Anonymous wrote:
This American commercial subversion sounds fascinating and grotesque.

Old aristocratic families in Europe have ditched the Debutante balls for generations. They were created to present young ladies of impeccable lineage to their Queen and to be married off to equally respectable court gentlemen.
My mother, who could have had her Bal des Debutantes and been formally presented to the French Bourbon heirs (the Royal Family, the most widely accepted claimants to the non-existent throne), never even gave it a thought. She preferred to watch the students throw pavement stones during the Revolution of May '68.

It's so interesting to see the global flux of perceived status and deportment. People around the world take up antiquated traditions even when the original institutions and their reasons for so doing have died out.

Anonymous wrote:They say that you cannot buy class. But Mrs Simpson's really does prove that you can.

I have some very good friends who, though they had done extremely well financially, remained a little "rough around the edges". An example: at one luncheon I noticed one of them drinking from the finger bowl.

For people such as this, Mrs Simpson's provides a truly wonderful opportunity to ascend the social scale: if not for them then at least for their children. One cannot put a price on an opportunity like this. Whilst I love these friends dearly, and would do anything for them, their Coarseness has always created a certain distance between my husband and I and them.

Thanks to Mrs. Simpson's, our children will no longer know this same distance. Their six children have truly turned into lovely young adults there.

I think it you have the opportunity and the funds to do something like this, you should. Yes, it may result in your children looking down on you slightly as a result, but do we not all hope for our children to be better than ourselves? And the location is simply fabulous - nothing exudes class and taste like Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:Where are these posters coming from. I am sorry but I rarely post on these forums because they are so outrageous, however the parent?? who says they doubt the kids liked china and crystal? Are you kidding? Do you live in a barn??

Anonymous wrote:They say that you cannot buy class. But Mrs Simpson's really does prove that you can.

I have some very good friends who, though they had done extremely well financially, remained a little "rough around the edges". An example: at one luncheon I noticed one of them drinking from the finger bowl.

For people such as this, Mrs Simpson's provides a truly wonderful opportunity to ascend the social scale: if not for them then at least for their children. One cannot put a price on an opportunity like this. Whilst I love these friends dearly, and would do anything for them, their Coarseness has always created a certain distance between my husband and I and them.

Thanks to Mrs. Simpson's, our children will no longer know this same distance. Their six children have truly turned into lovely young adults there.

I think it you have the opportunity and the funds to do something like this, you should. Yes, it may result in your children looking down on you slightly as a result, but do we not all hope for our children to be better than ourselves? And the location is simply fabulous - nothing exudes class and taste like Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:There is no way any normal 4th graders oohed and ah'ed about china and crystal. Come on, that would be really sad, actually.

Anonymous wrote:
This American commercial subversion sounds fascinating and grotesque.

Old aristocratic families in Europe have ditched the Debutante balls for generations. They were created to present young ladies of impeccable lineage to their Queen and to be married off to equally respectable court gentlemen.
My mother, who could have had her Bal des Debutantes and been formally presented to the French Bourbon heirs (the Royal Family, the most widely accepted claimants to the non-existent throne), never even gave it a thought. She preferred to watch the students throw pavement stones during the Revolution of May '68.

It's so interesting to see the global flux of perceived status and deportment. People around the world take up antiquated traditions even when the original institutions and their reasons for so doing have died out.