Recruitment Shopping
 

What stores would y'all recommend for PNMs to shop at for recruitment parties?

Where are you recruiting? That would be helpful, since different areas are more casual and some more formal. And there are a dozen or so threads on this. Search :)

My two cents:

1. Take into account your campus culture. Take into account what YOU want. If designer labels are important to the chapters you are interested in, buy them. If you are interested in a chapter that focuses on other things, don't waste your money.
2. When in doubt, go classic. Trendy stuff often looks cheap, fits badly, and isn't appropriate.
3. Make sure everything fits. It should not look similar to shrink rap, but you shouldn't be pulling up your pants or your top constantly, either.
4. Don't go buy a bunch of new stuff just because it's new. If you have a fabulous dress from 9th grade that you are comfortable in and feel good in, wear it.
5. Girls don't care to see your cleavage. Or up your skirt. You aren't rushing for a bid from a bunch of guys.
6. If you aren't comfortable, you will act nervous and irritable. If you act nervous and irritable, it will throw off your interaction with your rusher. If you throw off your interaction with your rusher, she might not give glowing recommendations. Especially if there are 800 of you going through that night, and you were the 400th most friendly.
7. Brush your teeth. Brush your hair. Don't spend 8 hours on your make up.

clothes that you have had for a while will be new to everyone you meet at college(assuming you are a new student).

if you feel inclined to wear a strapless dress, please PLEASE, walk around for at least 5 or 10 minutes in the dress-if you find yourself hoisting it up constantly, do not wear it to a recruitment party(or anywhere for that matter!). it is extremely unattractive to be constantly adjusting yourself just to be a slave to fashion.

Going with the "don't wear anything that you are uncomfortable in" that both KSUViolet and AGDSquirrelGirl (and FSUZeta) rightly mention, if you don't already own a sundress AND your campus really does suggest other possible outfits for that round, find out from members on that campus if you can appropriately wear something else more like what you would usually wear to a similarly dressy event.

Although you want to be appropriately dressed for your campus, there's probably a lot less of a sorority girl costume that everyone will be wearing than you might imagine. If you can figure out a way to wear appropriate clothes that you already feel comfortable in and know look good, why risk a certain kind of outfit you feel weird in? And I completely second FSUZeta's comment on the strapless deal.

Ditto on shoes. Never, ever even think about wearing brand new shoes to Recruitment parties! Your discomfort will show on your face, whether you realize it or not.

Please wear something that you are extremely comfortable in! When I went Recruitment shopping, we saw nothing that compared to a dress I had worn to Homecoming the year before. It was classic, comfortable, and something I felt wonderful wearing. If you don't feel wonderful while wearing something, it's not the right one.

american eagle has great clothes i personally think for sorority girls. were actually have a HUGE sale, and were about to get new stuff for the fall, so everything right now is about60% off u might want to check it out. I work there and its funny most the girls there are in sororities

check out ann taylor-in person or on line-there is a sale going on and i saw lots of dresses that would be appropriate for recruitment-depending on what school you attend.

banana republic is also having a sale, but i did not pop in there.

J. Crew is wonderful for classic, simple clothing. They are having a big summer sale right now, and frequently have sale items on the website.

I was actually just going to mention ann taylor or ann taylor loft! i work at loft and the dresses are fantastic for recruitment! their clothes are always classic and comfortable.

If you're rushing anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon, Lilly is always a good choice.

I don't know why you are asking for recommendations of stores. Check your campus or ask your Rho Gamma how dressy each event is, and wear something to that effect that is your style. If a chapter only likes you because you have a Lilly dress, is that chapter actually a good fit for you? Not to pick on Lilly, because if that is your style, then you should wear it. Do you want to feel like you have to constantly keep up with certain labels and stores in order to fit in with a group of women who will be your sisters?

I will agree with previous posters that your outfits should be tasteful and flattering, but I don't think you should buy clothes from a store that you normally wouldn't for a similarly dressy event.

I agree so far as you can actually get away with it and still join if joining is your goal.

But you'd be so much better off taking the advice of people currently in groups at your campus rather than GCers, who although we've got the best of intentions and love looking at pictures of cute rush clothes, only really know things within our direct experience for the most part.

I would agree, except if you are rushing in a different part of the country than where you're from.

Maybe at some places some of the clothes would be ok for first or second rounds, but in general, most of the stuff there is far too casual for formal rush.

Wherever you go to school, recruitment gets progressively dressier with each round.

I'd first look at what your school recommends for attire for each day. Call the office of Greek Life, or check out their web site (sometimes they feature What To Wear slideshows).

Next, look through your closet and see what you may already have that is appropriate. Then make a list of whatever items you need. Using your university's What To Wear recommendations as your guide, buy any remaining clothing and shoes.

Break in your shoes-- you will be walking and standing a lot. Also remember to keep any skirt lengths modest-- you may be sitting on the floor at some of these events.

