This is your mother's Rush! What we wore 1960-1990

[Benzgirl]

Flash back to the early 80s. Formal "Rush" in mid-September. Very few houses with A/C since Ohio is supposed to be cold.

Round 1 - 18 houses in 1 day. I wore Liz Claiborne Khaki Bermuda shorts, a yellow Ralph Lauren polo and brown Pappagallo flats. I think I had an argile sweater over my shoulders. I screamed of "preppy".

Round 2 - I don't remember, but I attended about 10 houses.

Round 3 - I can't remember the number of houses (maybe 6), but I remember they were over 2 nights. I wore suits, which was not typical. One was a raw silk teal suit and the other was an off-white heavier material I do remember the white suit was hot.

Pref - 3 houses on 1 night. I had this dress with shiny material (some type of rayon) that had diagonal strips in black, red and blue. It had a tie belt and puffy sleeves. I think I wore black sheer hose and black pumps.

My hair was in a bi-level cut with "side burns"

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Pref - 3 houses on 1 night. I had this dress with shiny material (some type of rayon) that had diagonal strips in black, red and blue. It had a tie belt and puffy sleeves.

OMG, that sounds exactly like a dress I had only mine was silver-gray background, pink & white stripes.

[LionTamer]

It was 1979, and I was a challenge to my friends, because I had attended a largely-Jewish high school where the whole concept of "prep" was utterly foreign, so they had to change my look for rush. Out with the shiny qiana disco blouses and in with the Villager. Out with the Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, and in with the madras shorts. Ditch the skinny gold chain necklaces, replace them with twee Pappagallo hunting horn earrings and a watch with a grosgrain ribbon that matched my outfit. Tone down the make-up.

Candies were the only thing from my city-girl past I was allowed to keep and only for pref (which was stupid, because they hurt and probably made me 6'1", which meant I had to stoop to hear anyone). Otherwise, espadrilles or sandals.

I wore both Aigner sandals AND and Aigner belt one round (I hadn't quite got the preppy thing down, and may have overdone it). Oh, and an Aigner purse.

Farrah Fawcett hair was mandatory - but my hair doesn't hold a curl, so it only looked good for the first party or two, then it was just long and straight with a slight bend at the end for the rest of the night. I had grosgrain ribbons in my bag matching whatever outfit I was wearing, and would use them as hairbands once the Farrah Fawcett hair flopped.

But for pref, I wore what I wanted - my beloved Candies, with the simple green stretch-cotton spaghetti-strap sundress my mom, who hadn't gone to college and didn't want me to rush, had bought for me once she relented. It wasn't a brand name (A Brod), but when you're 5'11" and weigh 115, you can wear pretty much anything. And hair in a French twist.

So I essentially did the whole rush (except preference) in costume. Which of course we advise girls never to do.

[33girl]

^^^Is it just me, or does it look like that girl really needs to shave her back?

Originally Posted by LionTamer

It was 1979, and I was a challenge to my friends, because I had attended a largely-Jewish high school where the whole concept of "prep" was utterly foreign, so they had to change my look for rush. Out with the shiny qiana disco blouses and in with the Villager. Out with the Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, and in with the madras shorts. Ditch the skinny gold chain necklaces, replace them with twee Pappagallo hunting horn earrings and a watch with a grosgrain ribbon that matched my outfit. Tone down the make-up.

OK, when I read that, all I could think of was this SNL skit. Warning: extremely politically incorrect.