my vote:
Western - YES -Wear white after Labor Day as a principle piece.

It could just be me, but I grew up thinking that the no white after Labor Day rule was something from the 50's. I didn't know anyone who actually cared about it. The concept of summer and winter wardrobes didn't exist for me until I moved to DC. In Los Angeles, it's just one big wardrobe that you wear year-round.

Question: what about Presents? I know UCLA and USC have their Presents in November, and an all-white ensemble is requisite for new members.

Here's the idea
Dressing too sexy for job

Other than a white blouse, I can't imagine wearing white to a job interview. A white suit just doesn't seem like a wise choice for a job interview.

Special events like pledging and other events that traditionally have white clothing seem to be an exception like weddings, as it seems to me.

That is another example of old fashioned and outdated rules being applied. Some of us in the South and across the East Coast believe our clothes are one big wardrobe to be worn year round.

I'm not in the age, cultural, and career demographics HearttoHeart is typing about so I will stick with my original post. :) My clothes, my rules.

Sorry if I jumped around. The point I was trying to make was that going through recruitment was much like going to a job interview where first impressions were important. In corporate America what you wear on the job matters, just like in recruitment. Maybe there are other careers where fashion doesn't matter, I wouldn't know.

I live in the Deep South. Temperatures reach 100 degrees regularly during the summer. White, linen, sear sucker are all legitimate fabrics to wear. (Jackets required indoors). But when the weather cools, summer attire needs to be put away. I didn't make up the rules. These are common rules in corporate America. Wearing the wrong clothes to a job interview may affect whether or not that girl gets the job. Likewise, what a girls wears to recruitment may affect which sorority she gets into.

Networking is a learned skill. Sororities help girls fine tune those skills. Fashion can also be learned, and sororities can help fine tune those skills as well.

Now, many of you might not have seen my original post on the subject on the ole miss thread. Ole Miss has a fall recruitment. Although the temperatures are still warm, fashion rules should and do apply. I have another daughter who just transferred to Baylor. Baylor has a winter recruitment. Wearing white would be taboo.

Basically, white is reserved for summer when the temperatures dictate fashion. In fall and winter we put the summer fabrics away.

:) This website captures my view of fashion. A "stylish" and "creative" person is not limited by outdated standards.

http://www.puttingmetogether.com/201...asons.html?m=1

ETA: This is a good discussion: http://fakinggoodbreeding.blogspot.c...r-day.html?m=1

Just of interest -- you seem to be imposing your own cultural biases on what is considered appropriate non-verbal communication during a job interview.

Not all cultures would consider a "firm and confident handshake" or direct eye contact with the interviewer either appropriate or polite.

Corporate America does and Heartofheart is typing about corporate America.

I know all about cultural variation. I also spend time with people from cultures that either do not subscribe to or do not teach about giving handshakes and eye contact. People across cultures who enter the job market can learn what particular cultures expect in terms of overall attire and proper verbal and nonverbal communication. People across cultures can learn whether a particular cultural environment expects them to wear button up shirts and give a non-sweaty, solid handshake. However, learning attire and communication often does not include learning varying perspectives on which colors and fabrics to wear in certain seasons. Give people a break.

All of this x 10.

All of our posts are about cultural and learned behaviors. The issue some of us have with Heartofheart's posts is adding additional cultural biases to an already cultured and biased process. A well-educated and highly accomplished person who is an otherwise strong applicant should not be denied solely based on wearing a clothing item "out-of-season". Interviewers go based on level of comfort with applicants but Heartofheart is extending seasonal fashion to mean a person is not properly-cultured, not well-informed, ill-equipped, and possibly does not take her/his career seriously. Seasonal fashion is the least of these indicators.

Oh okay.

I don't see how this is so very different from your examples, as with the button-up shirts.

IMO, it is probably a good idea to observe what is customary in the culture or region -- or in the case of recruitment, campus. Preferably on the front end, unless one is more concerned with making a statement about their own wardrobe rules than improving their prospects for the job or party invitation.

It is different.

Don't shoot the messenger. The point I was trying to make was that in job interviews AND sorority recruitment what you wear makes a difference. When looking at two equal applicants, the one I perceive to be better put together will get the job. Don't kid yourself into believing that sorority girls aren't judging PNM's when they walk into a room. I'm not judging the girls, or the boys for that matter, on how expensive or non-expensive their clothes are, I'm looking for professionalism! White shoes after Labor Day is a dead giveaway that an applicant doesn't understand the importance of fashion in the work place.

Don't get me wrong, a computer programmer who will sit in front of a computer all day will be given slack. A sales manager who will be a public spokesman for the company is held to a different standard. You have to dress the part!

I think the white capris/green blazer would be a darling outfit for an Arizona/LA spring, which is to say February or March.

There's no such thing as a culturally unbiased job interview. All workplaces have a culture employees are expected to follow, and these are usually regional. All bosses with hiring power use personal judgment to evaluate someone's fit for the culture. This seems to me to be on the side of legitimately exercising the power rather than abusing it, though I personally would not ding a job applicant in a hot climate for this reason.