New Member Ceremony Help!
 

I got into the sorority I wanted and with that my new member ceremony with my new sisters is tomorrow. And we're all required to wear white dresses. I'm literally typing this on my phone since I'm searching at the mall for a white dress. I did however find a white one! It looked pretty white from across the store but I went closer and there was polka dots on it.
http://shop.pacsun.com/Womens/dresse...=319&colorCd=#
That was the one! Should I get this for my ceremony? I tried calling girls in my sorority but they're not answering.

It is white on white and should be fine. Congratulations and enjoy!

Thank you! I'm so excited (:

You probably should leave the tags on and keep your receipt as:

1) It looks really short.

2) Some groups require that your shoulders be covered.

It is white, but the other things I mentioned might make it inappropriate.

Did you try the women's (not juniors) section of Macy's or other department stores?

have you looked at target?

Have you tried H&M?

They have quite a few white dresses now in all kinds of styles.

I see...well I'm at home now! And I read these comments on the way to the register! Definitely put it back! Instead I got this dress http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/soprano-...resultback=933
I got a text from my sister making sure to cover my shoulders (Thank you for the heads up 33girl!) And I have a long sleeve cardigan to wear with this...But before I cut the tags, is this okay to wear? (I sadly didn't get this on sale like shown online, so returns are possible)

Make sure that "natural" is OK - some groups want WHITE and nothing else.

If you get really stuck - it's not the most attractive thing, but go to a Life Uniform or other store that sells uniforms for doctors, nurses etc and get a white skirt, and wear your cardi buttoned the whole way up.

Oh...I see, I'll go to target to search around just in case and I'll call my sisters for clarification on that.

How can someone go through formal recruitment and not know that they will need appropriate white attire for formal pledging? Isn't this something that should be told to all PNMs as they sign up for recruitment? Certainly easier to find a cute white dress in June than in September.

Not all schools require that you sign up months in advance.

Also, not all groups require white attire.

Well, TBTH, I'm the first one in my family to go Greek, and nobody told me about what happens after recruitment-everyone just stressed getting ready for recruitment. I didn't even begin to think about "after recruitment" until a few days ago. :p Completely stupid, I know, but I was very single-mindedly focused on the "getting in" bit.

Of course, I have no clue about the OP's situation.

OK, I was going from my reading on other posts that white/cream attire required for fomal pledging for most NPC groups. And my Southern/SEC brain not thinking in terms of someone signing up for recruitment at the last minute...sorry!:o

you know, a talented seamstress could make a killing by setting up a white dress booth somewhere on campus sometime around bid day.

No problems. At Penn State, you signed up and went through recruitment. I was first in my family to go Greek (immediate family-uncle is a Sigma Chi and younger cousin is a DPhiE). It was never discussed that I should go and get a white (or some groups use black) initiation dress. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to find white dresses in the dead of fall in State College, PA. Thankfully, I was able to find something. I can honestly say, however, that going Greek and joining Phi Mu was one of the BEST choices I ever made. Good luck OP!!!

amIblue-I agree with you! That is such a big market! It's like, Old Navy and Victoria's Secret acknowledge the importance of representing college teams--you'd think someone would have something like a sorority representation section with white and black dresses. Weird!

At least for my sorority, I think this second option is more appropriate with a cardigan.

In my chapter, we were often a pretty motley crew at First Degree, Second Degree and Initiation time. It wasn't intentional, but none of us knew we had to have white, and scrambled to find something appropriate in September, when they were picked over. Also, in my era, plain white dresses weren't really in style, so terribly hard to find in the first place.

We had the "loving hands made at home" look, the mismatched white skirt and white oxford shirt pairing, the white cardigan from Mom or Grandmom buttoned over a white something on the bottom, and the nurse look.

And yea, verily, the beauty continued unto the next generation, as these wonders tended to be passed down in the "family".

I totally may learn how to sew. Thanks to the popularity of the LBD, I don't think there's as much of a sorority-specific market for black dresses, but for white ones - oh my! What do women do for schools who have deferred recruitment? I can't imagine trying to find a white dress in January! :eek:

Am I the only one who sees buyawhitedress.com or something in the banner ad every time I log on to GC?

I don't know where people get that! My group certainly doesn't require it - at least not nationally. Now, what individual campuses do may be a horse of a different color. We simply require "pin attire."

