Recruitment Clothing for Actives

[Kansas City]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

I'm a big fan of every women wearing the same color. It really makes a good impact and makes the group look cohesive.

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

[DoctorD]

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

I know one of our chapters has handled that concern by giving members a swatch of fabric to use as a guide.

[KSUViolet06]

It is really hard to match EXACT colors with a large group of women.

Which is why alot of chapters opt for the "varying shades of the same color" look.

For example, a chapter at my school asked their girls to wear brown polos in different shades with gold accents ( earrings, necklace, belt, etc). It worked out well that way.

[AXOrushadvisor]

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

Really, we do it all the time and it looks great. You have to give them color ranges and do clothing checks. I have seen it done with both red and pink- 2 very hard colors and it was very effective.

[Kansas City]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

Really, we do it all the time and it looks great. You have to give them color ranges and do clothing checks. I have seen it done with both red and pink- 2 very hard colors and it was very effective.

It probably depends on the chapter size, color and availability. Keep in mind that my story was from 15 years ago (pre-internet shopping), the university is located in a small 10,000 person rural farm community, there were about 100 active members per chapter and pink is generally more difficult to match than say a red (another chapter on my campus did a wonderful job matching red dresses that same year). The following year when I was an active, we opted for black dresses that were much easier to match and create that cohesive look. Now if I were to attempt a pink matching today, I would probably ask all the women to get black and/or white dresses and have the chapter provide matching pink sashes to the actives.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AXOrushadvisor

Really, we do it all the time and it looks great. You have to give them color ranges and do clothing checks. I have seen it done with both red and pink- 2 very hard colors and it was very effective.

Another thing to keep in mind is some colors look like ass on some people. Best to have an option where if everyone is wearing a certain color, there's a way to wear it away from the face.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by Kansas City

Great idea until you try to match certain colors! When I rushed 15 years ago, the chapter I eventually joined had their members wear pink dresses (sorority color) to an introductory event. It ranged the full gambit of peachy to hot and everything in between. Needless to say they did not impress many that day and had to make up for it the rest of the week. Color matching may be okay for certain colors such as black, white, most reds and maybe some blues but be cautious about allowing members too much freedom to express their individuality when you are trying to create a cohesive group appearance.

This is why explaining what you are going for and giving examples of what is and isn't ok plus doing dress checks is necessary.

[joliebelle]

Last year, we decided to mix things up a bit for our clothing.
Day 1: Panhellenic t-shirt, dark jeans, with heels
Day 2: Matching stitch letter t-shirt (black shirt, zebra print, hot pink outline), dark jeans, and heels
Day 3: Black business attire with whatever accent color you want (i.e black slacks, hot pink button down, pink earrings, etc.). Oh, and white wasn't considered an accent color
Day 4: (preference) Black dress with pearls and black heels

[WVU alpha phi]

My chapter wore:

Day 1 (house tours)- Matching letter shirts (we ordered new, different ones every year), jean bottoms (skirt, pants, capris), and heels.

Day 2 and 3 (philanthrophy day)- Red Alpha Phi shirts (one year they had 'helping hearts since 1872' on the back for cardiac care), black bottoms (again, skirt, pants, or capris), and heels.

Day 4 (skit and slideshow night)- Colorful dress. Semi-formal usually, anything but black. Everyone always had on beautiful dresses, I loved this night and I thought it made us really stand out.

Day 5 (pref night)- Black dresses and black heels. Absolutely no color on your dress, maybe colored accessories but nothing too bold.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by violetpretty

This is why explaining what you are going for and giving examples of what is and isn't ok plus doing dress checks is necessary.

YES. If you are going to require a specific color of clothing item, it is so important to gives as many examples of what you're going for as possible. Mentioning stores/online places that carry the specific color item is nice too.

I believe my collegiate chapters clothing for this year was:

Day 1 (Philananthropy): Dark purple polos. dark jean skirts. black heels. black accessories.
Day 2 (House Tours): White button downs. black pants. Purple accessories. black heels
Day 3 (Preference): Black cocktail dresses. black heels. pearls. badges.