Formals, formals everywhere!!
 

Has anyone else started looking out for dresses / accessories for formal this year? I've already tried on several dresses and got the ordering info the dresses I liked in case the store sold out when I made my final decision.

I don't know what it is, but I think I just love dressing up like Cinderella once a year !!!

My sorority's formal is the day after Valentine's day! I'm still not sure if I can go because I have *FIVE* classes the next day (and every Thursday... lovely, isn't it?)... but hey, if I find the perfect dress, I'll definitely be there. :D

XOXO,
Annie.

Oh wow, I am glad I am not the only one. Our formal isn't until late march or april, and I have been searching for dresses for a month already!!! The bad thing about it is I have so many favorites now, but I think I am going to want to have mine made, so its a good thing I'm starting early!

That sounds awesome justhey! What do you want your dress to look like?

I actually started looking for dresses in late-December before I left home for the break... and our formal isn't until the second week in April!!!

I also might be going to my boyfriend's fraternity's formal, but we're not sure if we will be able to make the trip.

I really think this year I am going to try a strapless dress... I have never worn strapless for fear it might fall down or something :p but I think it would be fun to try a new style.

I have this really weird tradition of getting my jewelry first and then finding the perfect dress. (Yes I know this is weird.. but I have been doing it since my sophomore year in high school for prom :p )

I have already purchased my jewelry set and am awaiting for it's arrival... I would like to post a pic, but I don't know how :confused:

Our formal will probably be in April sometime, but my mother is going to make my dress...I found a pattern that I liked and since she's made dresses before (3 prom dresses and 4 flower girl dresses) and used to be a seemstress, I figured I might as well...it's cheaper! Last year I wore a dress that I got for $15 because I bought it out of season...sometimes it pays to think ahead!

Hey txprincess, I am considering going strapless too!! I am not *too* worried about it falling down because if I did go strapless it would be that kind that is pretty tight with boning on the inside of the top so its pretty rigid. I am either considering something like that with a pretty rigid strapless top and a simple, straight bottom (skirt and top) ooooorrrrrrrrr.........if I feel like getting bold, I would really rather like to go for something a little more unique with a classy-woman-40's (or some decade, i dont know) feel to it like one of these:

something like the middle one without those drape-y things on the shoulders

the bottom left one (5876) click on the pic to see it better

I haven't necessarily decided on one of these two, but I would LOVE to find something that has the feel that those dresses do.

That is so funny that you pick out jewelry first, because I always find the dress and then CANNOT for the life of me find shoes or jewelry that i like wth the dress I picked. What does it look like??

ok, i just relized that second link didnt work rght, but click on it, go to evening/bridal, and its #5876.

I"M SOO EXCITED ABOUT FORMAL!! I'm Social Chair, So i'm really excited about it!! Well, anyway, I have started looking at Dresses with sisters about two months ago! I found one i loved! It was a light blue strapless princess dress. But it is Really expensive so i dont' know if i am gonna get it or not, i think i am gonna look at more. One of my sisters wants to borrow my dress from last year if i do not wear it.
Txprincess -- Go Strapless !! Strapless looks good on everyone i knoe!!! And don't worry abotu falling out, i wear strapless dresses all the night(formal and nonformal) you will be FINE!

Binks

Shark In Skirt : I hope you get to go to your formal! Even if it's only for a little while!!!

nyrdrms, that is so awesome! my mother made my dress for senior prom and it was gorgeous! do you know what type of dress you might want to wear ?

justhey, those dresses you left links to are BEAUTIFUL!!!

binks, thanks for the advice on strapless.. all you ladies really make me want to wear strapless now!!!!

And about my weird tradition about the jewelry first, I just purchased this set online, and can't wait for it to arrive!!!

Here is the link to see the pic:



My mother always used to think I was nuts because I still get the jewelry first :p Also, if you're looking for cute jewelry, don't ever forget to check ebay.. lots of bridal/formal wear shops sell NEW jewelry sets at really good prices :)

txprincess, that jewelry is gorgeous!! I'll definitely be sure to look on ebay for formal jewelry from now on.

