Careful with the perfume...

<shudders with the thought of 200 different perfumes jammed in one room>

But do smell nice, of course. Deodorant should be enough.

:o

First of all, "church" attire is different everywhere. In Los Angeles I have seen daisy dukes worn to church. So, the description is vague and somewhat offensive. Perhaps a better description might be: what would you wear to a day wedding or shower...or a nice brunch.

I guess the rules imply modesty. But strapless dresses are worn all the time and successfully. There is tape that will secure a strapless dress as long as the dress is fitted correctly.

The last (unasked) question is: Do I need two dresses? The answer is: Yes, because you never know what can happen to a dress. Be it stains, too much "glow", or another girl showing up in the same dress...always have options. You probably have dresses in your closet already, but being prepared is really a good idea.

I can't stress enough the no perfume for recruitment, or even later in your professional life for job interviews. If you happen across someone with sensitivity to perfume, you can forget that person looking past their misery when there's hundreds of other equally qualified candidates who didn't make them ill. I know some people who get migraines from scents, but I have known a woman who got full blown asthma attacks from them. It's just not worth it.

I have the opposite outlook on perfume. I'm one of those women who feels undressed and incomplete without it - asking me to go without at something as important as rush is like asking me to not brush my teeth.

The actives are already forced and goaded into not wearing perfume. The rushees should be fine if they want to wear a drop of a light scent. Something green or a light floral...no heavy orientals or gourmand fragrances (i.e. heavy on vanilla).

As far as the job interview...if I had to go to work every day without perfume...it's not a job I would want.

"Recruitment" implies modesty. PNMs aren't dressing to impress boys. They're dressing to impress girls. "Don't look slutty" is Rule of Thumb #1. Strapless with a cardigan would be perfectly fine and super cute, but I still would stay away from them.

I'm against strapless because things can go wrong. It has to be fitted right and you can tape, but ... why would anyone want to mess with the risk of a wardrobe malfunction? Most recruitments involve some walking from house to house and sometimes hurrying house to house. The chance is there to have a problem with a strapless dress riding down.

I agree 100% that pnms should dress appropriately. The term church appropriate is ambiguous: every place has a different take on what is church appropriate. The term has a different meaning everywhere. It is also off putting to assume that all pnms go to church.

Also, the worst fashion "horror" that I have seen is a girl walking, wearing a dress and carrying a large shoulder bag. The bag can snag the dress causing the dress to ride up. And yes...the girls don't bring purses into the house. But that scenario is more likely than a well fitted strapless dress falling down.

But in the end the rule of thumb should be: when in doubt ...don't.

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My landlady has very bad asthma, and I'm not to wear perfume. I keep it out in the car - it drives me crazy!!
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