Southern Belle Camp

Last night as Jared was flipping through the TV channels we came across what appeared to be some PBS-style show involving girls frolicking around in Southern Belle dresses. Of course I was intrigued by this and made him keep it on that channel.

It turned out to be a documentary about a camp that teaches girls how to become Southern Belles. It is called the 1861 Athenaeum Girls' School and it is located in Tennessee. At this camp, they seriously pretend like they are living in 1861. The girls stay on a plantation and they are required to wear all the traditional regalia of the time period. The girls learn etiquette, dance, penmanship, how to ride side-saddle, etc. They even have a little graduation ceremony at the end. The girls have to "play the part" the entire time they are there...no technology, no make-up, sit up straight and don't cross your legs, etc. The rules are really strict, but who wouldn't want to play Southern Belle dress up for a week?

Unfortunately for me, you have to be ages 14-18 in order to attend the full camp and the waiting list is years long. At the end of the documentary, they interviewed a dad that was holding his daughter in his arms saying that she was already on the waiting list for the 2022 camp. Guess I better get my daughter on the waiting list as soon as she is born :)

There is a condensed version of the camp for ladies 19 and above that takes place over a weekend in the spring.Who wants to go with me?! Just kidding, I don't think Jared is going to pay for me to go up to Tennessee to become a Southern Belle.

The documentary was really interesting and I highly recommend it if you enjoy watching documentaries and learning about Southern things.
For information on the documentary click here: Southern Belle
For information on the camp itself click here: 1861 Athenaeum Girls' School