On Friday evening, Les Pierrettes dedicated the organization’s annual ball to Pierrot, the French master of pantomime. Held at the New Orleans Convention Center, the ball had as its theme “Les Pierrettes Heads to the Wild Wild West.”
Promptly at 8 p.m., Jimmy Maxwell and his orchestra began to play. A whistle blew, heralding the appearance of this year’s captain, Miss Kingsland Eastman LeBourgeois, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Livaudais LeBourgeois. As captain, she wore a Western-style outfit of deep pink leather consisting of a short vest and A-line skirt accented with leather flowers and jewels plus a pink and white gingham check peasant blouse.
To begin the evening, the captain led a group of 23 dancers onto the dance floor where they traveled back to the Wild West, dancing to classic Western songs such as, “Fuga A Cavello” by Ennio Morricone and the infamous “Wild, Wild West” by Will Smith. The girls brought the “cowgirl” aesthetic to life wearing pink Western costumes.
After the dance, the cast positioned themselves at the foot of a shimmering gold-and-silver throne where their monarch, Miss Sarah Gibbs Smallpage, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Benton Smallpage III, and her royal entourage held court.
Maids to her majesty were Misses Anna Marie Accousti, Eleanor Grace Aucoin, Sarah Spencer Blessey, Greer Elizabeth Bouza, Mary Ella Bozeman, Charlotte Elizabeth Bush, Lillian Claire Charpentier, Elizabeth Wiggins Edrington, Celeste Claire Eustis, Catherine Westfeldt Fitzpatrick and Mary Catherine Lee Flower. Also in the court were Misses Jane Curry Gambel, Anna Graves Gordillo, Julianne May Isacks, Catherine Davis Lapeyre, Evelyn Soule Monsted, Amelia Lynn Phillips, Eliza Eugenie Pilant, Ana Marie Hale Rapier, Taylor Reece Robert, Anna Florence Roth and Avery Elizabeth Summerour.
The queen’s consort was Mr. Brent Conway Schwing, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Blakemore Schwing.
The dukes were Messrs. Leonard Henry Aucoin III, Alfred Truitt Balart, Peter Farrell Connolly, Henry Lawes Cook, William Carriere Cook, Leland James Crawford, Brandon Freret Favrot, Thomas Hampton Gamard, Charles Wickliffe Guy, Christopher Forsyth Hovet, David Raymond Hulefeld and William Wiley Kessler. Also serving as dukes were Messrs. Connor Colfry LaCour, Patrick Ross Landry, William Mark Mahfouz, Colin McGlinchey Moffett, George McKay Pipes, James Fulton Price, James Joseph Reiss IV, Campbell Rapier Spence, George Bauman Villere and Stephen Collier White.
Serving as the queen’s pages were Misses Perrin Carrere Gilly, Louise Dugan Mills, Mary Scott McKinnon, Charlotte Carrere Sapir, Dorothy Louise Smallpage, Constance Milliken Beahm, Elizabeth Mary Goodwin and Grace Parker Schaefer.
In keeping with tradition, the pages presented white orchids to the queen’s and captain’s mothers. The pages presented bouquets of pink sweetheart roses to Miss Lanier Lange Kearney, last year’s queen, and Miss Isabelle Fenner Merlin, last year’s captain.
The captain presented the 50-year queen, Mrs. Paul Everling Pursley, with a bouquet of red roses and escorted her to the reigning monarch.