hows this dress for preference day?
 

http://www.express.com/catalog/produ...bCategoryId=22

the dress is longer on me- it falls about 4in above my knee and its actually a darker fuscia color. its not revealing on top or anything.

the dresses they show are all knee length or longer. they are very bland.. and i do not dress bland!! they show a blue dress, a black dress, and a yellow dress.. none of the dresses are strapless in the picture.. but i dont want to wear something as boring as what they show but i dont want to look "flashy" or obnoxious

please give me your opinions

They show you examples on their website for a reason.

Perhaps if you indicate which type school you will be attending, some of the GC'ers will be able to be more specific as to regional customs. (i.e. SEC school, Big 10 etc etc.)

ArmyDaughter was not allowed to wear anything strapless, low cut, above the knee or sexy at her SEC school. Her's was very "little black dress" and not clubbing attire.

I personally wouldn't wear that to pref. However what is acceptable and appropriate depends on the campus and time of year. It has been said on GC before and it bears repeating. PNMs are dressing to impress women, not men.

I'd wear something like any of these with some tasteful accessories:
http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...1/_5662131.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...6/_5671086.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...7/_5658327.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...3/_5638613.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...3/_5556683.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...9/_5632139.jpg

http://content.nordstrom.com/ImageGa...1/_5509201.jpg

thanks!
 

thanks for the pictures vandal squirrel. very helpful to give me an idea.. those are MUCH more tasteful.. and still professional. i didnt think it was clubbing attire army wife.. but after comparing it to those pictures.. it definately looks like something that could be percepted as revealing, and should be saved for a night out!!

Like I said, different parts of the country have totally different Recruitment customs. Just because it would "play in Peoria" doesn't mean it would be "tasteful in Tuscaloosa". My son's fiance's sorority experience at a Big 12 school is totally different than my daughter at the SEC. For example, one wore sweatshirts and jeans to football games and the other wore dresses and heels. It's all about the demographics.

I do really like that dress you posted. I think if it had straps it might be OK, actually. I think that one would be OK at more schools that the zebra one another PNM posted in her thread (you might want to check that thread out too), but I agree that VandalSquirrel's suggestions are more on target. You don't want to take any risks!

thanks everyone
 

breathesgeletin cant agree more!! its not worth the risk! i want to look appropriate. i just didnt know wat appropriate was!

this is so helpful

army wife my mom told me it looks like a clubbin dress too! hahha this is why i asked for opinions. Thanks!! Where are those dresses from that you posted pics of?? theres a few i really like!

^^^If you right-click and look at the Properties of the pictures, it looks like Nordstrom. Good luck, Vandal picked some nice ones! :)

Just goes to show that moms sometimes do know what they are talking about. :D

Those are all from Nordstrom.com as that is one of my go to stores for clothing. I'm sure if you have a style of dress you can easily find something at a store closer to where you live. I'm also a huge fan of Macy's.

Here's a tip not just for you, but for all PNMs and a lot of young women in general: branch out from the "juniors" section and you'd be surprised at what you find. I see a lot of young women (and heck, women who have kids of their own) shopping in the "juniors" department. You can find contemporary, classy, and appropriate clothing in other departments. If the size is odd (1-3-5-7-9) that is a sure sign it is meant for teenage girls and though some of it may be okay, you have to change departments eventually.

I really want to start a nationwide campaign with the help of Clinton and Stacey from "What Not To Wear" to put an end to people inappropriately shopping in the jrs. department.

So true!

When I realized what the Misses department had to offer, I never looked back at Juniors. :)

As a girl who has recently been on the pnm side of rush and who is currently on the other side, I would highly recommend that you choose a different dress for your preference dress. I know that the general attire varies from campus to campus and I am an active at a large southern school so we are a bit more conservative but... Pref night is generally the most serious night of recruitment. This is the last night you will have with the girls before you make your decision. You want to present yourself as a classy, confidant lady. My advice would be... try to keep your dress at your knee. No more that 2 in. above your knee. If you have a dress shorter than that, you have a greater chance of running into problems when sitting in chairs, going up stairs, etc. Your jewelry should be simple and compliment your attire, not draw all of the attention. If you have a signature piece that you have worn all throughout rush, wear it that night as well as long it does not distract from the overall appearance of your outfit. Lastly, you can compromise just a little bit. For example, if you want to wear a pretty strapless dress, make sure that it is longer, at least to the knee. If you have a pair of fabulous, bright shoes, pair it with a simple dress. The goal on pref. night is to be classy and elegant. Think Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn. Good luck with your recruitment!

The Express website even says it - "this dress made for going out"! Pref is not going out.

As far as the juniors section is concerned, believe me when I say it is skewing younger and younger BY THE DAY. "Juniors" used to be mainly for high school and college age girls - now it seems like they're catering to the jr high crowd exclusively. I wore juniors stuff well into my 30s and didn't look stupid - however, if I tried to do that now, I would get laughed out of town. You can OCCASIONALLY find something there if it's tailored, but those things are getting few and far between.

The problem is (depending where you are) once you go out of juniors, sometimes misses is frumpy dowdy land. It's hard to find an in between.

So anything that is silk, maybe cocktail dressy, and knee-length would be alright? if so, perfect and I'm already set! If not, I need to shop lol.

When picking out a pref night dress, PNMs should ask themselves if they could/would wear the dress to church. If you couldn't wear it to church or a wedding, do not wear it to pref night. The examples VandalSquirrel gave are very beautiful and appropriate.

http://www.cache.com/cache/control/p...05011A70250820

what do yall think of this?

