A debutante, also spelled débutante, or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" or debutante ball
Debutantes at the Chrysanthemum Ball in Munich (2012)
Some attendees of the 2013 Vienna Opera Ball
Young women making their debut accompanied by the younger attendants in Queensland (1948)
An 1890s-era debutante gown
The cotillion is a social dance, popular in 18th-century Europe and North America. Originally for four couples in square formation, it was a courtly version of an English country dance, the forerunner
Debutante
…tradition of the high school prom became popular, which is a dance where attendance is open to everyone, not merely high-status families. Today, a cotillion or debutante ball in the United States is a formal presentation of young women, debutantes, to high society, typically hosted by a charity or society…
The Cotillion Dance by James Caldwall (1771)
Cotillion figures demonstrated in the Festsaal, Hofburg, Vienna, in 2008
A mid-17th century painting by Jacob Duck, called The Cotillion, is the earliest possible reference to a dance with this name.