At least for my sorority, I think this second option is more appropriate with a cardigan.

In my chapter, we were often a pretty motley crew at First Degree, Second Degree and Initiation time. It wasn't intentional, but none of us knew we had to have white, and scrambled to find something appropriate in September, when they were picked over. Also, in my era, plain white dresses weren't really in style, so terribly hard to find in the first place.

We had the "loving hands made at home" look, the mismatched white skirt and white oxford shirt pairing, the white cardigan from Mom or Grandmom buttoned over a white something on the bottom, and the nurse look.

And yea, verily, the beauty continued unto the next generation, as these wonders tended to be passed down in the "family".

I totally may learn how to sew. Thanks to the popularity of the LBD, I don't think there's as much of a sorority-specific market for black dresses, but for white ones - oh my! What do women do for schools who have deferred recruitment? I can't imagine trying to find a white dress in January! :eek:

Am I the only one who sees buyawhitedress.com or something in the banner ad every time I log on to GC?

I don't know where people get that! My group certainly doesn't require it - at least not nationally. Now, what individual campuses do may be a horse of a different color. We simply require "pin attire."

Seriously, when you first posted that, I thought, "Really? I've NEVER seen that advertisement. What is she talking about?" As soon as I clicked to look at something else, I saw the advertisement. Oh, wow. How did I miss that? In all honesty, though, I did not have a GC account until after I was an initiated member.

And then you have the deferred recruitments that start in January- daughter, yours truly and grandmama in Florida were all scouring the stores and internet for appropriate white dresses in the dead of winter. We ended up having the most luck at Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

I don't know what I need yet, but I hope that I find out far enough in advance to go out and get things!

Well, you're not as out in the hinterlands as some people are. :) I mean in some college towns, you're lucky if you can find dressy clothes period, let alone white dressy clothes.

Very true (my cousins live in one of those towns. I can't imagine what they'd have to do to find a white dress now!). I might actually look now...if the return policies are good...

For the small town girls - the internet is fabulous for just this.

Zappos has free returns and if you are a vip you can get rush delivery for free. Mod Cloth is another good place to look for something different or even Lilly had white and black dresses in the end of summer clearance.

Yeah, no...where I'm attending college there's absolutely no decent conservative white dresses. Trust me I knew I was going in to recruitment since the beginning of this year and have stopped to look everywhere. I don't know why but it's always sheer white dresses that are out in stores which I would never subject myself to. And before I went through recruitment, we weren't told what to have or anything. They just specified what to wear when meeting the sororities...nothing after.

For anyone reading this thread trying to find white dresses still, I found a few nice ones at Deb this semester!

way back when (we are talking '91) I scrambled to find a white dress, stockings and shoes [drama THAT DAY] and then for pledge presents...that was a task...it was a no go for me to find a white dress that look nice on my...I was allowed to wear a very nice off white formal, I think I found at a Dillards in Scottsdale. Of course after the fact, I found out I could rent a white dress...

It really was a comedy of errors, I look back and laugh now, but it was not a laughing situation then.

You know...this should be a part of the recruitment manuals the PHC puts out...because not all PMNs are knowledgeable

I know, right? I know this would be tough for campus panhellenics to do, but it would not be the worst idea to mention that girls should have an all-white outfit if that really IS what the sororities want.