First, its just poor taste to pop into someones place unless invited. unannounced visits are unacceptable especially to an elder's place or where decorum is expected (with an advisor, administrator, etc)

Secondly... I just dont get the whole drinking at bars in letters thing. As a group several years ago we decided as a chapter not to do it, but more importantly, why would you? I mean, its trashy. If I am going out for a few drinks, even casually, I will make every attempt to look nice (never know when you are gonna bump into someone ya wanna hook up with). Where I come from, a t-shirt or sweatshirt with fabric sewn on it (even if they are my letters) is kinda trashy. I dont care what kinda dive bar it is you aint gonna catch me in a shirt without buttons on it, a nice sweater or classy pullover. In my house, party shirts (what we call rush shirts, party shirts or event shirts) are acceptable to wear to a bar, but again, who goes to a bar in a t-shirt? thats not only something you should get bawled out by your exec for, but should get pulled over by the fashion police and given a citation. (Do you also go in the acid wash Guess jeans, White keapas and the really crunchy koosh-ball hair?) the only time I have had an opportunity to be drinking in a letter t-shirt was at Spring Break on South padre Island. I promptly took off my letter shirt proudly displaying my pasty white-ass needin a tan chest. :D (now THAT was deserving of a citation).

life, you are still one of My Mains on site!!!!! if I did what you did they would want to try and save me as a beached whale and take me back out in the middile of the damn OCEAN!!!! :D

Lifesaver, that is so funny! Then again it's 12:30 AM and I have insomnia so I'll have to reread it during the daytime. I used to go out wearing acid washed jeans with a matching acid washed jean jacket and big white socks and white Keds and BIG hair. At least I didn't have blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick! It was 1988 so it is not my fault. Actually, I looked good at the time. :cool:

Back to the topic: you are always representing your organization, and in fact all greeks, whether or not you are wearing letters so you need to act appropriately at all times, especially in public.

Cream,

That's really the point, isn't it. If you act like an idiot, it reflects badly not only yourself, but everyone you're associated with -- no matter what you're wearing.

DeltAlum, for the record, I dress A LOT better now. And my hair is a normal size! ;)

We dress for the times. Back in the mid to late 60's we had to dress in jacket and tie for dinner. Even in the dorms we had to dress for Sunday dinner.

And the Delts on our campus had a reputation for dressing well. I was looking back at a yearbook the other day and we wore jackets (or at least sweaters) and ties to football games, etc.

But, as I said earlier, we wore our badges everywhere! I'm a little saddened that's not true today. But I understand that the standard dress often doesn't meet the requirements for wearing badges.

Different time, different social climate. I really enjoyed looking good for classes and social events, though.

A Delt alum (not this DeltAlum) owned the best clothing store in the little town where I went to school. Wish I knew how much money I spent there.

I know what you mean. I went to a very preppy private school with a dress code similar to what you described for the boys and nice pants or skirts and blouses with collars for the girls. In the late 1980's I arrived at a big state school where everyone dressed in whatever they wanted including the professors. I experienced a sort of culture shock. Next thing I know out comes the acid wash. :p

Unfortunately some people didn't know how to dress when the occassion called for it. For example in 1989 or 1990 there was a regional NPC meeting at a college one hour away so all of the sororities from my school were going. My sisters and I decided to wear dresses or business suits and our sister pins. The embarrassing thing was one sorority from my school showed up wearing sweatshirts with letters and jeans and their pins. The reps from their sorority told them that they weren't dressed appropriately for their pins or the occassion and gave them a hard time. We knew a lot of them since we went to school together, and they didn't understand what they had done wrong. We didn't understand how they could be so clueless. It was pretty bad.

It was the same way with my chapter at GMU(our attitude about letters/drinking and hanging out with our advisor). We wore letters sometimes to bars or parties.(either sweatshirts or hats) We also drank with our advisor quite often.

Maybe Pi Phi is old fashioned..or maybe it is just my chapter. We were taught as pledges to never drink, cuss, or smoke in letters. We are only allowed to wear our fraternity crest or pin with formal attire. Chapters meetings are formal with dresses and skirts... "dress to the pin!"

When we wear letters is it like putting in a crown. You must accept that when you put on those letters, written or greek, you will be scrutinized 10 times more than any GDI.

Even if you have one Newcastle or Jack and coke the whole night, any one who sees you will assume that you are "another drunk frat boy" or "wasted sorority chick." Sadly enough, I have heard these terms. When you put on those letters, you are more than ever obligated to represent yourself and your chapter well.

Oddly these rules apparently don't apply to the guys:rolleyes: .

in my sorority we were taught right off the bat not to drink in letters. We also prefer people not to smoke in letters but that is hard since we live in the middle of the tobbaco business. I really believe that you show your true feeling about your org. by what your doing in your letters

lol, its not just Pi Phi or your chapter. I was taught the same exact things as a new member in Alpha Gam, and I'm sure many other sororities teach likewise.

Thank God. Once we start degrading our letters by drinking in them...what next? Let's preserve the wholesome quality of greek system, folks.

May I reiterate...when you are Greek, you are Greek 24/7/365, no matter what you are wearing or not wearing. If you think alcohol consumption and smoking are disrespectful, you shouldn't do them whether you are wearing letters or not. This is one of those debates that could go on forever but I think a lot is due to regional differences....as a rule, people do not dress as formally up here. The concept of wearing a dress to a chapter meeting...that's completely foreign to me...a lot of my sisters had a whopping total of one skirt or dress on campus, the one they wore for white ceremonies.

lifesaver, dude, you would have fits up here. 60% of the guys at bars in PA are like "Collar? What's a collar?" :D

In my sorority we are not allowed to drink with our letters on lavaliere shirts etc, but what I don't get is why we have a homecoming shirt from 2000 with a bottle of absolute on the back. Our letters are on the front of the shirt.
Also bottle openers are made with our sorority letters on them. What's the point of bottle openers if we cant' use them around alcohol.
I just don't get it!

well it could be said that you dont necessarily have to be drinking a beer or whatever to use a bottle opener ;)