Help! Not Trendy Enough

[Glitterkitty]

I must respectfully disagree. Telling all the girls "wear pink blouses, black dress pants and nice black shoes" is appropriate. Most people will have at least one of those items in their possession. But to order shirts for the entire chapter, specify open toe and DEMAND mani's & pedi's....I'd tell the rush chair to kiss my a$$. We are intellegent college aged women who have scholarships, write huge term papers with big words and live independently. Why on earth are we being told what to wear?! I understand uniformity to a degree. It is nice. But to the extreme degree I am reading here, I am a little disgusted. The only time, IMO, grown women should be dressed exactly alike is if you are a bridesmaid. And of course for ritual.

[aopinthesky]

Originally posted by Glitterkitty
Why on earth are we being told what to wear?! I understand uniformity to a degree. It is nice. But to the extreme degree I am reading here, I am a little disgusted.

Many chapters do this and no one is "disgusted" by it. It is all in what you are used to. Not everyone has good fashion sense - even if they do get scholarships and know how to write term papers. Its all about putting your best foot forward for your guests (PNMs). Some campuses just put more emphasis on the outward appearance of their members than others do.

[sueali]

My chapter orders shirts together because we usually have our letters embroidered on the shirts or screenprinted. I don't find this to be unusual at all and I go to a school without a competitive rush. We are also told what color bottoms to wear and we sometimes order matching flip flops(the ones with letters on them).

[LionTamer]

I was rush chairman, and had no problems specifying (in detail) what to wear for each party, but it was along the line of "Hawaian or equally loud shirt - if you don't own one, borrow one from a friend - neutral shorts and clean sneakers" . If an outfit was wildly inappropriate, or the girl claimed not to have anything like the clothing described , they worked in the kitchen that night.

I went to a state school, and for many of our girls, every penny counted. If I had gotten too specific, or said what brand of shoes they had to wear - they would have had my head.

So I get the idea of working with a theme but specifying "American Eagle" belts or "J.Crew" shoes - !!! Is everyone rich enough to afford this? My own clothing budget for college was appallingly tight - I'm not embarrassed to say I spent my breaks/weekend home making my own formal dresses (and they looked good enough that they went to a lot more formals than I did - I always liked playing "spot my black wrap dress" when looking over pictures from various fraternity formals.)

Your recruitment chairs need to make this process as easy as possible, but you have to respect their decisions as well. I understand some people being horrified by the thought of being told what to wear, but I mean you've gotta make a good impression, look classy, and uniform. We even told our alphas what to wear during their alpha period (each sorority did this during their pleding period, for example: Mondays bid day shirts and jeans, Tuesdays: pin attire for meeting, Wedensday: letter shirts with black, Thursday: free day, Friday: spirti shirts). When I was REcruitment Vice President, we had 4 days of parties and it was really easy. the first round, everyone wore their jerseys (every sorority at Baylor has the same jerseys in their colors, with their letters) and black pants with black closed toed shoes (november). The second, I had everyone wear khaki pants and we ordered black tshirts with ADP in animal print letters and they again wore black shoes. ON the third day they wore black pants and a fun, going out type shirt, but not hoochy momma looking. Finally on pref, everyone wore a black dress with black shoes. Hair and jewlery were all specified and all that. I made everyone bring the pants/shirt/dress they were going to wear a month before recruitment and i made them try them on. If their shirt was too slutty, they had to pick something else, if their pants were too tight or short, they had to wear something else. Saved some time during parties. they had a lot of freedom in what htey wore, but still looked uniform. that's how most of the chapters on my campus did it (as far as I know!).
My random .02

[OtterXO]

I really think that all of this varies by school. A friend of mine went to a school where matching outfits were strictly prohibited, but at my alma mater we have rules that define everything you wear form the outfit to accessories to the color of your nylons. So I don't think it's weird at all, AND if you are wearing open toe shoes you should have your feet looking lovely anyway!!!

