at this: The Coming Season offers a wealth of insight into how at least this particular artist (and the editor who approved the drawing to run) saw the London Season. In the four corners and center, the caricaturist imagined the five types of ladies who might be taking part in society this Season: the debutante (“Coming out”), the…