My first formal with my chapter is on Saturday - and I don't have a dress yet! Eeek!! :eek:

WPISWEETIE --- Dresses are easy to find!! Is it a semi-formal or Formal?? YOu cna always ask a sister who is your size if they have any older dresses to borrow. My last semi-formal I had two sisters sporting my dresses from last year!! Anyway, they that dones' work then if you have discount bridal store. They are ALways good! I go to David's Bridal. Tiffanys bridal is good too, but some of the dresses are a little too much. Dept. store are good too. and they are normally having sells on dresses at this time. GOOD LUCK!!

txprincess -- I LOVE THE JEWELERY!!! if you don't mind me asking how much did it cost? Last Year i wore my pearls to the formal, I looked very classy! This year i want to be over the top!!i want the Glam look. I know i sound silly! I'm gonna have to go on e-bay and lok for a necklace.

i think i have figured out who i am gonna ask to my formal too, even though it is in april it is one thing that i have to start thinking about NOW!! I don't have a boyfriend. the guy is actually my old boyfriend's best friend. the guy helped me with the break up. My ex was an A$$ and he helped me realize that i didn't need him. My question is how do you ask someone, i have never had to since i was always dating someone when i have date functions and formals!!!

binks is right -- borrowing dresses is a great way to find one quick! i let one of my sisters borrow one of my formal dresses for homecoming last year! i hope you have a great time at your formal have have pics to share!!

i'm glad you girls like the jewelry! Believe it or not, I paid $15.50 for this set!!! Sure, I have to pay $8 in shipping because it's coming from another country, but I still think it's a steal considering most formal shops charge $35-$40 for nice looking sets. Pearls are also beautiful for formal! Very glam!

as for asking a boy to formal, i did this for my junior prom and i've been dating the same guy ever since ;)

Basically I just started talking about how excited I was about upcoming prom [in your case, sorority formal!] and i found out he never went to his high school prom. "You've never been to one? It's sooooooo much fun!! You should go with me!!!" hehehe.. i guess i was a little straight-forward.. but hey, it worked didn't it? :p

binks, that is so cool, i am really excited about formal because i am social chair too!!! I also want to go for that glam look. hehe, its so funny, i actually havent even thought about my date yet, even though i have looked into every aspect of what i want to wear. i figure, who knows who ill be interested in by then, gosh, its 3 months away!!!!

txprincess, that jewelry set is absolutely gorgeous, i cannot believe you found it on ebay!!!

wpisweetie, good luck finding the dress, im sure you will find one in time, places like express and cache always have pretty dresses for reletively cheap that you usually dont need to have fitted or anything so you can get it right away.

That is one of the biggest things I miss about college...formals. I have a closet full of dresses that I never get to wear. They are always taunting me when I walk in there. <sigh> I'm jealous and excited for you guys.

texas*princess... here's the link to the dress http://www.simplicity.com/s2b.htm go to Evening, Bridal & Prom then to Evening Dress it's on the second page, top right...#7637, shown in light green...but I think I'm going to have my mom make it in a dark red, haven't decided on that part yet. The jewelry is gorgeous, you now have me thinking about checking ebay for jewelry as well...

Thank you jesthey, I had no idea that Simplicity had a website!

And about borrowing dresses...we do it all the time here, I think I have about 20 dresses in my closet, and my jumior prom dress has been worn 7 times total as well as by 3 people other than me.

that dress is beautiful nyrdrms!!!!

japhir, you cannot go to formal as an alum?

:(

I have the best dress for our spring formal, and it was only $45! I can't find a picture online, but it's strapless, corally pink with gold flecks, and a slightly flouncy skirt. It was $30 but I had to buy it two sizes too big and then have it altered - but so worth it!

I also got a great dress for Pref - I'd had an old black one from a TWIRP dance, but it looked like too many others, and I have one from formal this fall, but that was too formal. I'd resigned myself to wearing one of those, but then I was at the Limited with my mom and saw this black strapless dress that is just below knee-length and has criss-crossing sequins - it was $70 and we got it for $40 after our coupons! :p I love dress shopping, I always get awesome deals!

Our formal at our chapter is usualy in mid-April. I actually found a new dress this year. I got it this past summer for $15 at Ross. It was marked down from $120. It's really pretty. Normally I don't look good in a light pink, but this dress is amazing and looks really good on me. Too bad I'm short and have to get it altered. Oh well. Good luck at everyone else's formals!!!

My sorority is having our formal in March for our 15th anniversary. Finding a dress is not the problem it's finding a date because I have had bad luck with every date party and formal with finding dates. They either are jerks or just friends. I want a real date this time. Does anyone know a good time to look for dates such as 3 weeks before, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 and half months.

Any Advice would be great?

Thanks

Annice
Phi Sigma Sigma

Totally off topic, but you guys had TWIRP too? I thought our school was the only one that used that name for it! It must be a Wisconsin thing . . .

WoW! Looks like everyone is getting amazing deals!!! I'm definately going to try some of those places you girls are finding the deals at!!!

