I had a cousin who is about 3 or 4 years older than I am. When she started college they had "hours". Yep, curfews.

We in SoCal were SO chic. My high school did away with the dress code (although they tried to renew it when my daughter was there, the older one) when I was a senior. It was so stupid....suddenly we could wear slacks (which covered us up), but we always wore micro minis. I cringe everytime I realize that we must have put on one heck of a show: walking upstairs wearing the Carnaby street style minis...with lace underpants.

No need for sex ed.

But then I got to college. I heard that just a few years prior to my arrival rushees wore St. John knit suits with white gloves. In Los Angeles...in August...and in those years no airconditioning....definitely the Pasadena/San Marino presence.

AnchorAlum and FSUZeta, I would love to hear your retro recruitment stories!

I only remember a few things that I wore for rush at FSU in the mid-80's. On one of the icewater days I wore a pink pencil-type skirt from the Limited with buckles at its very high waist, and on one of the later days (maybe skit day - round 3?) I wore a Laura Ashley drop-waist dress. I can't remember what I wore for prefs except that it was covered with candle wax by the end of the day and I never could wear it again.

I do remember having to find something to wear for the extra day of round 2, which happened because the original round 2 day was canceled because of rain. We were supposed to go to nine parties that day, but by the third or fourth party we were soaking wet, so rush was expanded by a day.

Re: Pappagallo
I'd never heard of these shoes until I started college, and there was a store right next to the dorm. WOW! I loved the shoes, but they were SO expensive...$35 back when you could buy a good pair of leather shoes for $10 or $15. BUT...they had great sales, and with a 6.5 foot, I could buy one or two pairs.
When my mom died, I found a pair I guess I had bought for her on sale - a short of shaggy red velour with 1" heels and a rhinestone-studded buckle. Totally NOT my mother! But she kept them all these years. Too bad they're not my size.
There are several Pappagallo shops around the country. They're not a chain...I'm guessing they kept the name after the shoes quit being made.

i loved the shoes...before i had children i wore a 6.5 narrow shoe. it was hard to find that size, but pappagallo and aigner were always brands that i could find that size in. now my foot is a 7 narrow, and you would think that it would be a little easier to find, but not so much.

LOL about the feet getting bigger after pregnancies, it's so true. Do y'all remember that Pappagallo had a line aimed at middle schoolers called Miss Pappagallo? We adored it, especially the year that everyone was wearing Mary Janes.

So...I teared up when I read that sentence about your mom. When my mom died I found a white handbag that I bought for her: she kept the card in it.

This is a total downer on the thread but my dad and I went through my mom's "drawer" last weekend. In it were my graduation announcements, for both high school and college, pictures of us, programs from various musicals/high school activities, and every card and school project I ever made for her.

/end sad mom hijack. On with the thread!

Gamma Sigma Sigma Meet n Greet, Fall 99...Gap flared jeans, long sleeved ribbed Gap heather gray shirt...with (drumroll) those GIANT shoes that were in style back then...giant spongy rubber heels, about 2-3 inches off the ground! I was so excited about them!!! My roomie had them and I rushed out and bought me some!

I actually didn't pledge that semester...shortly after that meeting I left school for other reasons. Went to another Meet n Greet and DID join fall 2000...but I don't remember what I wore! Must have not been as memorable as those shoes ;)

At sometime in the past I wrote about why I went through rush in the very early '70's. I have no recollection of any outfit I wore except for the first day. Since I only went through rush to move out of the house a week early, and knew no house would extend me a bid since I was such a geek and unpopular in HS, what I wore was not going to make any difference as far as I was concerned. I actually wore lederhosen that I had gotten a few weeks earlier when I was in Europe as a HS graduation gift. Of the 10 houses on campus, amazingly, 7 actually invited me back the next day (I had a full party list the entire week). Imagine what that did for my ego and confidence. After that I actually wore cute clothes! I was convinced that those invites were a mistake and I would be told by my rush counselor, "oh sorry, but you were not invited back to any house." To this day, I am still tell my sisters I am still waiting to hear that I was dropped that first day.

DaffyKD

I went through COB in 1983 and I'm quite sure I wore a pink button down, khaki walking shorts and either penny loafers or topsiders.

For rush on the "other side" in mid-August, I think for 1st round we wore a white skirt and shoes with a colored polo shirt (shirt colors assigned, thank you!) 2nd and 3rd nights were costumes so it varied depending on theme and Pref were matching red floor length taffeta formals with a big white sash. Dress checks, makeup checks, jewelry checks, you name it, it was approved before rush. Oh yes, it was definitely the 80s!

Carnation, My daughters back to school issue just showed up in the mail. There are 823 fashion and beauty ideas! I guess I just figured out how to spend my morning.

Flash back to the early 80s. Formal "Rush" in mid-September. Very few houses with A/C since Ohio is supposed to be cold.

Round 1 - 18 houses in 1 day. I wore Liz Claiborne Khaki Bermuda shorts, a yellow Ralph Lauren polo and brown Pappagallo flats. I think I had an argile sweater over my shoulders. I screamed of "preppy".

Round 2 - I don't remember, but I attended about 10 houses.

Round 3 - I can't remember the number of houses (maybe 6), but I remember they were over 2 nights. I wore suits, which was not typical. One was a raw silk teal suit and the other was an off-white heavier material I do remember the white suit was hot.

Pref - 3 houses on 1 night. I had this dress with shiny material (some type of rayon) that had diagonal strips in black, red and blue. It had a tie belt and puffy sleeves. I think I wore black sheer hose and black pumps.

My hair was in a bi-level cut with "side burns"

OMG, that sounds exactly like a dress I had only mine was silver-gray background, pink & white stripes.

Ooo ... I had those belts too! And one of those Pappagallo wooden handle purses where you unbuttoned the purse and swapped it out so that your purse, your belt, and your espadrilles all matched!

Not only Seventeen, but also Glamour and Mademoiselle. One of the Mizzou ChiO's the year I went through rush (1970) was one of Glamour's Top 10 College Girls. Of course they made much of that.

As to what I wore: what I remember is a doubleknit Bobbie Brooks polo dress (bumble bee logo)--navy/red/tan; and an interlock knit--multi-colored dots on blue...can't remember the others.