[CarolinaCutie]

I know one reason why we either order shirts as a group or get extremely specific is that some people just don't HAVE fashion sense.

For example: "Just wear pink T-shirts" will result in everything from baby pink to watermelon to fuschia to colors that aren't really PINK to anyone else but the wearer.

If you don't specify black belts, you might end up with a girl wearing a white belt... or worse no belt at all, so when she bends down during the song, you see her butt crack

If you say just wear black bottoms and black shoes, you're going to end up with girls wearing capris and black clogs... and y'all know that's not cute!

I know all of these examples are slightly exaggerated. And you COULD just say, "Pink shirts, black bottoms, black shoes" and then veto anything that falls under the line of acceptable. BUT... it's so much EASIER and SIMPLER to be more specific so everyone knows what works and what doesn't.

[xo_kathy]

Originally posted by LionTamer
So I get the idea of working with a theme but specifying "American Eagle" belts or "J.Crew" shoes - !!! Is everyone rich enough to afford this?

I don't think people said they were required to purchase certain labels, did they? Seriously, maybe I missed that?

Anyway, as a former rush chair, I know that a lot of times these "rules" come from the fact that there are a handful of girls who just don't get it. No matter how many times they hear - "Be presentable, we're having guests" they think it appropriate to roll out of bed, put their hair in a ponytail and toss on dirty sneakers. By setting the rules you don't have to single anyone out by saying - "Suzie! You have claws for toenails! Please cut them before First rounds!!!"

It also depends on the chapter. In my chapter, we'd never say mani/pedi in 'cardinal'! But on the day we wore letters and khaki skirts/shorts I had to say no sweatshirts only t's and skirts or shorts that were mid-thigh or longer (it was the 90's we didn't do micro-minis!!!!)

[Glitterkitty]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xo_kathy
[B]I don't think people said they were required to purchase certain labels, did they? Seriously, maybe I missed that? [B][QUOTE]

Actually that is the exact impression I did get from some posters. If you are ordering all the shirts together, then they are specifying the store. If you are all ordering flip flops from the same place, again the same store. Iguess my "problem" with it all is if it's too expensive. I mean, if you are getting really good deals on this stuff because you are ordering it in bulk, maybe it's more cost effective. But what happened to individuality? How can you talk about diversity and "I love all my sisters because we're all allowed to be who we really are" if you're all exactly alike. Maybe I'm just old and dressy like my friends is not cool any more. I mean, we'd DIE if we were caught wearing the same outfit! I think that must be it. I am just old! And I was very poor in college and I just cannot relate to anyone telling me I had to have such specific items.

When I rushed one groups all wore red dresses, not exactly the same ones, but still red. Lots of girls wore suits. WOW! It made my eyes hurt. Another group wore Khaki skirts and pink button down polo type blouses. They all looked like they worked at Blockbuster. I preffed the two groups where everyone was dresses nice, but they loked like themselves.

Once again, I think I am just old. But I really really really do think there is a panhellenic rule about NOT doing this.

[33girl]

Originally posted by xo_kathy
"Suzie! You have claws for toenails! Please cut them before First rounds!!!"

LMDAO because this reminds me of my one roomie - I think she was frightened by a toenail clipper in her youth. Fortunately by the time our rush rolled around sandal season was over.

Anyhoo, some people were specifying brands in the thread I linked to earlier in this thread.

[aopinthesky]

Originally posted by Glitterkitty

When I rushed one groups all wore red dresses, not exactly the same ones, but still red. Lots of girls wore suits. WOW! It made my eyes hurt. Another group wore Khaki skirts and pink button down polo type blouses. They all looked like they worked at Blockbuster. I preffed the two groups where everyone was dresses nice, but they loked like themselves.

Once again, I think I am just old. But I really really really do think there is a panhellenic rule about NOT doing this. [/B]

Again, it is all about what you are used to and what you like and don't. Just because it wouldn't (or didn't) impress you for sorority members to dress similarly doesn't mean it puts everyone off. And I don't believe there is a Panhellenic rule that prevents dressing alike. It seems that you are from a campus where rush was a bit less formal than others, but I read from this thread that a lot of chapters do wear the same or similar clothing for certain parties. It is probably more the norm than not.

