As you stroll through the wide, colonial pedestrian malls of downtown Guadalajara you immediately notice the predominance of big, Cinderella ball gowns. Storefront after storefront displays these Marie Antoinette dresses in every color imaginable, from creamscicle orange to lime green to eggplant to smack-you-in-the-face pink. These gowns will be the centerpieces of the Quinceañera – a young lady’s 15th birthday and “coming out” party. In their planning, trappings, and expense these bashes resemble a wedding; the overwhelming number of stores dedicated to their production serve as evidence of a lucrative and thriving industry. Visit nearby Parque Agua Azul on a Sunday afternoon and you will find three entrance fees posted for the leafy, enclosed gardens: adults-10 pesos, children-5 pesos, photography sessions-67 pesos. Inside the park, amidst picnicking families and young couples looking for a romantic spot, at any given time there are a half-dozen of these coifed and uncomfortable looking princesses being led from flowering tree to picturesque bridge by a photographer and followed by an entourage of mothers, aunts and girlfriends.
