Inside the bizarre debutante world of 'Las Marthas' - PHOTO+VIDEO

The south may be rife with debutante balls, but few compare to The Society of Martha Washington’s Colonial Pageant and Ball – a historically-themed event in Laredo, Texas where teenaged girls make their debut in 19th century-inspired gowns.The ball has been chronicled with a documentary on PBS titled ‘Las Marthas’, which premiered on the network last evening.It was aired to coincide with this year’s ball which, keeping with tradition, will be held on February 22 in celebration of George Washington’s birthday.The date was deemed a holiday in Laredo following 1898 conflict between the city’s townsmen and their neighboring Yaqui Native American tribe.In 1939 Laredo introduced the now-traditional Martha Washington pageant and ball, for which approximately twenty debutantes, hailing from both Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, are invited to make their debut in a colonial fashion. They wear intricate dresses that weigh up to 100lbs and cost an average of $15,000.The dresses are inspired by colonial historical figures, including Eleanor Parke Custis, Martha Washington's granddaughter from her first marriage.They appear to be somewhat of a hybrid between a typical quinceañera dress and proper colonial court dress – taking early American fashion’s voluminous silhouettes (a more conservative take on 18th century French styles), and pairing it with the bright colors, rhinestones, and sequined embroidery signature to Hispanic debut attire.The hand-made gowns are either created by special order months before the ball, or are passed down through generations of debutantes.In fact, most of the girls invited to make their debut are part of a La Martha legacy, hailing from a long line of relatives who have also participated in the event.PBS’s documentary, which is part of the network’s Independent Lens series, was directed by New York-based, El Paso-native Cristina Ibarra.Ms Ibarra says that she saw the ball as an opportunity to unearth happier aspects of life along the Mexican border – a geographical area that is most often presented in the media for its dangerous drug conflicts.‘I’m really interested in showing the border from the inside out. People live here; people fall in love; people get married; they have quinceañeras; they come of age,’ she told Texas Monthly.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az