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When Debuts are Usually Made—Dress of the Debutante—Her Mother's Dress—How Long Callers Should Stay—The Table and Its Color Scheme—The Refreshments and Who Should be Invited—Reasons for the Chaperon—The Young Man's Social Duties—What He May Do and What He May Not Do.

A young girl may be introduced to society at any age that her formal education is finished—at eighteen, on leaving high or boarding school, or when she has completed the course at college. In her first season in society she is called a debutante, a French word that means "one making a first appearance in society."

The introduction may be made at an afternoon tea or reception, or at an evening reception and dance. It is usually made in November, at the beginning of winter gaieties. The affair is like any other of the sort with the exception that the young lady's name appears below her mother's on the invitations, and she stands beside her mother to help receive the guests and to be introduced to those of her mother's acquaintances who are unknown to her. The proper form of this and other invitations will be found in the article on "The Etiquette of Invitations." 430