Particular Rush Preparations
 

For Greek Weekend (a sort of pre-rush), our rush advisor had a checklist for us including some very nit-picky things, such as remove all unwanted facial hair (a good one), must be wearing lipstick and matching nail/toenail polish. Here's one I thought was a bit bizarre: Remove all toe hair! LOL, that one had me cracking up. I just don't see a lot of girls out there with bushy toes. Another girl wanted to add to the list "remove bikini area hair" because the PNMs stay overnight and in case we changed in front of them she wanted us to have a smooth bikini area. That wasn't put on the list, I think that would have been weird for the rush chair to check off. Anyway, what are some good and/or weird rush preparations you do?

pedicure/manicure, always lipstick, wear makeup even if you don't normally, brows waxed, no smoking once you have taken your morning shower that day (so you don't stink like smoke), no eating smelly foods, NO FOOD in any rush areas ever because it stinks it up, no perfume, no watches, get your roots done, take care of your skin/concealer, only cross legs at ankles, wear a body slimmer with anything remotely fitted...that's all I can think of.

I know in my chapter we keep a thing of breath mints around at all times. As for perfume, you can wear it if it is really light...personally body spray works better.

Oh yeah...I forgot the Altoids...I swear you eat 100 freaking Altoids during rush!

Shocked
 

I am very surprised that the rush chair can tell you to do those things. I think it is extremely rude to ask someone to remove their toe hair! I trust that my sisters wil all show up at rush looking their best. I think it is sad that you have to tell them things like that. I want a girl to pledge my sorority because she likes who we are, not because she likes our matching nail polish.:rolleyes:

Hmmm... we were just told that if you do wear makeup, to be sure it's neat and tasteful. No applying tons of blue eyeshadow etc. Whether to wear nail polish was up to you, but if you did wear nail polish, it could not be chipped and the color couldn't clash with your outfit (which was he!! the year we had maroon rush t-shirts :) ). We mostly wore closed-toed shoes, so toenail polish (and toe hair, for that matter!) were irrelevant. What else... no perfume, scented deodorant, or scented hairspray (not all sororities followed that last rule, meaning that you needed a gas mask to walk into the student center ladies' room on pref night :) ). Following basic hygiene (shower, brush your teeth) was implicit, though I think we were reminded to brush our teeth right after dinner on pref night.

Wow...and we wonder why Lifetime makes movies about how icky sororities can be?!? I mean, removing your toe hair? Who thinks of this stuff? :rolleyes:

I just want to say, that if you are are very pale and have dark hair, yes you do have toe hair and it's yucky.

But the bikini line hair....!!! Sorry, but no one tells me what to do south of the border.

This makes me glad that I participated in rush in the north in mid/late September where we didn't have to worry about strappy dresses & sandals & such.

You are too funny!! :D :D :D

Have a manicure and pedicure. Get your hair cut right before rush. If you have highlights or color in your hair, make sure your roots aren't showing. Shave your legs. Pluck your eyebrows. Make sure your make up is tasteful. No perfume....only body spray (could you imagine if 180 girls wore perfume what the room would spell like????). After every party, we are given life savers mints. After being in my chapter for three years, I think I'm immune to the taste of those things. :rolleyes:

well, my rush chair just told us stuff like no ribbons in your hair, either nice polish or no polish, clean dry hair, etc. nothing extreme....



i agree with Shadokat....no wonder there are stereotypes...:o

Umm.. we don't have any written rules about what hair to keep on our bodies and which not to.. I mean if a girl has toe hair she probably removes it herself... doesn't need to be told to do so. I mean reminding girls not to wear perfume is a good idea.. cause you may not think about it...but we are big girls now... we know we have to shower everyday, and if we are going to be talking with people all night not to eat the garlic bread. Ya know ??

i don't think its a huge deal for a recruitment chair to ask these things, she just wants to make the chapter look as appealing as possible, just like we have talked about what the pnm's should and shouldn't wear.

Sometimes these things are said to the group in hopes that ONE person in particular will get the hint.

Something I wish all the girls would check for is the deoderant RING-POWDER-GUNK whatever, that often shows up under your arms and can ruin the look of an otherwise beautiful dress/girl.

Just to clarify...the suggestions we got were always from rush advisors, not rush chairs! And I think it is good advice for anyone in a first impression type of situation such as rush, job interview, etc. When people have a limited time within which to size you up, appearance as far as grooming, etc. matters!

I agree it needs to be said, we do have the occasional *cough, cough* girl who does wear Winnie the Pooh ribbons in her hair (no, we really do...) hence why we need to make sure that she doesn't wear them. I mean, who are we kidding...rush is a lot about looks. As much as we would like to say they are not, how do you really judge someone? You talk to them 3x for 20 minutes and decide they have a great personality, outgoing, friendly and dedicated and worthy to be your sister? HA! However, it doesn't mean that that doesnt figure in, but, if you saw Julia Roberts with pit stains, yellow teeth, and her hair was tangled and a mess, she wouldn't be Julia Roberts right?!?

Hope that made sense to everyone....:)

The heat and humidity is terrible in August at my school. If you add in the nervousness and pressure, by the time a PNM walks from her dorm and finally gets to her last function it can be hours, and the hair, makeup, and sweat usually shows the strain.

It REALLY gets hot down here. It's rough on the PNMs who have to wait outside and then walk from party to party while trying to look their best.

gross

Advisors Point of View
 

Watchs usually aren't worn because if you keep looking at your watch the pnm might think you really aren't interested in them etc.

Perfume - 100 of your sisters (all with a different scent) 30+ pnms (all with a different scent) throw in some b.o. - not a great smell

Breath mints for all - who wants to be singled out for bad breath

Toe hair - nit picky and no biggy to me - but it drives my husband nuts!

PET PEEVE - white bra - black dress
and panty lines

I usually just say to be neatly groomed etc. But nothing as specific as shave your legs or wear deodorant.

We do dress parade for everyone so that we don't single anyone out. It also lets you make sure no one will be hanging out of their clothes (top or bottom) or will wear something 2 sizes too small. You have to watch shoes too - people will try to wear a pair of tennis shoes they've had for 10 years that are black and falling apart or sandles with the sole flapping on them - if they can get away with it!

I don't think major makeovers or a brand new set of clothes are necessary, but make an effort to look your best. First impressions and all that. Plus, you know the pnm's are trying to look their best, out of respect, so should you.

I go to school in the south too and the weather is a killer. It is so hot and it rained the first day of rush last year, just as I was on my way to my first house! It is understandable because everyone is in the same boat. I haven't been on the other side of rush yet, but I know that we usually cook in the house for lunch for us ( not the girls going through, obviously) but during rush the food can't have a distinct smell. It has to be like sandwiches or something like that. I mean, we don't want PNM's saying "oh yeah, Theta-- the house that smelled like onions."
The only odd rush rule was told to me by a sister that was rushing at another house and the girl kept complaining that it was a rule that all actives had to get fake nails for rush. It was a turn-off for her and it would have been for me too because that is almost asking someone to do something that they ordinarily wouldn't do. I could understand having your nails neat, but fake, I don't like it.

I dont think that women should HAVE to wear make up. I know for the longest time in our chapter, if you didnt wear it normally, no one was going to force you. We have tom-boys in our chapter, and since we want people for who they are, not what they look like, we didnt want to make sisters into who theyre not, we want everyone to be themselves!