I would agree not to wear black as a PNM for the reasons already mentioned. Most of the chapters wear black for Prefs and you definitely won't stand out in the least.

I couldn't tell real well from the picture of the dress, but it looks like it might be a bit low cut.

another vote against black. Even if a lot of PNMs wear black, if you wear a different color you'll stand out more. Just stay away from lime green ;)

And another thing... you should try to pick out a dress in person. You have no idea how something will fit you. That dress could be misleading in the picture and not be all that low cut, or it could be down to your belly button.

Plus you want to be comfortable in it

Quick question - I'm rushing in the fall and I got a dress for our second invite, and I was just wondering what everyone's opinions were on shoes. The dress is a pretty green with white floral pattern and I was thinking of wearing a nice pair of white high heel sandals I have. My mom was saying I shouldn't wear the white shoes in September, but I was wondering how much that would actually matter? Thanks!

that kinda depends, where in the country do you live? when in september? what school?

there's no cut and dry answers for anything, there's so many influencing factors :)

I live in the midwest and Rush is the first 2 weeks of September.

You'll be fine. If you get cut, tell them to kiss your ass. This white after labor debate is like the most inane thing. I can see why wearing white in January when it's 20 below is weird, but in September?

Haha yea that's what I was thinking too. I don't think it will be a problem, but I thought I'd ask

One rule of thumb that I typically go by: better to be over dressed than under-dressed

It really does not sound shallow but you want a woman who can put herself together and look classy, attractive, and elegant to represent your chapter. As a PNM, that the look to go for. BUT be comfortable and confident in your outfit, that can make a big difference. Having to adjust your outfit or looking like its not something you normally wear (IE not your style) will make a bigger impressions than what you are wearing.,,,

And NO SHorts!!! Capris maybe if they are super dressy but a skirt is the best bet. PNM typically will be on a chair so the whole sitting on the floor thing may not apply

From another MIdwesterner: You can wear white :) relax and good luck

eh, not knowing the school (i can understand not wanting to say what school), it's hard to say. If it's a bigger, more competitive rush, I would say no, because a lot of people still believe in that rule. It's generally still pretty warm in early September in the midwest, so temperature wise you should be good.

But the best advice for shoes is to have COMFORTABLE ones that you can walk in! High heel sandals may not be the best for that. It's possible- i have a pair of black strappy sandals that are super comfy, but those are a rarity.

Sometimes they're supposed to wear shorts.

Heck, shorts are safer for sitting in a chair, less chance of exposing your undies.

Capris on the first day are two are fine.

BUT, everything depends on the school. Follow the guidelines they give you, maybe go a little dressier than what they suggest.

Well I figured I'd look around and see what else I could find, but they are sooo perty, and they are actually pretty comfy! Someone did tell me to bring flip flops and wear those while going from house to house, but I don't know if I'd really want to do that.

they might be comfy in the short run, but if you're going to be wearing them ALL day and walking a lot, you may end up regretting it. If it's second party, that's still a lot of walking. Do you want your feet to be bleeding from blisters and in pain? If you do want to wear them, I think it would be VERY wise to wear flip flops between parties

With the 10 or so different chapters I have worked with in different regions, campus atmosphere I can say even in casual formal recruitment I rarely saw shorts.

Girls are taught how to sit in a skirt they should be fine, after all if its an outfit that fits well, you are comfy in, youd wear it out and dont show the undies... it will be ok for rush.

I've been following this thread and do have a few comments:

Having gone through rush at UF, the advice here is right on target. UF tends to be a more "formal" school.

I now live in the north, and helped out at Fairleigh Dickensen's rush. I was absolutely appalled at what the rushees wore to pref night. The sisters looked fabulous-- all wearing very pretty black cocktail dresses-- but there was not a single (what I consider) "appropriately dressed" rushee there.

I saw denim skirts, jeans, skin-tight "bar clothes" and crop tops with belly button rings. Many were wearing sneakers! I was just blown away.

Has anybody else seen this in the "smaller" schools?

I have two green/white floral dresses, and I am wearing them with white heels now. It depends on the school - you could also wear a cute neutral or metallic instead if you were worried about the white issue.

Yep, it's quite common. Thinking back, I don't know why I wore the dress I did to pref... ick.