Seriously, when you first posted that, I thought, "Really? I've NEVER seen that advertisement. What is she talking about?" As soon as I clicked to look at something else, I saw the advertisement. Oh, wow. How did I miss that? In all honesty, though, I did not have a GC account until after I was an initiated member.

And then you have the deferred recruitments that start in January- daughter, yours truly and grandmama in Florida were all scouring the stores and internet for appropriate white dresses in the dead of winter. We ended up having the most luck at Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

I don't know what I need yet, but I hope that I find out far enough in advance to go out and get things!

Well, you're not as out in the hinterlands as some people are. :) I mean in some college towns, you're lucky if you can find dressy clothes period, let alone white dressy clothes.

Very true (my cousins live in one of those towns. I can't imagine what they'd have to do to find a white dress now!). I might actually look now...if the return policies are good...

For the small town girls - the internet is fabulous for just this.

Zappos has free returns and if you are a vip you can get rush delivery for free. Mod Cloth is another good place to look for something different or even Lilly had white and black dresses in the end of summer clearance.

Yeah, no...where I'm attending college there's absolutely no decent conservative white dresses. Trust me I knew I was going in to recruitment since the beginning of this year and have stopped to look everywhere. I don't know why but it's always sheer white dresses that are out in stores which I would never subject myself to. And before I went through recruitment, we weren't told what to have or anything. They just specified what to wear when meeting the sororities...nothing after.

For anyone reading this thread trying to find white dresses still, I found a few nice ones at Deb this semester!

way back when (we are talking '91) I scrambled to find a white dress, stockings and shoes [drama THAT DAY] and then for pledge presents...that was a task...it was a no go for me to find a white dress that look nice on my...I was allowed to wear a very nice off white formal, I think I found at a Dillards in Scottsdale. Of course after the fact, I found out I could rent a white dress...

It really was a comedy of errors, I look back and laugh now, but it was not a laughing situation then.

You know...this should be a part of the recruitment manuals the PHC puts out...because not all PMNs are knowledgeable

I know, right? I know this would be tough for campus panhellenics to do, but it would not be the worst idea to mention that girls should have an all-white outfit if that really IS what the sororities want.

Keep the tags on and keep your receipt. It wouldn't be ok with my sorority, and I know mine can't be the only one with this specification. We only allow pure white, not cream/ivory/off white/natural/whatever. Definitely make a better effort to get in touch with SOMEONE from your chapter, not necessarily the president or NM educator (though she should be making herself available)

Not really. NPC has no idea what all the groups need or want for their ritual services, and the only way for them to know would be for the groups to all share their rituals w/ NPC (which ain't happenin'). This is why a college Panhellenic cannot say recs are required. Same principle.

And not only that, I would bet there are many rushees who never see a "recruitment manual."

At some of the schools where all the PNMs and/or sisters wear white dresses on bid day, I'm guessing there is a chapter or two that doesn't actually wear them for ritual. They wear them because it's a school tradition. What happens behind closed doors is another story.

Well we had to move dates for our induction...so I either can keep the dress or go searching for a new one ): However I did see some girl of another sorority wear just a white v-neck and white pants, while her sorority sisters and her were lining up for their induction ceremony.

Which stores do you have in your area? I know that sounds like an odd question, but if you look online, you may be able to get something from another branch of the same store if you find it online.

I have Nordstrom's, Macy's, Dillard's, Bloomingdale's, Sak's, Pacsun, Forever 21...and those high end stores of which I'll never be able to afford like Dior or Chanel...yeah it's kinda a bit city. But apparently it's not enough to find a decent dress...

Don't forget the oldest store of all -- your dorm floor! Esp if you have friends in other sororities that have already done their pledging/induction. See if anyone has a conservative white dress you can borrow.

My freshman year, we were allowed to do khaki/off white and white for pledging but then all white for Initiation. But it was honestly really sloppy looking, and we changed it to all white. I borrowed my initiation dress freshman year (it is HARD to find a white dress in March!) and then bought one over the summer between freshman and sophomore year and wore it for every subsequent initiation/pledging. It's probably my most worn dress because of that.

There was a white skirt on my dorm floor that went to at least 3 different sorority/little sister rituals. If it could talk we'd all be in trouble. :)

show your dress to the ritual officer of your chapter and ask her if it is appropriate.