Debutante ball bounces back(3)

Lots of bachelors

Zhou did select two of the debutantes, one each from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Hallam-Peel and Woodall handpicked the rest, one Polish and 10 British women, most the daughters of engineers, doctors or graphic designers.

The Asian debs have backgrounds most closely resembling those of traditional debutantes. Vivien Lee, a bubbly 22-year-old from Hong Kong, attended a top private girls school, Benenden in Kent, England, and was the UK's Undergraduate of 2010 when she graduated from Cambridge University.

Zhou described Jen Hau, 22-year-old daughter of the mayor of Taipei, as "the surprise" of the ball - a surprise because her father is a politician.

Hunting for escorts for the debs proved easy. The most recognizable name among the 13 was Tom Savernake, a viscount and the future heir to the Marquess of Ailesbury. The others were "talented gentlemen" from England, Germany, France and Hong Kong.

"It turned out there are more bachelors than I expected in the city," Zhou said Saturday night. "And they are all showing a keen interest in the ball. One recommended another and, finally, they are all here."

The young women had their own reasons to attend.

"How often does a girl get to dress up with a white gown and dance at such a fabulous ball, apart from her own wedding?" Hau said.

Lee, who works in equity derivatives marketing at J.P. Morgan, didn't tell her colleagues what she was up to when she took annual leave for the ball. She said she wanted to keep a low profile.

"Princess" hair

The cost of having "a once-in-a-lifetime-experience" as a debutante ranks up there with the expenses of a wedding. Although parents of these debs did not have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to buy a table, the bills for hairstyles and dresses were high.

For the night, French jewelry maker Chaumet - a company that once crowned Napoleon and a galaxy of European royalty - offered a collection of tiaras collectively worth 60 million yuan ($9.5 million), the most expensive one more than 6 million yuan. And Australian hairdresser Kim Robinson, who worked for supermodel Kate Moss and the late Princess Diana, was hired to style for 13 debs.

"Of course, doing the hair for debutantes differs from other areas," he said. "It has to be classy, elegant and show the princess part of every girl." Robinson said he had his best team brought in from Hong Kong for the ball, leaving his salon empty.

Zhou, who said she paid all the costs of putting on the ball, would not say how much money she invested in the "deluxe" night - which she defined as "graceful and spending every penny necessary" as distinguished from mere luxury.

"I am not running this ball as a charity, which I have already done in my May Day Ball," Zhou said. That event, which Zhou launched in 2005, was dubbed the first upper-class ball in town. Zhou said it has helped raise around 8.5 million yuan since it began and saved more than 100 children who were "on the brink of death".

"The debutante ball is more like a private party," she said. "It's all about looking like a princess or pretending to be a princess for a day, for some girls like a dream.

"Good times or bad times, people always need something dreamy to fantasize about. And I want my ball to be a fairy tale for every girl and the mothers of the girls to believe in."

The future

"I feel very honored. It's so wonderful to have been chosen," 17-year-old Larissa Scotting said. The British organizers had selected her as Debutante of the Year. "I am thrilled to be given this award here in Shanghai."

A freshman at King's College in London, she confessed that she didn't quite know how the title would help her in her future. She plans to start a company of her own.

Zhou, however, was quite confident about the future as the ball she founded wound down Saturday night.

"It will be an annual thing. And the most urgent thing is to find some qualified Chinese mainland ladies."