As a generalization, in the north, most people don't come from a greek tradition. They have no education on it. Also, rush in general is a little more laid back and casual. Emphasis on dress isn't all that much. That's why I said earlier that shorts during the first round would be perfectly acceptable at some schools. It also stems from the panhel's lack of direction to the PNMs as to what to wear.

I went to a big Midwestern school and we would have NEVER noticed or cared about white shoes. That said, the rushees tend to wear clothing that is more trendy than traditional even though our rush was somewhat large and competitive, so I can't speak for a school with a more formal rush.

GP is right -- if you're really worried that it might be a problem, you could go with a neutral or metallic. But chances are that no one will care. I don't know anyone in my generation who actually cares about the no-whites-after-Labor-Day rule.

When I went through rush I followed the guidelines given to me before the week started.

On the first day we wore jeans/shorts w/ the recruitment t-shirts & it got a little dressier as the week went on. I only wore a skirt the day of pref & on the third day into recruitment I was still wearing jeans w/ sandals & a very nice button-up shirt. I remember one of the girls in Sigma Kappa approached me & said "You look comfortable" & I thought she had meant it in a mean way. But after I accepted my bid she came me & explained that she really liked how I wasn't trying to overdress just to impress them. :D

Hmmm, a nice pair of metallic shoes could look cute with it. I'll have to look around. I know rush at my school is pretty competitive - but from talking to people in houses there that I know and some people I know that just graduated who were in houses, I think it's a little more trendy than formal. And I know a lot of people on here have said to steer clear of black dresses for pref, but I've been told by numerous girls on campus to wear black - so I think it kinda depends on the school.

If they tell you to wear black something that can work really well to make you stand out while still fitting in is a fun sash/scarf/etc - wear a simple black dress with a great hot pink scarf, or a flower in your hair, or something to make you a little more memorable for the girls who are preffing you! :D

Good idea, I will definitely keep that in mind when I buy my accessories.

Re: halter dress
 

I have a smaller top region and sometimes halter tops make me look odd. Almost like I'm trying to show off more than I actually have. Perhaps it's unusually low cut they have. I have better luck finding strapless dresses and throwing a sweater or shrug over it. Or maybe even a lightweight suit jacket.

We usually tell our potentials NMs to go "business casual."

Odd thing about the black dresses though. I remember when I was a freshman, I walked by the dorm quad where girls were waiting to be escorted to Pref Night and it was a SEA of Black Dresses. I think girls were under the impression that THAT was the thing to wear. But I agree about wanting to stand out.

the advice about accessories is a great one. I would try and steer clear of the all black pref dress as a rushee but if you find something cute thats like black/white or another color with black try and spice it up with some silver jewlery......

Again, its not just what you were but the confidence you wear it with. Ever noticed the girl everyone pays attention to in a room or is the "best looking" is not always the prettiest or best dressed she just has a confidence that she knows she looks good and it radiates from her :)

All of this advice seems pretty on target, but I just want to remind everyone not to feel like they have to fit that cookie cutter mold of what you should wear. It's alright to have things that make you stand out as long as they're appropriate. In fact, I'd recommend buying pieces or jewelry that's different or unique so the girls who are rushing you will have a more clear memory of you and what you're all about. What you wear is supposed to be a reflection of who you are, so remember that when shopping.

Also, for my prefs ceremony I wore black dress pants and a bright red top. Not only was I the only person wearing pants, I was the only person wearing color in the entire room! I don't know if I'd recommend pants to anyone, it's deffinately safer to wear a dress, but don't be afraid to throw in a bit of color because it makes you stand out in a room full of girls wearing black.

And, if you go to school in a state like Florida where it rains all the time, I'd HIGHLY recommend bringing an umbrella. It rained during my preffs and my umbrella saved my night!

Another vote of agreement with the accessorizing idea - when I preffed, I wore a black dress, but added a red cardigan and a red ribbon in my hair to "stand out".

Ribbon sashes are really "in" right now, and it seems like something you could make yourself that would go with any dress.

:-(
 

Well I went to order my dress for 2nd round, and they are completely out of stock and won't be making anymore! Go figures. Back to square one

I just went through Formal Recuitment last year at SLU and we are a medium-sized school in the Midwest. Here's what I wore (which all turned out to be completely appropriate for the day I wore them):

Rotationals (1st Night): White capris with the Panhel t-shirt we were required to wear and black flip-flops. (Lots of girls wore jean skirts, khaki skirts, and capris. No one really wore shorts though. The majority of girls wore flip-flops and it didn't seem inappropriate.)

