Question about attire for recruitment

[ADPiLove]

For my school (West Coast), we say business casual, so something you would wear to an interview, but not a business suit. A nice top - with sleeves, no spagetti straps or strapless unless it's Pref night - and skirt or pants.

When I went through recruitment, I usually wore a sweater and either nice pants or a skirt, and always got compliments on my clothing (which I bought from places like JC Pennys-love them!- and Mervyns). As long as you look well put together and neat, you'll be fine.

[NUBlue&Blue]

The JCPenney near us currently has lots of cute sundresses--and a good thing about old Jacques de Penney (in my best French accent) is that a lot of people don't think to shop there anymore, so it's not like American Eagle/Abercrombie/Jcrew where everybody in the world has seen all the dresses they carried in the spring. I saw a bunch of red and black sundresses there, so I told a couple of friends whose daughters are going to UGA next year to pick them up for football games!

[GeekyPenguin]

Outlet malls can be your friend.

[emleepc]

When I was a Recruitment Counselor, we (the counselors) got together and took pictures of appropriate attire for each day. These pictures were included in a booklet about rush that was mailed out by the greek life office to incoming freshman, as well as kept in the GL office.

Check and see if you can find something like that from the school.

[SigmaPezY60]

Have none of you ever seen "The Look for Less" on the Style Network? They shop at Macy's, Sears, Forever21, wherever they can find...the look for less.

It doesn't matter where you buy your clothes. It matters is how it looks on you.

We're college students...so looking good on a budget should be considered a survival skill.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by NUBlue&Blue

I saw a bunch of red and black sundresses there, so I told a couple of friends whose daughters are going to UGA next year to pick them up for football games!

This whole idea of Southern schools wearing sundresses to football games is so foreign to me - I actually had never heard of it until a year or so ago, and when I did I was like ???

Regional differences are so funny. If someone wore a sundress to a football game at my university or any other schools near me, they would be looked at like they came from another planet. (Went to a Big 10 school.)

[susan314]

I would agree with the other ladies that its more important to make sure that your clothes are flattering and fit well, than to worry about the label.

Yes, there might be some chapters at some schools who are label conscious. However, as others have pointed out, would you want to spend the next 4 years going broke trying to keep up with them? I agree that looking good on a budget is an important skill for a college student, and many chapters would appreciate that quality in you.

[AChiOhSnap]

Originally Posted by susan314

Yes, there might be some chapters at some schools who are label conscious. However, as others have pointed out, would you want to spend the next 4 years going broke trying to keep up with them? I agree that looking good on a budget is an important skill for a college student, and many chapters would appreciate that quality in you.

There's being label conscious, and then there's the ability to update classic pieces with inexpensive trendy/fashionable touches in order to look youthful and put-together. Classic pieces include well-fitting turtleneck tops in nice fabrics and colors, well-tailored dress pants, nicely tailored dark jeans (boot cut or straight leg...skinny jeans are too trendy and usually expensive), a pair of black stilettos, ballet flats, a nice black leather/mock leather bag with metal hardware, and flattering black dresses.

Even at label conscious chapters (and whether or not these chapters have their priorities in order is a whole other thread...), a PNM with finesse in combining her classic staples with trendy accessories will ALWAYS look like a million bucks...and it's not like people can see the tags on your clothes, so even if you get a $9.99 top on double clearance at TJ Maxx, if it looks great on you, nobody will be the wiser.

Honestly, some women who are extremely label conscious have no idea how to put themselves together. They end up looking garish and tacky with an overload of super trendy items. I think it's so much better to just look well put together and you'll be able to use the classic pieces for years if you take good care of them.

While it's definitely easier if a PNM has a $1,000 recruitment wardrobe budget, a PNM with a good sense of style should have most of what she needs in her closet already.

