Southern Belle: A Refined Woman of the Southern US

Southern Belle... A name used commonly on here. But what exactly is a Southern Belle? I figured since I go by Southern Belle on here, I would explain to you all as to what it actually means.

Southern Belle comes from the French word belle, which means "beautiful". It is a name for a young lady of the American Old South's upper class. The Old South, also meaning deep south, is the Southern States represented in the original 13 American colonies. Cultural wise, it can be used to describe the antebellum period. The Southern Colonies were Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, South Carolina, and Georgia.

During the American Old South period, Kentuckian Sallie Ward of Louisville was the most noted Belle in the South, and her portrait is called "The Southern Belle." A Southern belle epitomizes Southern hospitality, cultivation of beauty and a flirtatious yet chaste demeanor. Below you will find "The Southern Belle".


Some terms in related to "Southern belles" include "Ya Ya Sisters," "GRITS (Girls Raised In The South)," "Sweet Potato Queens," and "Bulldozers disguised as powder puffs." Today, a Southern Belle is also another name for a debutante from the southern United States. I myself am from the Southern US (South Carolina).

If you didn't know what a Southern Belle was or didn't understand it, hopefully you do now. :-)