Recruitment Clothing for Actives

vpomegaxi · #1 01-22-2009, 12:23 AM

Hey,
I am the VP-Membership of KD at University of Cincinnati. Our recruitment only has 3 days of parties and the first day we wear jeans and shirts provided by Panhellenic and the last day we wear black dresses. We have had issues in the past few years trying to find something classy to wear that looks cute. This past year we wore black pants/skirt with white tops. I felt as if we looked too much like waiters. I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas on good attire for this? Thanks all!

Loyally greek,
Allysia

KSUViolet06 · #2 01-22-2009, 12:32 AM

This is going to sound like a silly question, but what do the other chapters on campus usually wear?

Not saying you should copy them, I'm just curious as to how "dressy" the round is.

KSUViolet06 · #3 01-22-2009, 12:35 AM

Also, this thread may help you figure out some ideas:

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...highlight=wear

violetpretty · #4 01-22-2009, 01:07 AM

Maybe add green (or any color, really, I only suggested green because it is a KD color) accents to the black and white outfits? Accents in the form of any of the following: headbands, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, hair ribbons, scarves, belts, etc.

One thing that my chapter does sometimes for recruitment, usually round 2 or 3 or informal recruitment, is to allow sisters to wear anything "pin attire" within a designated color palette. I personally am a fan of this because the chapter looks united with the same general color scheme, yet everyone looks unique. If it's the norm at Cincy to bulk order matching outfits, then this suggestion would probably not be a good idea. Make sure you specify whether prints are ok, whether an outfit must contain all or only some of the colors, and any limits on colors/specific, concrete descriptions of colors. For example, you could say "pin attire outfits in green, white and black. Your outfit must include green but does not have to include both of the other colors. Blue-green, yellow-green and army/drab green are not acceptable."

Kansas City · #5 01-22-2009, 10:31 AM

I agree that you should look to what the other chapters are wearing for a clue as how to derss for day 2. Formal recruitment on our campus is very no-frills so actives typically are required to wear nice jeans with a matching sorority tee shirt (appropriate to the day's theme) and then get creative individually with nice shoes (heels, colors, sparkles, etc.).

MaggieXi · #6 01-22-2009, 11:41 AM

Def. look to see what the other groups are wearing.

Here are some things that I have seen that look nice: dark jeans, black fitted tee with a sorority color scarf and black heels or boots, different color button downs or cardigans(sorority colors look cute), get a color theme and let your sisters decide what to wear using that color palette (example: green, white and black): this way they can wear pants, skirts or dresses of their choice, specially made philanthropy t-shirts or polos with letters embroidered....

AXOrushadvisor · #7 01-22-2009, 04:28 PM

I think clothing is so important during recruitment. It is one area we spend a lot of time on. We have found that wearing sundress is a really good option for a lot of different body types. You can choose a color that works with your theme or it can be a color of the sorority. What ends up happening is most women choose a style that looks good on their body types. They look good and feel good and this makes them more into the day. I'm a big fan of every women wearing the same color. It really makes a good impact and makes the group look cohesive.

Kansas City · #8 01-22-2009, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I'm a big fan of every women wearing the same color. It really makes a good impact and makes the group look cohesive.

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

DoctorD · #9 01-22-2009, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

I know one of our chapters has handled that concern by giving members a swatch of fabric to use as a guide.

KSUViolet06 · #10 01-22-2009, 05:10 PM

It is really hard to match EXACT colors with a large group of women.

Which is why alot of chapters opt for the "varying shades of the same color" look.

For example, a chapter at my school asked their girls to wear brown polos in different shades with gold accents ( earrings, necklace, belt, etc). It worked out well that way.

AXOrushadvisor · #11 01-22-2009, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

Really, we do it all the time and it looks great. You have to give them color ranges and do clothing checks. I have seen it done with both red and pink- 2 very hard colors and it was very effective.

Kansas City · #12 01-22-2009, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

Really, we do it all the time and it looks great. You have to give them color ranges and do clothing checks. I have seen it done with both red and pink- 2 very hard colors and it was very effective.

It probably depends on the chapter size, color and availability. Keep in mind that my story was from 15 years ago (pre-internet shopping), the university is located in a small 10,000 person rural farm community, there were about 100 active members per chapter and pink is generally more difficult to match than say a red (another chapter on my campus did a wonderful job matching red dresses that same year). The following year when I was an active, we opted for black dresses that were much easier to match and create that cohesive look. Now if I were to attempt a pink matching today, I would probably ask all the women to get black and/or white dresses and have the chapter provide matching pink sashes to the actives.

violetpretty · #13 01-22-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

This is why explaining what you are going for and giving examples of what is and isn't ok plus doing dress checks is necessary.

joliebelle · #14 01-22-2009, 06:15 PM

Last year, we decided to mix things up a bit for our clothing.
Day 1: Panhellenic t-shirt, dark jeans, with heels
Day 2: Matching stitch letter t-shirt (black shirt, zebra print, hot pink outline), dark jeans, and heels
Day 3: Black business attire with whatever accent color you want (i.e black slacks, hot pink button down, pink earrings, etc.). Oh, and white wasn't considered an accent color
Day 4: (preference) Black dress with pearls and black heels

WVU alpha phi · #15 01-22-2009, 06:43 PM

My chapter wore:

Day 1 (house tours)- Matching letter shirts (we ordered new, different ones every year), jean bottoms (skirt, pants, capris), and heels.

Day 2 and 3 (philanthrophy day)- Red Alpha Phi shirts (one year they had 'helping hearts since 1872' on the back for cardiac care), black bottoms (again, skirt, pants, or capris), and heels.

Day 4 (skit and slideshow night)- Colorful dress. Semi-formal usually, anything but black. Everyone always had on beautiful dresses, I loved this night and I thought it made us really stand out.

Day 5 (pref night)- Black dresses and black heels. Absolutely no color on your dress, maybe colored accessories but nothing too bold.