Lavalier Info...

[MSUsigma09]

Sorry to crash y'alls thread (yes i am from KY... dont hate) but i need to ask you all a question.

I am somewhat new to the greek system and I was wonderign if someone out there can answer a question or 2 (or more lol) for me...

What exactly is Lavliering? What happens during and after the ceremony? What does it mean for Kappa Sigma?

I am am initiated member of Tri-Sigma, and i have heard a bit hear and there about this and i have heard some general thing but i really wanted to know specifics in regards to Kappa Sigma. My B.F. is currently a Kappa Sigma pledge, and even though it is still young in the relationship, im a little curious to what all lavaliering intails... if nothing else its just a little more knowledge to have!!!!

I am not taking this lightly at all, i know this not only a massive commitment but also very serious.

feedback is greatly appreciated. if my b.f. does choose to do this after he is initiated and we have been dating longer, id like to know what exactly i am dealing with!!!!

[WinniBug]

It probably varies form chapter to chapter....my husband's a Kappa Sigma, and the main difference I noticed was that Kappa Sigs at our college lavaliere, but don't "pin" girls.

[AnotherKD]

^^

It's different for everyone. But usually there's some sort of public display, either through a song or just saying something among his brothers or your sisters, and then he'd give you a necklace with his letters on it.

I was lavaliered when my boyfriend and I (waaaaaay back when) were dating for about 3 years. He pledged when we were dating for about a year and a half, and he wanted to make sure he was in the fraternity long enough. Basically, if you've just pledged and then you want to give your letters away to your girlfriend, the rest of the brothers would probably be like, "What the fuck?????" It's almost like he needs to earn the letters and learn what they mean and what the brotherhood is all about before he can give them away.

[KappaDeltaEA677]

I'm an initiated Kappa Delta and my bf's a Pi Kappa Phi. Anyone can wear their letters on a shirt, as long as it isn't embroidered. Lavaliering is a big deal to both of us. At our campus, it is basically pre-engagement and if you are lavaliered you probs will get married. Wearing someone else's letters is a really big deal especially when you think about all the hazing and crap some people have to go through. If a guy is willing to let you represent his fraternity with a lavaliere it's a huge deal because he trusts you to represent his brothers. to us it also means that the girl is now at the same level as his brothers. i hope to be lavaliered someday but i've seen a few go wrong. my big was lavaliered to a pi kapp then they broke up and it just wasn't a good deal. anyways, hope it helped.

Kappa Delta EA677+ Pi Kappa Phi GL309=Love

[33girl]

Originally Posted by KappaDeltaEA677

I'm an initiated Kappa Delta and my bf's a Pi Kappa Phi. Anyone can wear their letters on a shirt, as long as it isn't embroidered.

NO. "Embroidery" has nothing to do with anything. I certainly would catch hell if I went down to the Greek store, bought a TKE shirt and started wearing it around with no connection to the fraternity.

Some fraternities do not allow anyone but their members to wear letters, and some don't even let their MEMBERS wear letters.

[ree-Xi]

Originally Posted by KappaDeltaEA677

I'm an initiated Kappa Delta and my bf's a Pi Kappa Phi. Anyone can wear their letters on a shirt, as long as it isn't embroidered. Lavaliering is a big deal to both of us. At our campus, it is basically pre-engagement and if you are lavaliered you probs will get married. Wearing someone else's letters is a really big deal especially when you think about all the hazing and crap some people have to go through. If a guy is willing to let you represent his fraternity with a lavaliere it's a huge deal because he trusts you to represent his brothers. to us it also means that the girl is now at the same level as his brothers. i hope to be lavaliered someday but i've seen a few go wrong. my big was lavaliered to a pi kapp then they broke up and it just wasn't a good deal. anyways, hope it helped.

Kappa Delta EA677+ Pi Kappa Phi GL309=Love

Gosh, there is so much wrong in this post.

My friend above already pointed out the misinformation regarding embroidery. A lot of people have said that couples who have lavaliered, often break up soon after. Your wearing his lavaliere does NOT mean you represent his brothers. It also does not mean that you "are at the same level as his brothers" (whatever that means).

Not to mention the fact that with just the info in the last line of your post, anyone can find your school, your chapters, both your names, your boyfriend's major, graduation date, the fact that he makes Duckface in his Facebook profile pic, and that you love Jesus.

I'm sure that if you shared this post with your boyfriend and his brothers, they'd agree with everything you said.

