That 70s Rush! - Page 4

aephi alum · #46 10-31-2008, 03:26 PM

Suddenly I feel so young... I was born in the 1970's. I'm kinda glad I missed the travesty that was 1970's "fashion". Although I do remember being the only girl in my kindergarten class who had short hair - long hair parted down the middle was all the rage, even for 5-year-olds, but my parents forced me to have a bowl cut. I looked like a boy.

Keep it coming!

OldAOPi · #47 10-31-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBelleADPi

I went through rush in the fall of 1971. Peasant blouses, check. Baby oil mixed with iodine. Check. But I must admit wrapping albums w/ tin foil to reflect the sun is a new one-but had we known about it, I guarantee you, we would have done it. No tanning creams, no spray tans, no tanning salons-girl, we'd cut class to have a good tan for going out at night. Hot pants were the biggie for all of us going thru rush then. And you're right about no designer jeans, etc, giving you that "elite" style. I think it was more Villager skirts, dresses, and blouses. Oh, and jewelry.

The sororities did all dress alike, every night, from what I can remember. I know we all wore the same blue and white checked peasant dress for ice water teas night, and all wore the same black one-piece pantsuit w/ wide legs for pref. Big sets, food, etc. Oh, and for pref, all the sororities had them in alums' big houses in our college town. Other parties were at the houses.

Carry on, I'm loving this!

I went through a bit later in the 70's - we wore alot of sundresses and cork wedge shoes with the straight hair parted down the middle. The short hair girls all sported Dorothy Hamill 'dos. I was more the Clairol Kindness Hot Roller kind of girl myself. The dressy outfits sometimes required white wedge sandals with the lovely accent of coffee colored panty hose - usually LEGG EGGS.

My sister took me shopping before RUSH and I do believe I had some fun outfits with vests and sparkly threads. I liked straight leg levis which made me more of a rebel than a trendsetter.

Anyone remember cap sleeve tees and overalls with matching bandana scarves tied on loop? Or was that just a backwards Nebraska thing? Jogging suits and terry cloth shorts were real popular too (not during rush!)

Can't wait to see how the rest of the show goes! (The "Girl of AOII" song keeps going through my mind...and "Remember")

That_70s_Rush! · #48 10-31-2008, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EEKappa

This is such a fun read!

I'm still trying to remember what water buffalo sandals are, though, so I googled them. Is this what you wore with the Levi's?

I was in elementary school and jr. high in the 70's, so didn't have a keen fashion sense at the time.

That's EXACTLY what they were! I had no idea they still made them!

That_70s_Rush! · #49 10-31-2008, 04:14 PM

Set Four: Preference Night
That night it takes me about three hours to curl my hair with the help of lots of hair spray, hot rollers and a curling iron. Totally unprepared for this night, I decide to wear the dress I wore to my Christmas semi-formal. It’s a knee-length black halter dress with red and green gathered bodice. It has a matching jacket with a red and green sash tie waist. I feel very glamorous and sophisticated.

We meet with our RCs again to pick up our party schedules. Mine reads:

Jackie
Fez
Donna

WHAT? No Kelso? They dropped me? I’M A PRISSY PREP GIRL! Don’t they want all the Prissy Prep girls? And FEZ wants me back after my big blunder yesterday? I am really puzzled by this whole chain of events, but there’s no time to think. I have some parties to go to!

OldAOPi · #50 10-31-2008, 04:36 PM

I knew it! Hot Rollers!

AXi1257 · #51 10-31-2008, 04:38 PM

I need this wrapped up so I can go on with the rest of my life!

I'm loving this thread. I was born in the early '70's so I guess I'm not as 'seasoned' as others on GC. I love all of the old greek lingo since that's what I had when I went through Rush!

That_70s_Rush! · #52 10-31-2008, 04:43 PM

Oh, you want some more Pref Night details?

Jackie – The sisters are all standing in rows on each side of the walkway in front of the house and singing. Liz takes me by the hand as I walk up and escorts me in. There’s an enormous ice sculpture of the sorority’s symbol in the foyer, and it has alternating flashing lights in their colors pointed at it. The rest of the room as well as the main room are dim and lit by candles. The walls are draped with fabric in their colors. There are flowers everywhere. The place smells a little like a mortuary (heh heh.) Everything is so elegant and beautiful, just like the girls here. They’re all wearing matching dresses in the sorority’s colors. I can already tell this is going to be a different experience from the previous parties. Everything seems so serious.

The ceremony is beautiful. They sing a song about their sisterhood and I am amazed at how beautiful their voices are. I had been in chorus from grammar school through high school, so this stuff really mattered to me. A few sisters read letters they’ve written about their experiences in the sorority, and how it has helped them through good times and bad. Afterwards, we have some dessert and Liz tells me how special it is to have me there. Then she reads me a letter that tells me that she’s known me since I was a girl and hopes that she can also be by my side as I become a woman in her sisterhood. This is heady stuff and not what I expected at all!

Liz hands me a personalized box, and inside it is something that would give away this group. She has me make a wish as I toss it into a fountain. Once I’ve done that, she tells me that she hopes my wish was the same as hers was and that I’d be back to get the item tomorrow. She gives me a big hug. I start to cry as we walk out the door together. My wish at that moment was to be a Jackie, and I was hoping that’s what she was wishing for as well. I clutch the pretty box in my hand, and hate to give it to the RC to hold when it comes time to go into the next house. (Yes, girls, we were allowed to accept gifts back in the stone age!) As we walk to the next house, I am certain I will pledge Jackie and there’s really no reason to go to any other party that night.