Really? Everyone I have talked to at UT said to DEFINITELY wear black.

I guess you can wear whatever "Everyone at UT" says to wear but by wearing a plain black dress a PNM runs the risk of blending in with many chapters who will coordinate their members in black dresses. I'd stick with the more colorful examples given in this thread from last year.

Texas recruitment is not one you have participated in. Frankly, you have NO IDEA what you're talking about and should refrain from dispensing random advice to someone that could potentially have an adverse effect on her recruitment. Colorful dresses may fly at a variety of other schools, but UT isn't one of them. She has received sound advice from people who know about her school.

Texas Darling, I would be careful about posting a specific dress you might be wearing to Pref out her in public since you have been candid about what school you're attending. But yes, wear black for Pref!

Someone correct me if this would be a faux pas in texas, but if she's worried about blending in or being bland she could pair her black preference dress with some colorful shoes!

I wore my favorite pair of hot pink pumps with my pref dress, and looking back I think it gave the right balance of conservative with personality. Just trying to think of ways for her to stand out, while still following the social norms at her school.

Are we having a bad day LadyLonghorn?

I thought I was clear that she can wear whatever she wants. Perhaps I'm not as informed about UT having never participated in recruitment there but I believe the advice to be sound for a wide variety of PNMs across the country. Further, I doubt a PNM wearing a colored dress to a pref party would be a valid reason for them to not receive a bid ... but then again, I'm not a UT person.

Not feeling the little cut out thing on the shoulder - it might look different in person but it's a little too much here. (Doesn't help that they paired it with kinda whory shoes.)

I like this one, but not sure if it's appropriate - LL?

http://www.cache.com/cache/control/p...05011C35550045

I'm not a huge fan of the dress you posted, but yes wear black for UT!
Good luck!!!!

Yeah, I'm not sure about the cutout either, or the skin tightedness of it :o

I like the red dress or the green dress on the previous page, but in black :p

How about something like these (for UT):

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...tegoryID=22120

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...tegoryID=22120

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...tegoryID=22120

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/produc...tegoryID=22122

Ohhhh, pretty!

33 and srmom, you two can shop for me anytime! love all those dresses.

In helping a friend get ready for UT rush, I am pretty sure I read on the UTexas Greek website(expressly stated) that the PNM's should wear black.

And yes, not wearing black on pref would be reason to not receive a bid. This is Texas - this recruitment is in a class all by itself.



PNMs- Definitely get advice here, but everyone should pay attention to what is suggested by their own college panhellenic office that is in charge of recruitment!!!

ADORABLE.

FSUZeta, no problem, I'll go e-shopping for you anytime!! I have 3 sons so it's not often that I get to shop for pretty dresses!!

LOVE those J Crew dresses!

Good luck to all you girls going through recruitment!

You may be having a bad day, but I certainly am not. So I guess you must be using the royal we to describe yourself.

This PNM was asking about Pref attire for a specific school. You have no experience with that school and gave her poor advice. As someone who is intimately familiar with recruitment at UT, it was my obligation to point out that your advice was not only irrelevant, but could do damage to someone's recruitment results. Yes, something like this can affect a PNM's recruitment results at a place like Texas.

Also, the Pahel web site mentions that Pref attire is cocktail dresses and specifically says they are "usually black." When a school with a recruitment like ours use a term like "usually" you can bet it means "should be."

Y'all have really piqued my interest about how they do recruitment at UT--and there have been some beautiful black dresses linked! If everybody's wearing black, what do girls do to stand out from one another? (In that 'be correctly identified and, hopefully, receive a bid' way, of course!) Would it be shoes as perfectinpurple mentioned, or jewelry, or hairstyle, or what? I'd love to know more.

I will defer to LadyLonghorn to respond to unicorn's specific question, but, imo, pref night is not the night to try to distinguish yourself at a competitive campus. It is more important to be dressed appropriately than to find a way to stand out with your attire.

Fair point! It's just that this particular element of UT's recruitment is so different from my own campus's way of doing things that I got curious.

Please calm down ... your defensiveness is entirely uncalled for. The original post (which I also responded to) was regarding a preference night dress for recruitment at an unnamed school a year ago. The hijack was for UT. This is not specifically a UT thread and I believe that it is important to aid other PNMs as well as those at UT. I have no problem with you being the UT expert. I could care less. What all PNMs should take away from this inane conversation between the two of us is that they need to research their campus culture and dress appropriately for their preference night. Apparently at UT that means a black dress but at the majority of other schools that I have personal experience with, black dresses tend to be a staple of the chapter that is hosting the preference night event and is better avoided so that the PNM stands out from the chapter membership. That is all that I am saying. If you want to take this further, please feel free to PM me to keep this petty argument off the board. Thanks!

I am in no way defensive. The only person I am defending is the UT PNM to whom you gave very bad advice. This reply of yours was a direct response to her question about UT attire:

It also came off as very condescending, just as your comments to me have. Saying I must be having a bad day (I'm not), telling me to calm down (in your view, factually correcting your erroneous advice apparently makes one a raging lunatic), and referring to my posts as inane and petty then ordering me to PM you rather than post are hardly responses that speak for your maturity. Perhaps you are projecting. I dunno. All I can say is I truly hope someone your age does not address the collegians you advise in the same manner.

Unicorn, gee_ess gave you the perfect answer to this one. :D

Thank you all for your responses, sorry if i caused any confusion.

That is actually a dress a friend of mine bought for rush.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. :]

Thank you for your opinion. I will choose to respond via PM.

Do not PM me. It won't be read or responded to. I have said and will say anything I have to say to you here.