CO U RTE S Y O F R I Z Z O L I
the International Debutante Ball, both at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York—may not always compare to the elegance on display in the pages of Debutantes, which are aswirl with snowflakes in the form of white dresses and elbow-length gloves, scenes set against backdrops of ballrooms. Sprinkled throughout, the smiles of Nina Auchincloss, Rosie Grosvenor, and Catherine Mellon. Oscar de la Renta contributes to the narrative with a memory of the debut of Beatrice Lodge, daughter of John Davis Lodge, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain. She came out in the advent of the acceptance of Spain, which was at the time under the leadership of Francisco Franco, to the United Nations in 1955. The debutante, wearing a two-tier tulle dress by Oscar de la Renta, was featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1956, launching the career of 24-year-old designer. “Women have changed in unbelievable ways since I made the dress for Ms. Lodge,” reminisces Oscar de la Renta. “To ‘debut’ then meant that a young woman was eligible to marry; the purpose of her coming out was to present her to young men and their families. Today women are much more in control of their destinies. They know that their femininity is a tremendous asset. The modern debutante is more concerned with the perfect dress than the perfect suitor.” X