[MUSK81]

When I was is school, being lavaliered signified an exclusive relationship; it was basically the same thing as wearing a guy's class ring in high school. Pinning was serious; pinning pretty much meant you had an understanding and would become formally engaged closer to graduation. As for letters, when I was in school, it was still common to have big or little siblings in other GLOs, so it was OK to wear the letters of your big/little bro/sis. A lot of times we would have shirts made with the letters of both parties, kind of combining them if they had one in common, i.e. TKE with a Sigma over the K for Sigma Kappa or Sigma Sigma Sigma crossed with Alpha Sigma Phi. But it was only OK if you had a big/little in the other organization, you couldn't just wear them at random.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by 33girl

NO. "Embroidery" has nothing to do with anything. I certainly would catch hell if I went down to the Greek store, bought a TKE shirt and started wearing it around with no connection to the fraternity.

Some fraternities do not allow anyone but their members to wear letters, and some don't even let their MEMBERS wear letters.

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Gosh, there is so much wrong in this post.

My friend above already pointed out the misinformation regarding embroidery. A lot of people have said that couples who have lavaliered, often break up soon after. Your wearing his lavaliere does NOT mean you represent his brothers. It also does not mean that you "are at the same level as his brothers" (whatever that means).

Not to mention the fact that with just the info in the last line of your post, anyone can find your school, your chapters, both your names, your boyfriend's major, graduation date, the fact that he makes Duckface in his Facebook profile pic, and that you love Jesus.

I'm sure that if you shared this post with your boyfriend and his brothers, they'd agree with everything you said.

Agreed, there are rules that have to do with who can wear letters. As a Kappa Sigma, I can tell you that "embroidery" means NOTHING nationally.

As far as lavaliering, it depends on the campus. Each chapter has their own traditions: sometimes it's done at formal, sometimes it's done more informally. Sometimes the whole chapter is present, sometimes it's just the pledge class, etc.

Same goes for what it means to the chapter. I would hope that most chapters will be cool to a brother's girlfriend. However, I'm not sure that it will bring any "special" treatment.

KSigKid
Kappa Sigma Alum

[MSUsigma09]

Thank you guys. I was just looking for more info so that way if he chose to lavalier me after some time i wouldnt be completly clueless

MSUsigma09

[merba661]

So I'm going to defend KappaDeltaEA677 here....

As far as the embroidered part, it does make a difference, at least for that chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. That's just the way they do it, and letters that are embroidered can only be worn by brothers, while printed letters can be worn by anyone. Like it was said earlier, it's different everywhere.

I myself am lavaliered to a Beta Sigma Psi, and they will not let anyone else wear their letters unless they are lavaliered. So anything with the actual greek letters on it. However, if it is the words spelled out, it doesn't matter.

In general most chapters on our campus are a little more laid back when it comes to lavaliering and wearing letters.

[AXOKOlove]

Hey I'm an AXO and I've been dating a Kappa Sig for over 2 years. Nobody has ever pinned or lavaliered anybody before in his chapter because it's fairly new. All he can tell me is that I can't wear his badge. I don't want to wear his badge. I honestly just think he doesn't want to be the first one to lavalier in his chapter.

Can he lavalier me?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by AXOKOlove

Hey I'm an AXO and I've been dating a Kappa Sig for over 2 years. Nobody has ever pinned or lavaliered anybody before in his chapter because it's fairly new. All he can tell me is that I can't wear his badge. I don't want to wear his badge. I honestly just think he doesn't want to be the first one to lavalier in his chapter.

Can he lavalier me?

If he wants to lavalier you bad enough, he'll make it happen. If you want to send him running for the hills, keep bugging him about it. It's not something you're supposed to ask for - that defeats the whole purpose.

[KappaSig_Eta]

Originally Posted by MSUsigma09

What exactly is Lavliering? What happens during and after the ceremony? What does it mean for Kappa Sigma?

I am am initiated member of Tri-Sigma

Originally Posted by AXOKOlove

Hey I'm an AXO and I've been dating a Kappa Sig for over 2 years. Nobody has ever pinned or lavaliered anybody before in his chapter because it's fairly new. All he can tell me is that I can't wear his badge. I don't want to wear his badge. I honestly just think he doesn't want to be the first one to lavalier in his chapter.

Can he lavalier me?

So who knows if y'all are still in college... but I figured I could add some info.

There is no official ceremony, it would depend on the chapter, mine did not have one. I only knew that it was basically considered pre-engagement.

I also heard that sororities have ceremonies for when a girl gets lavaliered, but that might also vary from sorority to sorority...

But that's about all I know about it. It would be cool to hear an update about what happened, if anything.