ENGLAND — Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage has been “the” last word on proper British manners for centuries, especially among the blue-blooded aristocrats for whom such things count. It’s a sign of the times that the latest edition not merely includes, but specializes in… some previously unmentionables.No longer content to tell the wealth and elite how to sip their soup and drink their tea, the veritable bible of good grace has accepted the inevitable: the good girls not only do, but do it on regular basis in some pretty amazing ways.
Etiquette for Girls is “a nod to the modern day,” according to its editor, Jo Aitchison. “We’re pulling Debrett’s out of the Victorian times and trying to make it relevant to today.”
Among the things “relevant to today” are going topless, committing adultery, gossiping with celebrities, sleeping with co-workers, staying disease-free after a one-night-stand, and how to grab a smoke when you’re out and about; none of which were discussed when Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage was released in 1769. Its decades only manners spin-off, Debrett’s Correct Form also never saw fit to address such obvious social mysteries.
The advice dished out sounds painfully obvious, which likely means most people will find it illuminating. Using ashtrays and not wine bottles, plates, or flower pots when smoking are among its astonishing recommendations. Likewise, discussion of “necessaries” when hoping to avoid pregnancy or disease during flings. However sensible a lady might be, she should always be — well — a lady, so readers are advised to “avoid dark-alley gropery and unladylike fumbling in the back of a cab” when getting to know newly found companions.
Aitchison scoffs at the idea that Etiquette for Girls is just another sleazy book about seamy subjects for women who have too much time on their hands. Instead, she contends that the heart of the book is elegance, dignity, and a womans’ proper comportment during intimate or informal occasions.
“We are trying to give girls confidence to behave in the correct way,” she explained to Reuters. “It’s a bit like a survival guide for modern life, so we have had to include certain subject matters that are new to Debrett’s.”
But it’s not all sex and drugs — it’s also rock-n-roll and girlish chatter. Among the less naked subjects covered is the proper way to attend a concert and conduct a cell phone conversation.