Just wondering... what is TWIRP?

:D

annice, I think it would be good to give your date as much notice as possible (so he can find places to get formal wear for him ;) ) If your formal is around the time when high schools have their prom, it might be hard to find a tux (if that is the dressing norm. for your formal) at the last minute. :)

on the topic of dresses, do any girls in your chapters wear ball gowns (as opposed to A-line, or any other type of gowns)? I found this GORGEOUS dress, but I don't want to go too overboard for formal this year (is there such a thing? ;) ) :p

thanks!

I hear you on that :( My chapter doesn't invite alums to formals either - which I think is sad...

Maybe we should organize a GC formal for all us alums who don't get to go to formals anymore ;)

I'm wondering what TWIRP is too...

TWIRP is like a Sadie Hawkins' dance . . . I think it stands for "The Woman Is Required to Pay" or something along those lines. Girls were supposed to ask the guys, although it didn't always work that way. My high school's Valentine's Day semi-formal has been called "TWIRP" forever, and it was a big deal, a lot like Homecoming. We had spirit days in the week leading up to it and a pep rally and a TWIRP court just like we did for Homecoming.

I'm excited. . .
I get to go to my first PIKE formal. . .
yeah, I was asked last night. . .

I have been dancing all over the place. . .I get to go to 2 formals.

I've already seen the dress I want to wear. . .I bought one for my formal already. It's really cute and lilac.


'Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. . .PHI SIGMA SIGMA!!!'

Congrats White Chocolate
 

Make sure to take pictures and to party only like a Phi Sig can.

I think I am addicted to buying formal dress because like someone stated earlier "formals make you feel like a princess". I just love to dress up and to feel like a princess.

Annice
FSS

I went shopping for dresses today but didn't buy anything....I don't even know when our formal is and if I am going....Our school had twirp too....Thats so cool. :)

TWIRP is the bomb! And yes, it is "The Woman Is Required to Pay." Ours wasn't as big of a deal as yours, we just wore cocktail-type dresses...

And to whoever asked about ball gowns, we have a decent amount of girls who wear them to our formals. :)

My chapter had our formal last night, and it was the most fun ever! I did manage to find a really gorgeous dress at a great price. It was so much fun to see all my lovely ladies looking so beautiful. Just wanted to let you all know that it went great!! :)

I don't think any chapters at my school invite alumni to formal- I'd never heard of that until I saw some references to it on here. My alum chapter has talked about hosting a semi-formal event (such as a wine & cheese) for alums & collegians. Don't know if we'll pull it off, though.

I'm actually going to a formal event in a couple of weeks. It's a benefit concert for the Columbus Urban League. It was actually my boyfriend's idea! Since there's a concert & he loves going to them, he wanted to go, so we got tickets. They include dinner. And it's black tie, so we get to get all dressed up! (I am more excited about that last part than he is.. I can't wait to see him in a tux). I'm actually wearing a dress I had to wear in a wedding last fall.. it's bright red, A-line, nothing fancy. I just love RED!! :D I'll have to get it hemmed, but that's it. So, for those of you alums who miss the formal thing, I'd suggest looking into local benefits. There are a few of them here in Columbus right now.. I think it's the time of year for them or something. But it's a good reason to break out your old dresses that no one there has seen you wear & enjoy getting all gussied up.

WoW.. i had no idea some colliegate chapters didn't invite alumni to their formals until now. I guess I just thought all chapters did invite alums because the chapters at my old school always invited alumni. Kind of like homecoming, but way more dressy and in the spring semester :)

I found this AWESOME dress at a pretty good price. I haven't bought it yet, but it has a portrait neckline and sleeveless, and it is very ball-gown-ish! I want it in a deep red color (my skin tone just can't pull off the bright red :p )

TWIRP sounds like a lot of fun too!

I just had to jump in on this conversation, because I love getting dressed up! For this spring's formal (my last one :( ), I'm planning to wear the dress I wore to prom my junior year of high school...I've never been able to find another dress to top it, I think it's so gorgeous. My school is also having a campus formal on Valentine's Day, and I'm thinking of wearing my sister's old prom dress from about 1983...dare me? ;)

Anyway, I have a suggestion for those looking for dresses--try the Salvation Army or consignment shops! I'm serious. My best friend goes used-clothing shopping all the time, and she recently found two very pretty formal dresses for about $10 each. One even still has the tags on it, and they're not scary outdated Madonna-looking things, either. I know people have probably suggested this before, but take it from me, you really can find cute things if you're willing to sift through piles and piles of clothes. Just an idea. :)

We invite our alumni to events (formals)
 

My sorority invite our alumni to all the events. However, most of them are not able to attend because of work and other engagements.