[XOMichelle]

I agree with Kathy.

My chapter has a bunch of girls that are VERY smart, but not too up on what makes them look their best. And in rush, first impressions count! People has very different ideas of what presentable is, or how they should dress to impress. It got to the point that we made a specific clothing chair position and we now are toying with the idea of getting a clothing chair advisor. Their job is to make sure people look their best for recruitment, and know how to dress to impress for the rest of their lives. We require the girls to get their outfits pre-approved, and if they don't pass the first round, the clothing chair goes into their closet and helps them find something they own to wear. We try and get people to wear things they already own, but sometimes you might have to buy new things (if you don't own an acceptble top or black dress, or jeans that cover your crack). Also, the rules are you MUST paint your nails and toes (manicures reccommended), you MUST wear makeup (foundation, powder, mascara and lip gloss at a minium), and you MUST do your hair (unruly hair will be delt with on site if you refuse to do it yourself). If these things aren't done, the clothing chair will attack you with a flat iron, nail polish, and makeup in the hour before the parties start.

Now, I am the first person to say that I care more about who my friends are than what they look like. But! Rush is a first impression game, and you have to follow the rules to win.

SIGKAP- Try doing the manicure yourself! As long as you paint your nails carefully, no one will notice. Also, do your best to borrow clothes from other people. What is your dress code exactly??

[CASIGKAP]

I'll admit that my fashion sense revolves around what sport is in season so I can wear the appropriate jerseys. However, I get regular manicures and pedicures so this is really not that big of a deal for me. The problem I'm having is that we're trying to emulate a VERY popular and VERY trendy TV show. I have problems with this b/c I feel that if women want to rush a sorority, they want to see the unique qualities that make up an individual and how she fits in the group. Instead, they are literally getting a TV package.

I have spoken to my chair and she has agreed to look over and help me with the clothing due to the fact that I don't normally wear high heels anywhere except formals and I don't generally get fancy hairdo's except for formals.

Most of the stuff I have to buy can be bought cheap but still, I feel like I'll be digging through my female relatives closets to find stuff so I don't have to spend too much. I am at a state school and am on a tight budget.

[chideltjen]

Originally posted by CASIGKAP
The problem I'm having is that we're trying to emulate a VERY popular and VERY trendy TV show.

i don't mean to hijack... but is it a SATC theme? cuz all this talk about trendy tv shows with fashion sense... it just sounds right.

Anyway, end of hijack...

We always did informal recruitment. Each day we would wear a shirt from our past events or house letters or something Chi Delta related. I am kinda glad we did... I couldn't afford all new clothes every recruitment. especially when you start putting brand names on everything. sorry, but saying you have to get an american eagle black belt and ONLY an AE black belt is rediculous. At least go to a cheaper store. (Yes... I think AE is expensive...)

And honestly, who can tell the difference between Old Navy and $2 Target flip flops...

[Diamond Delta]

Originally posted by CASIGKAP
I'll admit that my fashion sense revolves around what sport is in season so I can wear the appropriate jerseys. However, I get regular manicures and pedicures so this is really not that big of a deal for me. The problem I'm having is that we're trying to emulate a VERY popular and VERY trendy TV show. I have problems with this b/c I feel that if women want to rush a sorority, they want to see the unique qualities that make up an individual and how she fits in the group. Instead, they are literally getting a TV package.

I have spoken to my chair and she has agreed to look over and help me with the clothing due to the fact that I don't normally wear high heels anywhere except formals and I don't generally get fancy hairdo's except for formals.

Most of the stuff I have to buy can be bought cheap but still, I feel like I'll be digging through my female relatives closets to find stuff so I don't have to spend too much. I am at a state school and am on a tight budget.

VERY popular and VERY trendy? Can I guess??? Sex in the City, Friends, or American Idol?