Clothes for "Spring" 2014 Recruitment
 

Hey guys,

I know it's a bit early, but since I'll be doing a fair amount of shopping over the upcoming winter break in preparation for spring recruitment, I wanted to ask a bit of fashion advice. I go to a northern school with a pretty large and established Greek system, but recruitment here isn't quite as cutthroat as in the south. It is also very, very cold during "spring" rush, and cute tank top/shorts combos & sundresses aren't the norm. I'm a bit more sure about what I'm going to wear during the casual rounds, but for the last three (house tours "business/snappy casual", skit & philanthropy "business", and preference "semi-formal) I'm less set in my choices. I put together some combinations and I would like to see what you think.

I'm trying to be fashionable and memorable, but I don't want to cross any lines. Also, I've chosen a lot of flat shoes not because I have anything against heels, but because I'm 5'10" already. I walk quite well in heels, but they make me somewhat Amazonian in height and I feel like towering over sisters would be a bit awkward.

I'll cut to the chase. Here's what I'm thinking:

Round 3 - House Tours "Business/Snappy Casual"
http://i41.tinypic.com/mm4uv6.png

Round 4 - Skit "Business"
http://i40.tinypic.com/s0v76t.png

Round 5 - Preference "Semi-Formal"
http://i39.tinypic.com/2d82x7b.png

Of course I'll be wearing a big puffy jacket while going from house to house!

*Note: When they say "business", they don't mean literally business like a suit. It's a level of formality. Just thought I'd clarify!

All of this looks a little summery to me, but the Preference outfit would probably be ok. Lavender and white (shoe?! no) is not a good choice for winter unless you are in the most beachy southern communities.

You want to look stylish and since the rooms will be crowded you don't need to worry too much about staying warm, but I still think sleeves are your friend. I think for round 3 I'd stick with slacks with a nice sweater or jacket, and leave the dresses for preference and maybe the round before.

I know it's hard to dress cocktail'y in the winter. Just make sure you are dressed in season. That will stand out more than you being in something less than perfectly cute.

Maybe this for round 4 http://dimg.dillards.com/is/image/Di...archCatMedium$
And this for round 3 (sorry couldn't paste in this one. Here's the link to Dillards) http://www.dillards.com/product/I.N....34662_zi_black

If your rush is in January, the party dresses for Christmas will probably fill the bill.

The dresses are a little too short and two are the wrong season. You are not going to a club. I work with high school and college aged women and they would say the first two dresses are definitely spring/summer wear.

I will assume your first round you are probably wearing a Panhellenic tee shirt with skinny jeans and boots. That seems to be the norm for "spring" but really winter recruitment. For the business snappy casual, I would go with colored skinny jeans or cords, nice sweater and a statement necklace or cool scarf again with boots. For skit, if you want to wear a dress, I'd either go with a sweater dress with tights and boots or a nice pencil skirt with an trendy top or sweater worn with tights and suede wedges. For preference think cocktail party. Nicer than the dress you posted, but not prom like. Maybe look at White House Black Market, they usually have something around the holiday that would work.

Nice nice, thank you very much! Great feedback. For the first round, we actually don't wear Panhellenic tees. I was thinking of a nice sweater, but with dark skinny jeans and knee high boots as you said. Oh and, just to make sure, is forgoing the heels okay at my height?

Yes, not wearing heels is more than ok. :-) You will be on your feet a lot, so pick your shoes for both style and comfort. Boots and flats are definitely in right now. You are good to go. However, by the time you get to preference, if you want to wear heels you should feel alright doing so. If a chapter has invited you to preference, they like you. You stood out in a good way, so I don't think being amazingly tall with hinder anything.

Wear what you feel comfortable in. There are no boys to feel threatened by your height. And remember there is a lot of walking and limping verging on crawling is no way to get to your final parties.

Agreed...the first dress and shoes are not "business/snappy casual" -- that's a summer outfit, but it's not business attire.

The Pref dress seems a bit edgy to me. All of these dresses are very clingy...very few women can pull these styles off without bulges or spots that don't fit quite right. If you're one of them, that's great, but you really have to have a very trim figure to pull these off. I would not overdo the cling.

My daughter went through January recruitment this past winter. She wore WHBM outfits for two of the days (jeans, riding boots, sweater for Day 1) and a 3/4 sleeve "skater cut" knit dress for Day 3. They worked very well. She wore a Lilly Pulitzer sweater dress for Day 2, and a non-revealing cocktail dress for Pref.

