Wearing letters in colors other than your GLO's

[PhoenixAzul]

Our campus culture for letters is heavy on patterns. In my sorority, the family trees have specific patterns associated with them, so littles are usually given those as their first set. But other than that, it is pretty much whatever you want.

Generally, people don't get letters in the other orgs solid colors (for example, Tau Delta's colors are white a blue, so EKT wouldn't get letters in solid white and blue, but blue shirts with a pattern with some sort of white background, not a big deal). It seems that people prefer patterns over colors....I only have one set of letters in the solid colors of my organization.

[ΑΓΔSquirrelGirl]

I've definitely wasted breath on this one...

Personally I think it's most respectful to wear only your organization's colors on your letters. I won't be making any jersey with anything but. Patterns are a good alternative because they can incorporate many colors...I usually don't even do that unless I can incorporate red buff and green but patterns aren't the same as blatantly using someone else's colors.

[cuteASAbug]

As much as I love my sorority to death, I'd rather not look like a Christmas tree every time we have an event or do anything that requires that we wear letters.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

As much as I love my sorority to death, I'd rather not look like a Christmas tree every time we have an event or do anything that requires that we wear letters.

Are you sure no one's going to confuse you for a DG? I mean your signature is pink & blue...

[33girl]

That's why it rocks to have 4 colors, ladies.

While red & white are our primary colors, palm green & gold are our supplementary colors. A lot of times chapters who are on a campus with another NPC sorority with similar colors (i.e. AOII or Chi Omega) use the gold as an accent color.

[Still BLUTANG]

this is actually a sore subject in TBS / KKY. most of the HBCU chapters stick to Blue and White, with a "classic touch of gold"... i am assuming because on HBCU campuses blue +white or blue+gold "belong" to other Orgs. However, at district and national conventions when a whole bunch of WEIRD band people from HBCUs, PWIs, big state schools, etc get together - i have seen letters in everything across the rainbow as well as patterns (spongebob squarepants, no lie).

I have seen a chapter of a D9 sorority with neon/electric versions of their colors on their line jackets. this was back in 98 or 99 and i have NEVER seen it since.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Tshirts: I have ladybugs in various neon colors, Lightning McQueen letters (COS I LOVE HIM AND the Disney/Pixar film "Cars"), Minnie Mouse letters, Music notes, blue moon and stars, green with red ladybugs, Hello Kitty in pink gingham, etc.

But my jerseys (which are a very "official" thing for most chapters on my campus) are only in: your colors
(although my chapter uses navy blue as the top letter color cos white and pink are hard to see together. However, I do have a pink and white jersey because I'm a purist!), family colors (family jersey), Boyfriend/Big Brother colors (if you are THAT close with someone in a fraternity).

If I saw someone wearing a jersey in my official colors (ex. an ABC in a Pink and White jersey or a white/pink jersey with a pink & white paisley or something) it would be a very tense moment.

But, If it was a white jersey with a pink, white, and grey/brown/green pattern or a blue jersey with pink and white letters than whatever...

But sweatshirts, tshirts, jackets, bags, laptop carriers, dog carriers, dog sweaters, door cozies, lettered doiles, makeup bags, whatver else you can come up with, do whatever! I mean what can you really do about it? Colors are fun!

[Scandia]

I have a green t-shirt with magenta Alpha Phi Omega letters and a magenta t-shirt with blue and gold letters. Both letters in both shirts have patterns. I was never dissuaded or discouraged from wearing them.

[Leslie Anne]

I've heard a lot about getting letters in patterns or colors that match for your littles so your "family" shares a common theme. Is this a relatively new thing?
I have a photo of me and my big and her big...etc. going up to 5 of us but other than that, I had never heard of "families" within a chapter before. It seems like it's being discussed in general more now than ever before. It's been 20 years since I was in college. Any other "oldsters" have any perspective on this?

Anyway, on my campus everyone wore whatever colors they wanted to. I love my sorority's colors, but there's only so much green I can take. The only thing I have left is a heather grey sweatshirt with pink letters on a white background.