But for our formal this school year, hopefully a lot of alumni attend because it will be the celebration of our 15th anniversary at my university.

I don't know if you schools have this, but for Greek Week we are having an all greek formal. This will be one of the first. Hopefully everyone atttends.

Re: We invite our alumni to events (formals)
 

We used to do that - though I'm not sure if that's still true, since Greek Week's been restructured. You didn't have to be greek to go, but most independents didn't go unless it was with a date who was greek.

It was kind of crazy, though - we had fall formal rush as soon as freshmen arrived on campus, and Greek Week was about 2 weeks later, leaving people scrambling for dresses and dates (as if rush and the start of pledging isn't stressful enough :) )

Oh - if you're near a Filene's Basement, check them out. They often have beautiful dresses (as well as suits and more casual stuff) for not a lot of money. I shopped there quite a bit when I lived in Boston :)

I bought my dresses at Macy's and other department stores. They aren't too expensive. Sometimes you can get lucky and find something on sale. Good luck! :)

No Alumni??
 

We've always invited alum up for formal. In fact, it's one of the few events we actually get a half decent alum turn out for. Of course, we don't have a house and are the only women's fraternity on campus (and there's only one male GLO), which makes an open formal even more important. :)

Still, it's become a great tradition. This year we're having it in the Holiday Inn so that alum don't have to worry about finding accomodation. I've been alum for three years and would never think of missing formal. It's the only time I really get to dress up any more. Chapter presents awards, so I always like to see who won the awards I got when I was active, and they also present an alum award, so I like to see who gets that one too.

For our formals we usually invite alum, and a few would end up coming. This year will mark the 15th anniversary of our chapter so we are sending personal invitations to ALL the alum from the chapter. I think it would be awesome if they came.

We just started having a greek gala in the fall, for all greek orgs to attend where they hand out awards to best chapter, most philathrope, etc.
i have had really good luck finding dresses. The last three dresses i bought were all 40 each. i found my formal dress last year in chicago in water tower place in marshall fields. The other two were for preference and i found them in macys in san fran in cali. Trick is watch for sales and if you are a small girl like me, shop in the junior dresss section and your dresses will be a lot cheaper!
hey how do you guys all shop for jewlery on ebay and know its good? do you do a search for weddign jewlery...... ebay is very new too me and i would appreciate it if anyone knew how we could find jewlery on there cause its a good idea!

I'm the eBay queen!
 

This will be my second year buying jewelry on eBay for formal, and last year's set was especially gorgeous (everyone was asking "who's cinderella?" :p )

Usually what I do when looking for cute costume jewelry on eBay is use words the sellers use in the search. Many sellers [who sell great formal jewelry] use the words "bridal" "necklace" "set" "rhinestone" in their titles. (you can use these words for a basic search on ebay).

And how do you know if it's good quality i would HIGHLY reccommend reading their feedback. most sellers who sell these items do so for a living or as a side market from their regular brial shop. Click the number by their eBay name and read what customers have to say. Also click on the item number by the customer's feedback to see what kind of item they were talking about. wary of numerous negative feedbackd keep in mind if a seller has only one or two negative feedbacks, there is a possibility that it was retaliatory feedback (for example, the customer didn't pay, so the seller put negative feedback, so in turn the customer got mad their record was 'tarnished' and in turn gave the seller negative feedback.)

I hope that helped!

Thanks!!!!!!!

as an alumn, i am actually very excited for this semester's formal. Supposedly our social chair is trying to find a place big enough to hold over 100 in SANTA CRUZ! I about died when I heard where they wanted formal... I LOVE that city. So I figured since this will probably be my last opportunity as a student to attend a sorority formal (I am graduating in the spring) I have decided to go... just need a date... hmmmmmmmm.

but for the dress: I am currently in the process of making one. I am not into the whole boofy ball gown thing and have nothing against girls that like them... i just prefer the lil short dresses cuz long dresses tend to be toooooooo looooong and require a lot of extra work. so the dress i have been working on is a strapless lil red number in a short velvet with glitter in it (appropriately called 'glitter velvet'). I worked at the fabric store I got the fabric from so I got dibs on the remnant... I think I paid more for the lining material than the actual dress material.

As for jewelry: I made out like a bandit last spring when joanns decided to sell all of their clearance bridal jewels for a $1.00 each. I got a necklace, earrings, a bag, all kinds of stuff. I got pretty lucky I think, but I am sure brial stores clearance jewels around this time of year...