Current sophomore at a winter recruitment school checking in! Thought I'd give you my two cents.

The first is definitely too spring-y; I'd go for a darker color, and maybe something a little less form-hugging--save that for pref. :P

Second dress is fine; I might say to give the tights a pass unless they're going to be solidly opaque. That is, unless I'm wrong, and the dress isn't a sweater dress, in which case, carry on!

Third dress is probably not a good bet. The problem is that you want to be wearing colors; the sisters will all be wearing black, and you want to stand out. Aim for a classy cocktail dress in a color that compliments you well.

All your jewelry and shoe picks are spot-on, though. Props for not choosing heels! I made a mistake with those last year and got some nasty blisters. And make sure to ALWAYS SPANX IT! Even if you think you don't need to, your booty will look great AND be warmer! :P

@Sciencewoman - I'll admit I do have a habit of wearing fitted clothing, and the reason why I didn't shy away from it for rush is because, at 5'10" I am a size 2-4 depending on the brand. So how things appear on models is generally how they appear on me. I'm not particularly busty either, so dresses that may appear racy on others don't have quite the same effect. I really like the sound of skater and sweater style dresses, I'm going to look into both.

@generallygreek - That's really helpful, thanks so much!

So may something like one of these two with a statement necklace & burgundy lipstick for skit:
http://images.asos-media.com/inv/med...y/image1xl.jpg
http://images.asos-media.com/inv/med...y/image1xl.jpg

And for pref maybe one of these two?
http://images.asos-media.com/inv/med...k/image1xl.jpg
http://images.asos-media.com/inv/med...d/image1xl.jpg

The suggestion not to go sleeveless for a winter recruitment is spot-on. These dresses (other than the gray one) still look like club dresses. (IMO they don't even look good on the models. They're a bit tacky.) The red dress with tights that Dubais Sis suggested is the right look for a party other than pref.

I like the red long-sleeved dress quite a lot, I was just trying to find a deeper red (more burgundy or maroon color) as I'm very fair skinned a bright shades of blue or red tend to wash me out and make me look even paler. I think I saw one on WHBM though, I'll check again.

And just promise us you won't stand there, mouth open and terrible posture like in the second pic immediately above. Why oh why do photographers and models think that's a good look?

Cross my heart, I swear! When you're tall you learn to have excellent posture, because it's SO noticeable if you slump (not to mention that good posture has a slimming effect). No "duckface" lips, no confused open mouth - important things to remember when making an impression. :)

Also, I sincerely appreciate everyone's honest, constructive advice. I'm from New Jersey, and my mother went to art school in Philli, so my family does not have a history of being involved in Greek life. Growing up so close to NYC, everyone around me was very into "high fashion" and street style, not so much the classic looks that are appropriate for rush. Learning online & from friends in sororities are my only two real options.

Something along these lines (but not the price point!!!) might work:

http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/i...entPage=family

http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/i...entPage=family

http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/i...entPage=family

http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/i...entPage=family

White House Black Market

http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com...&maxPg=1&size=

I think a sleeveless dress can be okay, if it's the right dress.

More options:


Sweater dress
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/s...LinkType=PDPZ1

A-line sleeveless:
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/c...%26slotId%3D21

Beaded dress for pref:
http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/bead-it-dress

@FSUZeta - I really like the Calvin Klein dresses, I just have to find similar ones that fit the proper price range. The WHBM one is lovely too, I adore the "bell sleeves" style.

@KDCat - Seriously considering that A-Line dress. Adorable. And the beaded dress is pretty much exactly my style. Everything on modcloth is darling.

I've narrowed it down to a few choices based on everyone's input... Tell me your favorites & if you like? :)

For house tours: Would be worn with the peplum style black blazer and black pencil skirt I use for interviews.
http://i40.tinypic.com/a1yb.pnghttp://i43.tinypic.com/2hnbzhl.png

I love neck-tie blouses.

For skit: Some long-sleeved options similar to the ones suggested in colors that are flattering on me. The wine colored one is actually a sweater-dress, but it's difficult to tell from the picture. Would probably be worn with black tights.
http://i44.tinypic.com/1235o9i.png[/...om/2upr5va.pnghttp://i42.tinypic.com/2upr5va.jpg

For pref: REALLY difficult choice. A-line, beaded and long-sleeved have been emphasized a lot, and these are some really pretty ones in those styles. Again, difficult to tell from the picture, but the A-line dress is listed as hitting at the knee.
http://i43.tinypic.com/jfuw02.pnghttp://i41.tinypic.com/2v1q1ok.pnghttp://i42.tinypic.com/spejwl.png

You guys are seriously the best.