That_70s_Rush! · #53 10-31-2008, 06:03 PM

Fez– The girls are lined up along the walkway and singing softly. They are all holding lit candles (yes, girls, real live candles!), except for the ones who have been assigned a rushee for the night. “Mortuary girl” picks me up and leads me up the walkway that is lined by the candle holding sisters. I’ve got to say, this was a really beautiful way to start and really impressed me. The main room is full of huge vases filled with their flower, which also happens to be one of my favorites. The girls are all wearing the same sophisticated black dresses and jeweled lavaliers. Compared to them, I now feel a bit little girlish in my high school dress.

We have a little dessert and the plate has my name written in contrasting icing on it. I get a chance to talk to mortuary girl a bit more while eating, and then the lights go dim and more candles are lit. The ceremony starts right after that and is also solemn and beautiful. More seniors sharing what life there has meant to them and more songs, a little ritual and candlelight. Then my rusher hangs her lavalier around my neck for a few minutes and talks about how much it has meant to her to wear these letters. Right now she wants me to know what that could feel like. And I AM feeling it. I also admit that I feel pretty full of myself that the Fezs have picked me out of all the other girls they have dropped over the week. They must see something in me that I don’t know if I see in myself. But I’m also not quite convinced I can live up to their image. Part of me feels like an imposter, like if they really knew me, there would be no way I would have been invited to this party. Yet I DO NOT want her to remove the lavalier from my neck, and I realize I’m starting to cry. Ack! MORE CRYING! And I am not a crier! I, the girl who rushed as a lark and didn’t really care much about sorority life, COULD BE A FEZ!

At the end, she gave me a little bouquet of flowers and we did another wishing type activity. My rusher tells me she hopes my wish is the same as hers was. WHAT???!!! Does everyone do this? It throws me for a loop and I really begin to doubt the sincerity of this little exercise. I was so darned sure once I left Jackie ……… and now this. Now the idea of becoming a Fez is intoxicating.

ZTA72 · #54 10-31-2008, 06:11 PM

I am soooo loving this. I can't put my laptop down!
This brings back some great memories.

lovespink88 · #55 10-31-2008, 06:20 PM

I see you're online still....I'm hoping that means you're writing more!! I love this thread!!

AnchorAlumna · #56 10-31-2008, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aephi alum

I'm kinda glad I missed the travesty that was 1970's "fashion".

Don't worry.
In 35 years, today's fashions will be a "travesty"!

MerryGPhiB · #57 10-31-2008, 06:32 PM

[QUOTE=CougarGrad;1738406]{mini-70's-fashion-and-beauty tangent}

How about squeezing fresh lemons into your hair before you laid out in the sun? My mother and cousins did that in the 70's... anyone else?

{/mini-70's-fashion-and-beauty tangent}

Oh yeah! Loved the lemons and the baby oil and we used to sit out on our roof top " sunning ourselves" in our short beach chairs. We usually got attention from our next door neighbors the Chabad house.

i also remember one night when I lived upstairs a leg coming through my slighty open window. It was the Sigma Chis trying to do a panty raid. As I sunk my nails into the guys leg he let out a blood curdling scream. the rest of the guys ran away and left him to a house full of Gamma Phis who came running. BTW he did get invited to the next dance......

That_70s_Rush! · #58 10-31-2008, 06:44 PM

Oh, panty raids and squeezing lemon juice into our hair! The memories!

Donna – The outside of this house looks absolutely gorgeous, even if it is the same ugly color it has always been. There are tiny twinkling white lights in all of the trees, and large glass bowls in their colors are filled with floating candles and lining the walkway to the front door. There is a canopy draped across the front door and it is covered with a blanket of their flowers. The sides are decorated with dozens of little replicas of their symbol, and as I move closer I realize that each one has the name of a sister on it. I thought that was very touching and really made me feel like they had a bond. The sisters are all in matching black dresses and pearls. Again, I feel a little less than elegant!

Here, we start off with some dessert, an iced cookie in the shape of their symbol. They’re serving punch out of a fountain and I think it’s the coolest thing ever. My cookie has my name on it as well as the name of the girl preffing me, who went to Prissy Prep and was a year ahead of me. We’d been in several clubs together there, so I knew her rather well and really liked her. We have a great conversation about how we have so much in common and how comfortable I feel with everyone in the house. It really did feel like coming home when I walked in the door. But I’m not sure if that’s the best thing or not. Will I have a chance to grow and experience new things if I am with so many of the same people for the next four years? Or will this provide just the anchor I need in a giant sea of the unknown at this huge school?

The ceremony was another touching candlelight event. A Prissy Prep Senior I knew was one of the sisters who spoke about her Donna experience. Then another Prissy Prep alumna shared a beautiful poem. My rusher squeezed my hand tightly and smiled a genuinely warm smile at me. Afterwards, she presented me with a small gift in a handmade box that not only represented the sorority but was personalized with something that symbolized Prissy Prep as well. I was blown away by the thought that went into making it. (Yes, girls, for those who are counting, that makes two gifts plus flowers received during pref. How times have changed, huh?)

Once we come to the end of the party, guess what? ANOTHER WISH! Either all of these girls really really really want me or they are just trying to let me down easy and they say that to all the rushees! But right afterwards, just as we are walking out the door, my rusher whispers “You have always been a Donna. I hope you will make it official tonight.” I burst into tears (and I had been doing so well here!) because I knew exactly what she meant.

TriDPrincess · #59 10-31-2008, 07:58 PM

Can't wait to hear where you end up... my guess is Donna!

aephi alum · #60 10-31-2008, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MerryGPhiB

Oh yeah! Loved the lemons and the baby oil and we used to sit out on our roof top " sunning ourselves" in our short beach chairs. We usually got attention from our next door neighbors the Chabad house.

Too funny!!