Dressing up debutantes : pageantry and glitz in Texas

Bibliographic Information

Dressing up debutantes : pageantry and glitz in Texas

Michaele Thurgood Haynes

(Dress, body, culture)

Berg, 1998

  • : pbk

Available at  / 5 libraries

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Bibliography

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9781859739341

Description

For ninety years, young society women in San Antonio, Texas have donned custom-designed dresses and trains to take part in the Coronation of a queen and her court. These royal robes, which weigh fifty pounds and more and cost an average of $18,000, are highly embellished with rhinestones and beads. The Coronation is part of the ten-day, century-old festival celebrating the final battle of the 1836 Texas revolt against Mexico. This book provides a significant contribution to the study of social elites in Western society through a material culture analysis of the Coronation costumes worn by the Euro-American debutantes. Set against the backdrop of a city undergoing many demographic, socioeconomic, and political changes, the themes of Coronation pageants represent the mythologized ethnic and class history which reinforces the hierarchical positioning of its participants. The royal robes serve as the canvas upon which this theme is carried out. The Coronation, held in a city with a Hispanic majority, has come under attack for its elitism, but participation in it is still important for the old Euro-American aristocracy and for a very few extremely wealthy Hispanic families. Integral to the continuation of this increasingly contested tradition is the emotional appeal that wearing these intricately decorated gowns holds for participants.

Table of Contents

  • An introduction to San Antonio's coronation
  • the history of San Antonio and Fiesta
  • the construction and maintenance of class and gender roles
  • "catching the light" in the royal robes
  • judgements and justifications.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9781859739396

Description

For ninety years, young society women in San Antonio, Texas have donned custom-designed dresses and trains to take part in the Coronation of a queen and her court. These royal robes, which weigh fifty pounds and more and cost an average of $18,000, are highly embellished with rhinestones and beads. The Coronation is part of the ten-day, century-old festival celebrating the final battle of the 1836 Texas revolt against Mexico.This book provides a significant contribution to the study of social elites in Western society through a material culture analysis of the Coronation costumes worn by the Euro-American debutantes. Set against the backdrop of a city undergoing many demographic, socioeconomic, and political changes, the themes of Coronation pageants represent the mythologized ethnic and class history which reinforces the hierarchical positioning of its participants. The royal robes serve as the canvas upon which this theme is carried out. The Coronation, held in a city with a Hispanic majority, has come under attack for its elitism, but participation in it is still important for the old Euro-American aristocracy and for a very few extremely wealthy Hispanic families. Integral to the continuation of this increasingly contested tradition is the emotional appeal that wearing these intricately decorated gowns holds for participants.

Table of Contents

  • An introduction to San Antonio's coronation
  • the history of San Antonio and Fiesta
  • the contstruction and maintenance of class and gender roles
  • "catching the light" in the royal robes
  • judgements and justifications.

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