Finishing school

Uncommon card · No. 186759

A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's education by providing classes primarily on deportment, etiquette, and other non-academic subjects. The school may offer an intensive course or a one-year program. In the United States, a finishing school is sometimes called a charm school. Graeme Donald claims that the educational ladies' salons of the late 19th century led to the formal finishing institutions common in Switzerland around that time. At the schools' peak, thousands of wealthy young women were sent to one of the dozens of finishing schools available, starting at age 16. The primary goals of such institutions were to teach students the skills necessary to attract a good husband and to become interesting socialites and wives. The 1960s marked the decline of the finishing schools worldwide...

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