[aephi alum]

NPC sorority members at my school would pretty much pick out and wear whatever colors they wanted. It would be considered bad form to wear your letters in another org's solid colors, but if other orgs' colors happened to appear in a pattern, that was fine. I only ever had two lettered items in green and white, and they were a screenprinted sweatshirt and a bar hat... my favorite colors are blues, purples, and black, and most of my letters reflect that.

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

I've heard a lot about getting letters in patterns or colors that match for your littles so your "family" shares a common theme. Is this a relatively new thing?
I have a photo of me and my big and her big...etc. going up to 5 of us but other than that, I had never heard of "families" within a chapter before.
.

Because I'm in a local, and we were refounded in 1988, we all go back to one of five founding member trees. Each of the trees has a sort of "theme" or even a very specific pattern that they use...it's a way to keep everyone straight! Some girls are in 2 or 3 different trees, so it can be confusing. Don't know how this would work in a national organization, unless you went back to chapter founder trees?

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

I've heard a lot about getting letters in patterns or colors that match for your littles so your "family" shares a common theme. Is this a relatively new thing?
I have a photo of me and my big and her big...etc. going up to 5 of us but other than that, I had never heard of "families" within a chapter before. It seems like it's being discussed in general more now than ever before. It's been 20 years since I was in college. Any other "oldsters" have any perspective on this?

Anyway, on my campus everyone wore whatever colors they wanted to. I love my sorority's colors, but there's only so much green I can take. The only thing I have left is a heather grey sweatshirt with pink letters on a white background.

My first letters were 'family' letters, but (I've said/explained this a few times on GC, I guess my chapter is highly unusual)-we have two families in my chapter and we're one of the few SK chapters that does so. We have Big/Little like everyone else, but we also have Mom/Daughter (now Sigma/Kappa). The Mom/Daughter families are the ones most equivalent to everyone else's big/little families. You don't know who your mom is, you find out during I-week, they buy you your first letters and make you a paddle, you give them a pillow.
Anywho-my family colours are maroon with white trim on a grey background. Kinda neat because they're also the school colours.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

I've heard a lot about getting letters in patterns or colors that match for your littles so your "family" shares a common theme. Is this a relatively new thing?
I have a photo of me and my big and her big...etc. going up to 5 of us but other than that, I had never heard of "families" within a chapter before. It seems like it's being discussed in general more now than ever before. It's been 20 years since I was in college. Any other "oldsters" have any perspective on this?

Your family's just your big, your little, and your ancestors/descendants (for lack of a better thing to call them). When sororities have 2 pledge classes a year families grow much more quickly, and if somone stays in school for longer than 4 years she can have a lot of "descendants" (i.e. one of our sisters was in school for like 5 years and so was able to be there at the same time as her 6 little).

Each family had a certain style of lavalier (silver or gold, straight or diagonal or disc) and we got family sweatshirts (the crest on white) but the sweatshirts weren't a big deal. Mainly because probably a bunch of other families had to use the same since selection was rather limited. There are so many colors & patterns to choose from today that I can understand why having a family jersey/shirt/sweatshirt would be fun.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

I've heard a lot about getting letters in patterns or colors that match for your littles so your "family" shares a common theme. Is this a relatively new thing?
I have a photo of me and my big and her big...etc. going up to 5 of us but other than that, I had never heard of "families" within a chapter before. It seems like it's being discussed in general more now than ever before. It's been 20 years since I was in college. Any other "oldsters" have any perspective on this?

In Alpha Gamma Delta, we don't have "bigs and littles." We have sister-mothers (our equivalent of a "big") and sister-daughters (our equivalent of a "little").

I pledged in 1992, and our chapter "families" were a pretty big deal. You had your mom, grandma, great-grandma, etc, and we kept track of them pretty diligently. It was fun at Homecoming to meet an alumnae, recognize the name, and say "hey...you're my great-great-great grandma!"

[Sister Havana]

Originally Posted by Scandia

I have a green t-shirt with magenta Alpha Phi Omega letters and a magenta t-shirt with blue and gold letters. Both letters in both shirts have patterns. I was never dissuaded or discouraged from wearing them.

My pledge class sweatshirt is green with magenta/green patterned letters. (We ordered them toward the end of our pledge semester and got them around initiation so they were our first official lettered items of clothing!)