Philanthropy (2nd Night): Another pair of capris with the panhel shirt we were required to wear again. Flip-flops. (Girls were more casual this day, lots of jeans.)

Skit (3rd Night): Floral print just-above-the-knee skirt, coordinating top, and nice sandals. (Some girls wore sundresses, but mostly skirts and tops. No flip-flops.)

Pref (4th Night): Black knee-length dress with a white Floral print, two straps. I wore black strappy heels and jewelry that matched the floral pattern, and got a lot of compliments on it. (Lots of black dresses, again. A few girls even wore just a nice skirt and top, something you would wear to an afternoon wedding.)

It really seems to vary a lot from school to school. I really don't think anyone at SLU would be overly concerned with the "white after labor day" rule or that they'd really notice, actually! And flip flops for the first two nights are just fine, as long as they aren't grubby and old. I think the Midwest recruitment in general is more casual and also at medium and smaller schools. Good Luck to the Fall 2005 PNMs...just remember to be yourself and have fun with it :)

I'm going to attend a state school in the north with a reputation for partying. The dress code says to "Bring casual clothes and one nice outfit (pants or skirt)." What would you wear with that description? (PS it's very hot over there.)

We had a PNM whose sister (who was currently in the chapter) took the "no contact" rule SO seriously, she neglected to tell her sister that jeans and a t-shirt would be wrong at Pref!!

:eek:

With friends from that school, I would go along with the other comment. It's better to be over dressed than underdressed. And I would not wear pants to Pref.

This has a little more information............

http://www.wsu.edu/hdrl/Greek/Formal..._&_schedul.htm

That website gives this advice:
The dress is casual for the first four days of recruitment. Suggested attire includes cotton or denim shorts, overalls, summer shirts, and sandals or tennis shoes.

I would bet that overalls are not a good idea. Nice shorts (maybe in a cute [not annoyingly bright] color to make you stand out) or capris sound like they would be good.

Good luck!

/hijack sortta
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050719/...flip_flop_flap

be careful with flipflops even if they are nice one, there are def places that they are not ok

flip flops
 

That flip flop post reminded me of a story i read in the newspaper this weekend. It was about Norhtwestern's women's lacrosse team. Some members wore flip flops to a meeting with President Bush. When family members saw the picture of the team, president, and members in the front row wearing flip flops they litterally flipped out. :)

From my experience with rush at a big Greek life northern school, i would not recommend wearing flip flops. Its not appropriate, even if they cost $100.

Once a PHI SIGMA SIGMA,
Always a PHI SIGMA SIGMA

Re: flip flops
 

That's what the post is about... :confused:

Re: Re: flip flops
 

haha, i don't know why but that made me laugh

oopps. lol I didn't click on that yahoo link i thought she was just giving general rush attire advice. :)

my bad.

Once a PHI SIGMA SIGMA
always a PHI SIGMA SIGMA

i saw a couple of the northwestern team interviewed on the today show-they could not understand why some of their families were not pleased that they had worn flip flops to the white house, and their coach(a woman who looked like she was barely out of college herself) couldn't either. its too bad someone, not necessarily older, but definately wiser, did not have the opportunity to give them a quick lesson on proper attire for a daytime whitehouse meeting. (they obviously don't read rush threads!!) i wonder if these women would wear their flip flips to a job interview?

Well, not that I agree with the flip flops at the white house thing, but I will say that I kinda find it humorous. Bush probably didn't notice anyway until everyone else started making a big deal out of it - he doesn't really notice a lot of things.

I don't really see what the big deal about wearing flip flops is, but I guess that's just cuz I'm from CA and everyone wears flip flops everywhere! (Yes, even to rush). Though I do think a couple of the girls wearing flip flops in the front stick out-- it makes them look a little too casual.

It's one thing to wear dressy sandals with a heel that are thong style, but some of those look like the K Mart $3 specials. Gross. If either of the two in the front are the girl that paid $16, they really are bad shoppers.

Same for rush - heeled sandals that have the thingy between your toe are fine, the shoes you wear in the shower NO.