Speaking of inappropriate paraphernalia...

[the411]

Greeks, we really need to take a stand against these 'nalia shops who don't give a rat's behind about the preservation of our orgs' traditions and incorporated status! Contrary to how some of us act and how we're perceived by non-greeks, the BGLO is not a social club--it is a BUSINESS (hence "INCORPORATED").

I had yet another run-in with the ultra-ignorant, super-racist owner of Spirit Concepts in Columbus, Ohio! He had the nerve to get pissed at me because I would not tell him my chapter's crossing date. I told him--"that's CLASSIFIED" and he responded-- "Well if you people won't tell me when you're bringing in new members, don't be mad when I don't have anything in stock." Well, the sad part is that the little bit (and I do mena little bit) that he does have is JUNK that no real, honorable greek would be caught dead wearing! He has NPHC 'nalia with our letters in chinese and lowercase; with Delta ribbon on grateful dead bears and the shield on shot glasses. And even that crap is too expensive! The decent stuff he has is so overpriced that, just outta principal you don't want to buy it. And, all that trippin and nastiness, and he doesn't even specialize in designing jackets and other gear. He'll do it, but he actuallu sends that stuff to someone else to do, hence the multi-week turn-around and the sky-high price he charges for it! On top of that, his attitude is straight STANK! There's nothing more repulsive and anger-inducing than a WHITE store owner selling BLACK GREEK stuff who KNOWS we don't have anywhere else to shop within a 300 mile radius. You'd better believe I'll either get it online, at conventions, buy it when I travel, or just do without it before I buy so much as DST window sticker from him ever again!

Sorors, Bruhs,a nd fellow NPHC greeks--let's not be so desparate for 'nalia that we give our money to people like him!

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by the411
There's nothing more repulsive and anger-inducing than a WHITE store owner selling BLACK GREEK stuff who KNOWS we don't have anywhere else to shop within a 300 mile radius.

There is a soror with a shop in Dayton/Fairborn, Ohio where my prophytes shopped for us. We have the best (IMO) line shirts from that shop as well as uniquely designed graduation stoles.

I will look for the name of the shop but she is online.

[Reds6]

Ok I have to be honest , if I saw someone trying to rock our letters this way I would wonder whether or not she was even a Soror. Young Sorors, do not do this, you may get your letters snatched by some hyped Soror. For any org to rock their letters in another color, for instance an AKA rocking her letters in Red and white, Zeta in pink or green is suspect and meowish. But that's my opinion and I'm never poltically correct often. Also we anchor our letters in certain colors for reasons...

Originally posted by Salience

MY LS is going to order a navy pullover to put letters on, and I kept asking her "why?!" Then she replied, sassily, I might add, "why do you have a khaki-colored jacket?" So I just shut my mouth. It seems like most Greeks are branching out color-wise.

[Virtual Violet]

Originally posted by Reds6
Ok I have to be honest , if I saw someone trying to rock our letters this way I would wonder whether or not she was even a Soror. Young Sorors, do not do this, you may get your letters snatched by some hyped Soror. For any org to rock their letters in another color, for instance an AKA rocking her letters in Red and white, Zeta in pink or green is suspect and meowish. But that's my opinion and I'm never poltically correct often. Also we anchor our letters in certain colors for reasons...

That reminds me that its not just YOUNGER members that do unconventional things. I distinctly remember seeing 2 AKA's at Convention 2000 in the vending area. Of course, there was no problem with them being there but one of them (mid-40's) had on a RED AND WHITE AKA SHIRT with the phrase 'AKA'S LOOK GOOD IN ANY COLOR" on the back!!

Now, I KNOW what our P&T says about this, and I lay odds that this sort of behavior is deemed to be in poor taste from the AKA's protocol. I just did a SLOW BURN and asked myself....WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED HER to think that was an APPROPRIATE thing to do!! I know she saw Sorors staring DAGGERS into her.

Especially when they wandered into the Official Delta Boutique!!

Oh, my people

[The Original Ape]

411 and others in Ohio,

I'm workin' on some materials right now; and if my peeps get off dey azzes, yours trully will be sellin' the best nalia, with new concepts, in Cleveland, Akron, and perhaps Columbus. Stay tuned.

[AKA2D '91]

Originally posted by Virtual Violet


That reminds me that its not just YOUNGER members that do unconventional things. I distinctly remember seeing 2 AKA's at Convention 2000 in the vending area. Of course, there was no problem with them being there but one of them (mid-40's) had on a RED AND WHITE AKA SHIRT with the phrase 'AKA'S LOOK GOOD IN ANY COLOR" on the back!!

