Rush at Pitt Prior to NPC Crackdown!

[UGAalum94]

I'm just going to say it: the more conservative preppy stuff from the 80s didn't/doesn't look bad. It's weirdly kind of timeless. If you looked at a lot of the stuff, it'd be hard to say definitively which decade it was from. It's almost like some aspects of clothes from the 50s for guys. Khakis, button downs and v-neck sweaters? Maybe a little boring, but timeless.

Unfortunately, by the late 80s at least where I lived, I'd say preppy had given way to MTV inspired trendy stuff or extreme business wear (shoulder pads, etc.), so I'm amused/horrified by what kids wear on 80s day at school. Apparently for a lot of kids, 80s fashion= brightly colored spandex.

If you've never seen a copy of the Preppy Handbook, it's pretty funny.

[FloridaTish]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

If you've never seen a copy of the Preppy Handbook, it's pretty funny.

You want to see funny, read the book "Fer Shurr! How to be a Valley Girl, Totally!" from 1982. I still have my copy from when I was 11 years old.

Like Oh My God, I was a total dork.

-Tish

[OldAOPi]

I remember - teenagers looking like a Talbots catalogue.

My sister worked at the Limited in the early 80's when they were doing monogrammed shetland wool sweaters that we wore with our plaid skirts, knee socks, and clogs (quite comfy, actually).

I remember her coming out to the AOPi house and getting orders from the girls.

Don't forget the turned up collars of the Lacoste (right?) alligator polo shirts!

Fun thread - just a bit after I rushed, so I can relate to the styles!

[cuteASAbug]

Originally Posted by OldAOPi

Don't forget the turned up collars of the Lacoste (right?) alligator polo shirts!

People still wear those.

[OldAOPi]

Yes, I know - I think here in the Midwest, you saw them a lot then, then not for awhile like other areas. I see them a bit now, still, but not like in the early 80's.

[SWTXBelle]

I still have my monogrammed Bermuda Bag . . . not that I use it, but I just can't throw it out!

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I still have my monogrammed Bermuda Bag . . . not that I use it, but I just can't throw it out!

I would say something here, but I think one more "Not to make you feel old" comment, and SWTXBelle is going to be in the car to Carolina to smack me upside the head....

[cuteASAbug]

what's a Bermuda bag?

[Denise_DPhiE]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

People still wear those.

Correction: People wear those AGAIN and this time the alli is facing the opposite direction.

~back to your regularly scheduled retro-recruitment thread!

[alum]

Originally Posted by Denise_DPhiE

Correction: People wear those AGAIN and this time the alli is facing the opposite direction.

~back to your regularly scheduled retro-recruitment thread!

Not necessarily. I have a vintage 80s something croc-logo v-neck sweater, a polo bought sometime between 94-06 AND a recent polo bought sometime after 06 and all the tails are facing the chestbone and the mouths are closest to the left arm.

[NUBlue&Blue]

Originally Posted by OldAOPi

I remember - teenagers looking like a Talbots catalogue.

My sister worked at the Limited in the early 80's when they were doing monogrammed shetland wool sweaters that we wore with our plaid skirts, knee socks, and clogs (quite comfy, actually).

I remember her coming out to the AOPi house and getting orders from the girls.

Don't forget the turned up collars of the Lacoste (right?) alligator polo shirts!

Fun thread - just a bit after I rushed, so I can relate to the styles!

This is how I always think of the 80's, too....MY 80's anyway! Funny thing is that I still dress pretty much the same way as I did then. I just bought a navy wrap dress and my husband said "don't you already have a dress like that?" Well, I DID, but it sure doesn't fit anymore!

I don't know if it was a "cool" thing to do everywhere or not, but we always wore our string of pearls inside our button down collar so it draped nicely on the front of the monogrammed shetland sweater. When we weren't wearing our add-a-bead necklaces, of course.

I didn't realize how subliminally influenced I was by the Official Preppy Handbook until I found it a few months ago when I was cleaning some bookshelves. I showed it to my husband and we were a bit freaked out that the drawing of the family inside the front cover (mom, dad and 4 kids) looked frighteningly like us!

[UGAalum94]

Please update!

[honeychile]

I was letting NBH have her moment in the sun!

Three Round Parties (as much as I can remember, anyhow!): I wore a red kilt (Sinclair clan, if you know it),
with a black turtleneck and a black blazer. I almost wore my pearls, but I was saving those for (please, oh please!) Pref. I had black hose and black shoes with just a little heel. I was already feeling a little too tall to bring out the 3" heels! These parties were an hour long:

Rubies: The singing as we entered was intense! In the background was circus type music, and we were given tickets of two different colors. We used the first ticket "to get into the Ruby Circus", and were seated with a sister on each side. The theme was that life is a circus, it takes all sorts to make up a circus, but the best circus was comprised of women like the Rubies. They served popcorn, peanuts, rootbeer floats, and Cracker Jack, with a clown tossing the peanuts & Cracker Jack. We also played games with the other tickets, and won small, Ruby-oriented prizes.

Garnets: More singing! At this point, I had one of their songs completely memorized, as it was so catchy. We were at a Parisian fashion show, "The Garnet Garment Show" - a runway was down the middle of the room, and sisters modeled outfits that college students "wear": the goth, the fraternity groupie, the too busy studying to have any fun person, and of course, the All-Around Wonderful Garnet Sister - who had her happy moments, her sad moments, liked to have fun, but still had a good GPA. All of the sisters wore their colors, a beret, and were scribbling notes like a reporter would. During the fashion show, a cheese board with crackers & olives was served, then afterwards they served quiche, and a really amazing fruit salad (not that icky sweet canned stuff!). How could I forget the Perrier, with a Garnet label and a slice of lemon?!

Emeralds: "Midnight at the Oasis" All four of my Rush Buddies were with me, all stuffed, and not very open to a desert theme. The sisters wore harem-type clothes (which looked a lot like sheets to me!), with the elaborate eye makeup and the veil over their mouths during the first part. We were each handed a dish with pita, hummus, olives and grapes, along with a goblet of grape juice. Laden down with this, we tried to sit gracefully on plump pillows, and for the life of me, I cannot remember a single thing about the skit. There was one sister for every two or three PNMs, or in our case, one sister for the four of us. The one sister made a comment that she had heard that the four of us came "as a package deal" and she could just wrap us up in a big bow - YIKES!!! We were the first four out of there.

We were encouraged to list three sororities for Pref. AGAIN, we didn't list Emeralds, and handed our invitation lists to our Rho Chi. Lisa wrote "declines Emeralds with regrets" on her list.

[petals]

What a fun thread to come back to after a GC hiatus Thank you, Miss Honey!

[Leslie Anne]

Hmm, I'm curious to see if Emeralds tries to get them again for Pref. (Pesky Emeralds! )