Maybe skip the blazer? It sounds like it might be a little too office-y?

The other choices are lovely.

Agree on both counts.

Maybe a cardigan instead of the blazer.

Love your choices and agree that the blazer is not necessary. The cardigan is a cute idea.

I thought of suggesting a cardigan, too, but then I thought that a nervous PNM in a crowded room might be warm enough without one.

I initially listed "blazer" in order to be conservative with regards to the sleeveless-ness of the tops - if you all think that it's fine to do without it, then I'm happy to forgo it! I think the shirts are super cute anyway, so I'd actually prefer to show them off.

I'm so pleased that you guys like my choices, and I can't wait to tell you all how recruitment goes. I don't want to wait until January!

Sleeveless can definitely be fine, if you're concerned, take a cardigan or wrap to your first pref party and you can remove it if you're too warm.

Another pro tip: you'll probably sweat more than you think since you're nervous and crammed into an overly heated room with lots of women...pit stains aren't attractive. That light grey dress with the bow up there will show ANY little bit of sweat, so prepare appropriately if you choose a shade like that

I'm not sure where you'll be going through recruitment (and please don't tell us), but many places follow the time honored tradition of no velvet after Valentine's Day. You won't want to drop a lot of money on a dress that you'll only wear a few times.

And count me among the no sleeveless dresses votes!

I like sleeveless stuff. Obviously.

What is the objection?

It's winter. That's the objection. It looks too summery and quite out of place when you take off a big ole winter coat to show bare sleeves. Only for cocktail dresses as far as I'm concerned.

Agreed. I just hate seeing sleeveless "day" dresses in the winter

I would never have thought of that, thank you!! That's something that you don't really notice til it happens, and then you're like, crap...

@honeychile - Had no clue about no velvet after valentine's day, thanks for the heads up! I'll make sure to check the materials in the descriptions of the clothes to make sure there isn't any. :)

I think I've seen pictures of girls at my school wearing sleeveless dresses for pref since it's cocktail, but I'll play it safe and have sleeves for the other rounds. I may order two pref dresses, the one with sleeves and one of the two sleeveless, try them both on and see which I like better (and return the reject).

A suggestion, based on years of reading "what to wear" notices from assorted Panhellenics:

Double-check your school's Panhellenic info on what to wear. Some flatly state "no sequins or beading." (Especially for pref, for some reason. And especially in SEC schools plus ones in TX. )

If that's what Panhellenic at your school says, you're probably much better off avoidling the blingiosity of sequins / beading, right?

Yeah, I know, a few weeks there were pictures splashed around the 'net of H.R.H. the Duchess of Cambridge out at some charity fundraiser / recognition event wearing a white all-sequins long evening dress. PNMs, however, are college freshies or sophs, usually, not British royalty.

^^^ That's a good catch. I forgot about the very common "no sequins and beading" directive.

I think we would have caught that if it was August, but we're probably in "holiday mode" now!

That's probably an attempt to minimize the Miss America dresses that would undoubtedly show up without clear direction. While I do have cocktail dresses with bling, I would consider it over the top, even for preference. This isn't prom. Or even a New Year's Eve party.

But I agree about carefully reading your school's rush website. If it's a low pressure school and there's not much stated, you probably want to defer to a less spectacular dress and if it's a high intensity rush school they probably have a lot of rules, in which case you may be required to defer to a less spectacular dress. On the other hand, from just about every website I've seen, you want to go one notch fancier than they say. In their attempt to downplay the clothes they seem to go overboard on the casual. Ask around for protocol.

There isn't anything about sparkle/bling/beading/etc on my school's rush website. Even though we have a large & established Greek system and it's a selective process, I'd say about 85% of girls who don't suicide a chapter make it through rush and we don't have a very strict dress code as long as you attain the appropriate level of formality for each round (while still being fashionable). A certain brand, like Lily, doesn't really dominate the recruitment wardrobe. I asked a few of my sophomore friends in the system, and they replied that sororities don't tend to be nitpicky about decorative accents such as an embellished hem or neckline, as long as you don't look like you're going to prom or are as reflective as a disco ball.

So, I think a little bit of decorative beading would be fine, as long as it isn't overdone and minimal jewelry is worn with that particular outfit. Perhaps the designs on the embellished dark purple dress might be pushing it, even though the beading is dark, but the magenta dress is definitely fine and I believe the black long-sleeved one would also be suitable. I may order both and try them on before returning one.