Now, I KNOW what our P&T says about this, and I lay odds that this sort of behavior is deemed to be in poor taste from the AKA's protocol. I just did a SLOW BURN and asked myself....WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED HER to think that was an APPROPRIATE thing to do!! I know she saw Sorors staring DAGGERS into her.

Especially when they wandered into the Official Delta Boutique!!

Oh, my people

Now, you know it's a possibility that she/they could have been a "neo". Age does not determine how "old" one is in greek life...

Plus, when it comes to vendors at conferences, there are so many perps that linger it isn't funny. That could have been a perp. I know doggone well that I am NOT gonna sport my letters with red, yellow, blue (unless on a denim shirt)...

Still, it goes back to making these vendors ACCOUNTABLE for the merchandise (quality/appropriateness) they sell.

[the411]

Originally posted by The Original Ape
I'm workin' on some materials right now; and if my peeps get off dey azzes, yours trully will be sellin' the best nalia, with new concepts, in Cleveland, Akron, and perhaps Columbus. Stay tuned.

I will support you in every way I can! Belee Dat!

[the411]

Originally posted by CrimsonTide4
I will look for the name of the shop but she is online.

Thanks, Soror!

[the411]

Originally posted by Reds6
For any org to rock their letters in another color, for instance an AKA rocking her letters in Red and white, Zeta in pink or green is suspect and meowish. But that's my opinion and I'm never poltically correct often.

And on that note, I know an AKA with a t-shirt that says:

FRONT: AKA (in red letters on a white t-shirt)
BACK: AKAs look good in any color! (also in red letters)

WTF?!?!?

Now, perhaps the shirt was meant to diss DST, but for me, it had the very adverse effect! To me, it showed that the goal of this particular member of AKA (and others who'd wear such a ridiculous thing) was to PUT DOWN DST rather than to LIFT UP AKA. I don't know 'bout y'all, but I have WAY TOO MUCH RESPECT and APPRECIATION for my Founders and for their rationale in choosing the colors they selected. Crimson & Cream aren't someone's favorite colors that were just randomly pulled out of a Crayola box! There is a DEEP meaning behind each and every attribute of the organization! So, to put DSQ in any color other than those designated as SUITABLE SUBSTITUTES, is to demonstrate a blatant disregard for the 22 and for the virtues and essence of my beloved Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, INCORPORATED.

But in the words of Soror Red6: "that's my opinion and I'm never politically correct often" either!

[Three_Love]

Originally posted by CrucialCrimson
Navy blue as a background might not be the best choice of a garment, but I don't see how one can call it "definitely" out of protocol - if that's the case, then what should one make of all the burgundy and blue denim garments with symbols on them.

"Navy Blue Pullover" and "blue denim" are different things. Denim is a type of material, a neutral material at that. Think about it, you can wear any color shirt that you want with your blue denim jeans, but if you put on some navy blue pants, you'd better coordinate your shirt with those blue pants. Likewise with khaki pants - you can wear them with anything, unlike blue pants.

Regarding the "burgundy", that's kind of close to crimson, so I don't see that as quite as bad as a navy blue pullover.

What is that soror THINKING? What color symbols is she planning on putting on the pullover - Red? White? Red AND white? What the heck... If I saw a soror wearing a navy blue pullover with symbols on it, I wouldn't try to take it from her, because that would be stealing (and assault and battery!), but I would definitely pull her aside and try to give her some sisterly advice.

[the411]

Originally posted by Virtual Violet
That reminds me that its not just YOUNGER members that do unconventional things. I distinctly remember seeing 2 AKA's at Convention 2000 in the vending area. Of course, there was no problem with them being there but one of them (mid-40's) had on a RED AND WHITE AKA SHIRT with the phrase 'AKA'S LOOK GOOD IN ANY COLOR" on the back!!

Now, I KNOW what our P&T says about this, and I lay odds that this sort of behavior is deemed to be in poor taste from the AKA's protocol. I just did a SLOW BURN and asked myself....WHAT ON EARTH POSSESSED HER to think that was an APPROPRIATE thing to do!! I know she saw Sorors staring DAGGERS into her.

Sorry, Virtual--I hadn't read your post! Looks like we either know the same AKA, or more than one of 'em actually has that shirt! Someone should explain to them what's wrong with it. Of course, that kind of foolishness and naivete exists in ALL our orgs. We all have a bad apple or two who either don't have a clue about protocol or don't really care what's right or wrong (usually the latter). But I know if I saw a Soror with our letters in (I can hardly get it out) pink and green, I'd pull her aside and we'd have a stern, yet discreet conversation about protocol.

[CrucialCrimson]

Originally posted by Three_Love


"Navy Blue Pullover" and "blue denim" are different things.

