The "damas" (maids of honor) go from the church to the reception in a Ford Explorer limousine at Ruby's "quinceañera," Huntington Park, California, 2001, Lauren Greenfield, Courtesy of Milwaukee Art Museum

The young quinceañera is seemingly always in a ball gown. She is in pink, green, blue or other pastel colour, festooned and bejewelled, and with a large skirt that sways in a way that affirms the hooped crinoline underneath. She is beautiful and brimming with excitement for her impending journey into womanhood.

Keywords: Distant Echoes of Tradition, Dolls, Festooned and Bejewelled, High heels, Princess Before the Eyes of God

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Scott Hyde, Fruit, 1967. Courtesy MoMA.

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