The tradition surrounding the celebration of a girl’s becoming 15 years old, known as quinceañera [throughout Latin American countries], is carried on by Mexican families in the United States, a custom that benefits the bottom line of small- and medium-sized dress manufacturers back in the Aztec country.

Because of affordability and preference, many of the dresses worn by Mexican teenage girls to their debutante parties are sewn by Mexican seamstresses and designers, whose business it is to make such garments.

“It is much cheaper there and they are really well made. Both my daughters’ dresses were made in Puebla. For us it was a really nice experience; not only do they do a very nice job, but we felt that we were helping our people to continue their work. Things are very well done in our country,” said Cathy Camacho, who is originally from Puebla. She went to the capital of Puebla, located in central Mexico, in search of tabletop accessories for the party and a dress for her daughter, who was born in New York City.

“Everything here is really expensive. There are always godparents who help out with some of the costs, but even so having the party represents many costs. We saved up so that our daughters could have their debuts and we feel really proud about that,” Camacho explained. She reminisced about her own quinceañera party, when she too was presented into society.