Regarding the "burgundy", that's kind of close to crimson, so I don't see that as quite as bad as a navy blue pullover.

I have to respectfully disagree - blue is blue, regardless of the fabric and burgundy is burgundy, not crimson nor red. Shades of magenta and pink are also "close" to red.

My point simply was that it's not always a clear, black and white issue to the point where it could be called "definitely out of protocol." They are both poor choices and when it comes to protocol, there is a vast area of gray that gets interpreted differently by different people. I don't think any of us disagree when it comes to the color of the symbols, but it's the garments on which folks choose to put the letters that is the issue. I've seen grey/black/white camoglouge outfits with the letters on them and I've also seen a regular, heather greay sweatshirt with red symbols applied. The sweats didn't bother me, but the camo's did!! Some wouldn't draw a distinction between the two. The other point is the manner in which someone chooses to let someone know their attire may be inappropriate - I'd be more disgusted with the soror that felt the need to "snatch" something off of someone's body than the soror that had red letters on a blue pullover - but that's a whole different issue altogether that I'll just leave alone because I'll be typing until Saturday!!

[Virtual Violet]

Originally posted by the411


Sorry, Virtual--I hadn't read your post! Looks like we either know the same AKA, or more than one of 'em actually has that shirt! Someone should explain to them what's wrong with it. Of course, that kind of foolishness and naivete exists in ALL our orgs. We all have a bad apple or two who either don't have a clue about protocol or don't really care what's right or wrong (usually the latter). But I know if I saw a Soror with our letters in (I can hardly get it out) pink and green, I'd pull her aside and we'd have a stern, yet discreet conversation about protocol.

To AKA2d: You're right, she may have been a neo, but it was a BAD MOVE either way. Make no mistake, "older" Sorors can do some "rank" stuff too.

To Th 411: It probably wasn't the same AKA, but it sounds like the same shirt. I would NEVER do that, its disrespectful to both organizations!

[Happydaysf91]

Well....weren't they selling those shirts with such saying on there a couple of years back....I remember seing something like that back in the early 90's for all organization. I don't think the shirt was in all red.....I think the shirts were white with multicolor lettering with the statement. I don't see any big problem with it if the shield or ivy leaf is not on it.......I WOULDN'T WEAR it, but hey...that's me.

I know when I crossed...as a chapter(AKA -- Beta Upsilon) we suggested that you don't wear shirts/jackets outside our colors pink and green...even though vendors sell our shirts in khaki, black, hot pink, blue jean and etc. For some reason, that has stuck with me. I do wear white shirts though -- but not Khaki, black or blue jean or etc.

Well...another thing I'm starting to see is line jackets with other orgs on it. For instance, in TN (college crib to be exact). I saw a Delta jacket that had in the back 'Didn't want to be....(all different sorority names on it with them scratched out in the orgs. colors)." I also saw a Soror (AKA) in New Orleans that had on the back of it "They want to be just like me....(and then had all the other orgs. listed and scratched out in the orgs. colors)". I shook my head at both.... I wouldn't want anybody else's org. on my jacket.....

I understand it was disturbing to see such a shirt at your convention...why would someone want to wear something like that to a Delta event....

And you are right...older Sorors can be out of pocket sometimes....

[Reds6]

I think its the responsibilty of older Sorors to teach the younger Sorors. It may not be against protocol, but its very tacky. Protocol teaches us to be respectful of others colors. I have never snatched a shirt, but lets be real it does happen, right or wrong. And if someone goes out rocking Delta letters in a blue shirt, sweat or otherwise they will open themsleves up to being questioned and the possibility of having their shirt snatched. Common sense don't cost a thing.

Originally posted by CrucialCrimson


I have to respectfully disagree - blue is blue, regardless of the fabric and burgundy is burgundy, not crimson nor red. Shades of magenta and pink are also "close" to red.

My point simply was that it's not always a clear, black and white issue to the point where it could be called "definitely out of protocol." They are both poor choices and when it comes to protocol, there is a vast area of gray that gets interpreted differently by different people. I don't think any of us disagree when it comes to the color of the symbols, but it's the garments on which folks choose to put the letters that is the issue. I've seen grey/black/white camoglouge outfits with the letters on them and I've also seen a regular, heather greay sweatshirt with red symbols applied. The sweats didn't bother me, but the camo's did!! Some wouldn't draw a distinction between the two. The other point is the manner in which someone chooses to let someone know their attire may be inappropriate - I'd be more disgusted with the soror that felt the need to "snatch" something off of someone's body than the soror that had red letters on a blue pullover - but that's a whole different issue altogether that I'll just leave alone because I'll be typing until Saturday!!