But it works

But it works.” For many at boarding school it’s a way of building up London contacts. Mrs Hobart’s daughter, Sophie, confesses that she too hesitated, but was persuaded by friends and by family tradition. “I wouldn’t have pushed her into it at all,” says Mrs Hobart .”I showed her some cuttings from last year’s season and she met a few girls who’d done it. In the end her only reservation was `do I have time?’ ”
When asked for an interview Peter Townend huffed: “Certainly not.”.

Asked if he wanted publicity for the fund-raisers, he replied that he would much prefer them to be select and low-profile. But everyone else is anxious to point to the good causes: the appropriately female-oriented charities that will be the beneficiaries of the two main social events. The Berkeley Dress Show will raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, while September’s ball is held in aid of Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, which specialises in obstetrics and the prevention of handicap in babies That’s not to say it isn’t fun. These girls are no different from the thousands of other stir-crazy school-leavers celebrating the end of exams and perhaps it would be churlish to begrudge them the fact that they have more money than most to spend on their parties.It is more difficult to defend the whole business against the charges of snobbery. You do not need to be fabulously wealthy in order to do the season. “Contrary to what people expect it can cost amazingly little money,” says Lady Celestria. Typically several mothers will club together to throw a small drinks party, “it’s rare for a girl to have a large party to herself, much less a full scale ball”.

As for the frocks, they are more likely to come from Monsoon or a second- hand shop than from a top couturier And the official line is that anyone can play. “It’s not just exclusively for people who happen to come from the right background,” Anne Hobson says “In fact I don’t think the girls like that The elitism has gone. With the season now anyone can join in.” Elizabeth Ungley adds: “There’s an automatic assumption that because you don’t speak BBC English there’s no point in going for it. But I don’t think that’s true.” Still, one suspects that if Sharon from Romford, much less Dyanne from Brixton, wanted to join the list, they might get turned away with a dusty answer; and even if they were accepted, they would, as one insider says, be likely to have problems “fitting in”.On the other hand, one can scarcely blame the debs for grabbing the advantages while they are there.

They might be privileged by their class, but they’re handicapped by their gender and there are more than enough old school ties around to help their male counterparts. The season is, in essence, a brilliantly effective upmarket women’s network: the mothers-who-lunch do more than just that and Anne Hobson says she now runs a small antiques business with a friend she made while bringing out her daughter. “The reason most girls do it is that they might meet a couple of kindred spirits,” says one journalist who successfully went through the mill in the late Eighties “I wouldn’t have done it if my mother hadn’t made me. But it’s put me streets ahead.” Meanwhile the debs in waiting are taking the only course of action they can: closing their eyes, holding their noses and taking the plunge. “I haven’t told most people I’m doing it because I know how they look at it: rich girls having parties and finding boyfriends,” says Catherine Redpath, another deb “It’s not like that but it’s difficult to explain But I’ve decided to do this, I’m going to enjoy it. If they don’t understand it, it’s their problem.”The Berkeley Dress Show will be held on 2 April at 6.30pm For more details telephone 0171-734 7070. Spring/summer 1996: the season of figure-hugging hipsters, clinging Capri pants, skin-tight pencil skirts and – eek! – Visible Panty Lines.

Not since the current Seventies styles had their original airing has our under-apparel been so irksomely apparent. A generation reared on bikini briefs is now finding that these old favourites are not always up to the job. Fortunately, lingerie manufacturers have not been slow to respond to the new focus on bottoms. Having spent the last few years dedicating their combined talents to the revolution in bra technology, they’ve now shifted their efforts downstairs. A dizzying range of shapes and hi-tech fabrics means that not only can you buy the perfect knickers for just about any garment – making VPLs all but obsolete – you can even buy knickers that help to coax your body into a suitable shape.
This isn’t as nasty as it sounds.