Keep cleavage, tummy, thighs and butts tucked in-- sorority recruitment isn't the venue to "let it all hang out" ;)

I was asking for recs of stores just so I can get an idea of where to shop. My head went blank when I was starting to think of places to start looking online for outfits. I wish I could ask my Rho Gamma, but I dont get to meet her until the night of the first party haha.

I'm going to a pretty competitive school in the south (well, I think it's considered the south). I just wanted to know if I should go out of my way to buy nicer sundresses. I think I already have my pref dress, but I'm not sure if the color is eyecatching enough. I know it's recommended to buy a dress with color to it.

Oh, and for the first day of rush, they recommend wearing shorts instead of a skirt because of the whole flashing issue. I have these nice navy ralph lauren shorts, but what if they don't match the recruitment shirt I'm given? Should I buy a pair of khaki shorts too, just to be safe? (I dont really like denim).

If your campus states that shorts are ok for first round, navy, khaki, white or khaki-green are always a good standby and better than denim. You can usually find nicer shorts at jcrew, banana republic or ann taylor. They usually have "classic" looking shorts.

And if you are thinking of wearing sandals as footwear, you might want to check out that new anti-blister stuff from Bandaid. I use it when I get new summer shoes and it really keeps the blisters away!!!

Unless your rush tees are midnight black or an odd shade of darker blue, navy shorts should go just fine. If your shirts are black (which I would seriously doubt) please don't wear navy shorts. Also, please don't wear black (or navy, unless it's the exact shade) shoes with your navy shorts. Just say no to bruisewear.

I really recommend New York and Company for recruitment shopping. I have purchased sundresses there as well as dressier dresses, slacks, and shorts... I could probably dress someone to go through recruitment with just the NYandCo stuff in my closet! Regardless of your style and your campus' recruitment dress suggestions, you could probably find something there. I love it because the clothes look great on people of varying body types.

What is New York and Company? Is it a southern store?

It's not exclusively Southern, we have them here in Ohio.

http://www.nyandcompany.com/nyco/

It used to be called Lerner NY when I shopped there in MA. Maybe that's what it's still called in some locations? Anyway, it's a national brand and I highly recommend it.

I second on NY and Co - just got my khaki shorts for open houses there for $15! They're conservative and rush appropriate but cute! AND they have a big sale going on right now.

We have lots of NY and Co stores here in MA now! I love that store - they always seem to have petite clothes that actually fit! :)

At the same time, most likely if you're rushing a northern school, Lilly would be completely out of place other than daytime prefs. it'd be completely too dressy. I think its a miracle to ever see a girl in a dress here in the north.

Seems like the awful legging trend is the thing up here (slobby chic in my opinion). Leggings show way too much of your body than anyone really EVER needs to see.

I feel like if girls are going to insist upon wearing leggings (which I don't think I've owned since the age of 6), then they should remember to treat them like pantyhose. That said, if I see one more pair worn as pants or with a tunic top (as opposed to a minidress).....

If I can practically see your butt, it's too short to be worn with only leggings!

I personally love them and wear them frequently with skirts, especially my denim skirt. They're a great way to add a bit of extra coverage on a cold day or add a bit of "rock flair" to an outfit.

in general, if your campus sends out recommendations on what to wear, go the dressier end of what they suggest.

For example, at my school for the first day PHA provides a t shirt and suggests you wear shorts or a casual skirt....always go with the skit. and avoid flip flops...not only do they look sloppy (go for cute tennis shoes or sandals over flip flops for a casual day), but they make that annoying "flap-flap" noise while walking, and they break easily if someone accidently steps on the back of it (and if there are 200+ girls leaving a sorority house at the end of a party, it's bound to happen.

Ooh! Thanks! You must be able to read minds because I was about to ask that today. What about those cute open toed flats? Do you think those would be appropriate for rush?

however, if you have acreage to cover on the first couple of recruitment days, you might think about carrying a pair of flip flops to wear while walking from one house to the next-just switch to more appropriate shoes when you arrive at your destination.

This happened to me a lot in DC. I used to ride the metro to work and walk several blocks in heels until I noticed that a lot of other riders were in suits and flip flops or sneakers-- and they had their "work shoes" in a work bag! I finally got the idea and started wearing "metro shoes" before I got to the office....

Unfortunately, people get distracted--- there were so many times when I would be at work 1/2 the day and realized I was still wearing my comfy shoes.... some PNMs might experience this, too, if they have flip flips or sneakers to wear between parties. You get distracted and poof!- midway through prefs you look down and horrors! You're wearing Crocs instead of your sexy black kitten heels.

You mean the ones that are closed like regular flats except the toes stick out? I think those would be perfect.

I don't know what the heck is in that picture, but the SonicWall here at work is saying it's porn.:p

I guess your SonicWall developers are foot fetishists, then.

I think maybe it's freaking because the word "kiss" is in the URL.