The environmental cost of that debs dress
secondary school
students
right now and costs have gone through the roof. When it comes to attending a debs, your own or someone else's, girls in particular can bear a
big financial burden
.
Apart from a new dress, there are the shoes and bag to think about. Getting your hair and make-up done professionally, as well as a spray tan, a manicure and a pedicure might also be in prospect.
For the boys, it's a tuxedo, shirt, bow tie, some dress shoes and maybe a haircut.
Of course, all of these things are optional. But when everyone else is doing them and because how you look is being committed to social media, it can feel hard for teens and their families to opt out.
READ MORE
There can be a 'TY debs' in transition year, as well as a
Leaving Cert
debs.Some teens will attend their events as well as being invitees to others.
A new debs dress can cost hundreds of euro. Teens grow and trends change and so an outfit's lifespan can be short. Something can go from cutting edge to dated in weeks.
For those conscious of being snapped in the same dress at two different events, one dress may be worn only once. That suits manufacturers and retailers just fine as they constantly push us to buy the next thing.
There can be other paraphernalia to think about too – a corsage, food and drinks for a pre-debs family meet and greet and a balloon backdrop for the photos have all become popular additions.
Tired of the debs treadmill, some schools have started to take a stand against the cost and waste of it all. Before it's their turn, some class groups are looking at what it would mean to have a more sustainable debs.
When it comes to the debs, don't buy new if you can, and swap what you've already got. Photograph: Getty Images
The ideas emerging include holding events where students can offer preloved debs dresses and tuxedos free of charge, or at a discount.
Borrowing your dress or tux, getting it from a charity or vintage shop, or a resale site like Depop and eBay needs to be normalised, students say.
Buying second-hand can broaden your fashion references too, helping to ensure you are not rocking exactly the same look as everyone else.
Travelling by bus to the venue, asking the venue about locally sourced, in-season food and avoiding plastic cups and utensils will also make things more sustainable.
Avoiding glitter which has microplastics, and swapping helium balloons in favour of biodegradable ones will be better for the environment too.
Community groups and county councils are getting in on the act. Wicklow County Council promoted a library event last week to find new owners for preloved debs outfits.
Library staff put out the call for old debs dresses and tuxedos. They then hosted a Once Upon a Debs event; a dress and tuxedo swap, where preloved formal wear got a second chance to shine.
[
Is your debs coming up? Here's how to be party-ready and planet-friendly
Opens in new window
]
Debs-goers were invited to come along on a Thursday evening to 'shop' for an outfit new to them.
The event follows a growing number of swap events where libraries and schools are trying to fight the cost and waste of buying one-off occasion wear like Halloween costumes and Christmas jumpers too.
Recycling isn't the answer to everything, though. Everyone buying a new debs dress every year and donating it doesn't fix the debs dress problem.
The endless cycle of shopping, which causes water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and landfill, is the real problem that needs to be faced.
Materials like plastic sequins and polyester in particular will last long beyond the debs. Polyester is a form of plastic usually derived from petroleum. A lot of energy is required to make the stuff, and it pollutes the water and air. Polyester clothing lasts for years and it's headed for landfill where it never biodegrades.
So when it comes to the debs, don't buy new if you can, and swap what you've already got.