[ΑΓΔSquirrel10]

Originally Posted by AChiOhSnap

Classic pieces include well-fitting turtleneck tops in nice fabrics and colors,

Please, please, PLEASE don't do a turtleneck. A turtleneck just looks like it's trying to eat your face, and they don't give your upper body a long, clean look. Be conservative with your necklines, but not that conservative! Just stay away from them, and you'll be ok

[AChiOhSnap]

Originally Posted by ΑΓΔSquirrel10

Please, please, PLEASE don't do a turtleneck. A turtleneck just looks like it's trying to eat your face, and they don't give your upper body a long, clean look. Be conservative with your necklines, but not that conservative! Just stay away from them, and you'll be ok

Especially in the North, turtlenecks in clean lines are appropriate for chilly recruitments. Obviously a PNM shouldn't wear a bulky, boxy grandma turtleneck. That said, every season designers and brands ranging from Forever 21 to Ann Taylor to Marc Jacobs show turtleneck tops. They don't have to be conservative or stodgy in the right cut.

Again, you have to dress for your body type but as someone who was recently at a chapter at a fairly fashion-conscious school, we saw plenty of PNMs and active sisters wear turtlenecks/high necked tops in fabrics ranging from jersey to cashmere. They mostly looked fantastic, youthful, and stylish. So I happen to disagree, but to each her own.

ETA:

Gorgeous:
http://www.ardenb.com/shop/detail.as...d=25&sub_id=49

Grandma:
http://www.krystalacres.com/images/sweater/D7069a.jpg

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by susan314

Regional differences are so funny. If someone wore a sundress to a football game at my university or any other schools near me, they would be looked at like they came from another planet. (Went to a Big 10 school.)

The geography of the Big 10 makes sundresses impractical for 75% of the football season. If you're wearing a sundress in IL, IA, WI, etc in Nov, I would definitely look at you like you came from another planet.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

The geography of the Big 10 makes sundresses impractical for 75% of the football season. If you're wearing a sundress in IL, IA, WI, etc in Nov, I would definitely look at you like you came from another planet.

You definitely have a point there!

(Though I still can't even imagine a sundress in August/September, when the weather generally would be warm enough.)

Semi-related note...we had a Graduate Consultant from our chapter at an SEC university come live with us for a year. When she first arrived, she suggested that perhaps chapter members weren't dressing up enough for class. We laughed and pointed out that 1) the other 15 sororities on campus dressed as casually as we did on campus for the most part and 2) if she could still tell us that we should be wearing skirts and dress shoes to class after she actually experienced January on our campus, perhaps we'd consider it.

By late January/early February, she was dressing the same way we were.

[NUBlue&Blue]

Originally Posted by susan314

This whole idea of Southern schools wearing sundresses to football games is so foreign to me - I actually had never heard of it until a year or so ago, and when I did I was like ???

Regional differences are so funny. If someone wore a sundress to a football game at my university or any other schools near me, they would be looked at like they came from another planet. (Went to a Big 10 school.)

Me, too...Big 12 here (actually Big 8...dating myself!)--I never wore anything but jeans and sweatshirt or sweater under my parka

But at the big SEC schools where it's hot until Thanksgiving, it's sundresses in school colors for girls and coat and tie (or at least a buttondown and tie) for guys.

[EGAOPi]

Originally Posted by susan314

This whole idea of Southern schools wearing sundresses to football games is so foreign to me - I actually had never heard of it until a year or so ago, and when I did I was like ???

Regional differences are so funny. If someone wore a sundress to a football game at my university or any other schools near me, they would be looked at like they came from another planet. (Went to a Big 10 school.)

Even though I don't go to school in the Deep South, I'm still in the South and it's beginning to catch on here. A lot of people still go in shorts and t-shirts, but sundresses can be perfect for the weather...here, our football season is STEAMING hot (even thru November) and sundresses are light and comfortable. Of course, there are some schools that go all out in formalwear-I don't think we will ever go that far in Florida, but I think it's cute.
I'm from up north originally and I still don't find the sundress thing foreign...maybe it's just becuase I'm always looking for an excuse to wear a dress! haha

To the original poster: like everyone else said, a big NO on the business suit.
Also, you don't have to shop someplace like Sears to get affordable clothing. Forever 21 is incredibly cheap and also incredibly cute most of the time...even Lindsay Lohan admits to loving Forever 21, so I'm sure appropriate outfits from there would go over well in recruitment. It's okay if you're not loaded...just have style. You can put together relatively inexpensive outfits. Forever has amazing sundresses for about 25 bucks...at my school, you can wear sundresses 2, if not 3 out of the 4 days of recruitment leading up to Bid Day.
Good luck!