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Making postiches was meticulous work that involved shaking out dust and debris from the hair combings, teasing out the individual strands and disentangling them using a hackle or a wire brush. Any nits, which were common, would be squashed and picked out. The hair was then woven into the desired form ready to adorn the heads of wealthy female customer. [ Why nineties hair is making a comeback Opens in new window ] Into the 1910s, the overall look became slightly looser, and the added hairpieces and embellishments were discarded. Women of marriageable age wore their hair up in a bun or a coiled plait either on top of the head or towards the back, with a pompadour puffed-out style at the front. These popular styles had names such as the Psyche Knot, the New Récamier and the Gibson Girl. During their campaign for the right to vote, suffragettes wore these elegant hairstyles as part of their tactics. Their opponents regularly accused them of being unwomanly, perverted, old hags. 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The smell was unpleasant, and it involved a terrifying looking machine called a chandelier, which used electric rollers to cookthe hair attached with wires to an overhead device. A model having her hair permed by a permanent wave machine in London, 1928. Photograph: Henry Miller News Picture Service/ Archive Photos/ Getty Images Electric shocks, burns and damaged hair were too often the result. In 1935 a Dublin woman, Kathleen Crean, sued Neville Ryan, trading as the Grafton Hairdressing Co. for injuries she sustained while getting a perm. The newspaper report stated that she had several burns on her scalp and the backs of her ears, and she was suffering from nervousness. She was awarded £100 (€114) compensation – the monetary award signifying the cultural value placed on a women's hair. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Free State Government passed a series of laws that restricted women's citizenship by limiting their employment opportunities, excluding them from jury service and banning contraception. Women's sexuality was tightly controlled and deviance was punished – often through incarceration in religious-run institutions. Where the cutting of hair in the 1920s was act of freedom and rebellion, there are many instances of forced hair cutting which served to humiliate women and control their behaviour. During the War of Independence there are numerous reports of both the IRA and the British army violently cutting off women's hair as punishment – either for fraternising with British soldiers, or for being associated with the republican side. The 2021 report of the Mother and Baby Homes commission of investigation documents how nuns cut off the hair of many womenon arrival at the home. They were required to keep it short thereafter. [ How Irish women failed to persuade Éamon de Valera to treat them as equal citizens Opens in new window ] With long flowing hair a potent symbol of female sexuality, nuns themselves covered their hair and usually wore it short. The custom of willingly cutting or shaving hair is an act of religious devotion in many cultures. Before taking their vows, nuns commonly cut off their hair in a symbolic act that renounced vanity and the display of the body. Vocations were one option for Irish women at a time when emigration was high, employment prospects were low, the marriage bar in effect and motherhood alongside domesticity were championed as the pinnacle of womanhood. The numbers of women in religious orders grew steadily in the first half of the 20th century, peaking in the 1960s. Dublin-born movie star Maureen O'Hara pictured in 1954. Photograph: Bettmann Archive/ Getty Images Until the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, women had to cover their hair with a hat or a mantilla in a Catholic church or in court. More generally, married women covered their heads to show their marital status. But equally, there was a practical consideration to this, as headscarves were used by all women to cover hair that was being set into the fashionable curly hairstyles. Historian Caitríona Clear has written that professional women in the 1940s – 1960s wore an unofficial uniform consisting of tailored suits and 'lacquered, helmet-like hair'. She contends that this was a form of armour which contained and protected women's bodies while in public. At this time women's rights in Ireland were in short supply, demonstrating how social conditions affect fashion choices. In the early 1950s young people dressed quite formally, in much the same way as their parents did, but by the later years of that decade, international youth styles were appearing on the streets of Dublin. [ Thirty years retrieving the history of Irish women Opens in new window ] The cinema was hugely popular in Ireland and films from Hollywood brought international starlets and the most up-to-date fashions to Irish eyes. For Irish teenagers, hairstyles seen on screen were a relatively quick, cheap and easy way of identifying with new youth culture trends. Young Irish women adopted the beehiveand ponytail hairstyles. The beehive was a tall hairstyle achieved through big rollers and backcombing until the hair stood vertically. It then was patted into place and secured with lacquer and hairspray. Mentions of the beehive hairstyle first appeared in Irish newspapers and magazines in the very late 1950s. By 1961, it seems to have fallen out of favour and when mentioned, it was in disparaging terms. Teenage girls enthusiastically adopted the style, but it was considered highly impractical. It required dedication and upkeep and wearers were known to sleep with their heads upright so as not to ruin their hairdo. A bouffant hairstyle pictured in 1963. Photograph: Getty Images The beehive and other bouffant styles that were popular in the 1960s were linked to an optimism internationally towards technology, progress and the future. But just like in the early part of the century, these big elaborate hair styles were followed by a dramatic change with the reintroduction of short, angular, bobbed styles once more. Colouring hair became more acceptable and commonplace from the 1960s onwards. In the 1970s, longer, looser styles followed at a time when women's right were back on the agenda. The marriage bar was finally lifted and there were hard-fought campaigns for equal pay and access to contraception. Beauty practices such as hairdressing and styling are a common feature of women's culture that is often trivialised. But cutting, styling, colouring and removing hair is not just inconsequential frivolity. It can be an act of sacrifice or submission, of self-preservation, of celebration, rebellion or defiance. Through knowledge of the history of women's hairstyles, we can more easily imagine the everyday lives and connect to the emotional and bodily experiences of women in the past. Katie Blackwood is Historian in Residence at Dublin City Council
