How do you feel when people who are not in your Frat/Sor. wear your letters?

[KillarneyRose]

Originally posted by lonestaradpi
I am married now and my husband went with me to several date parties. He still wears some of the date party shirts to the gym. We live in an area close to the school we attended and I think that he wants to show off that he went to these date parties.

Aww, that is so cute!


Now, I do have a problem when other women (non greek or other sorority women) are wearing my letters. This would usually be acquired as a "shack" shirt. It would totally make me mad b/c the person had not been given the shirt by a member of my sorority and really had no right to wear the letters. This didn't happen very often at my school.

What is a "shack" shirt? I've never heard that term. I thought maybe it meant that the shirt was borrowed by a girl after shacking up with the shirt's owner but if "shacking up" means the same thing it did when I was in college I seriously doubt if that is the case!

BTW, when I talk about letters, it can be the letters written out in english or greek on t-shirts or even stitched on letters. I have two fraternity shirts that have stitched on letters and that wasn't a problem. I guess that norms and standards are really set by each campus and it's greek system. What is totally acceptable at one school, is so wrong at another school.

I think that is so cool that it was acceptable at your school. My best guy friend lent me a letter shirt one time when I stayed over at his place and didn't want it back because it was too small. But I never wore it again because it was very unusual to see a sorority woman sporting fraternity letters and on the rare occasion that someone was spotted doing so everyone assumed she'd banged half the fraternity and finally some brother was dimwitted enough let her sleep in a letter shirt and forget to get it back

I no longer wear most of my sorority shirts (been out a few years) but I will NOT throw them away or give them away. I admire the statement above about someone being glad that someone had something to wear, but I guess that I'm not that nice. I donate tons of my nongreek clothing to charities. I will take my GLO shirts and have them made into a quilt. The ones I don't use for the quilt I will just keep until they rot.


That is such a great idea; I love it!

[starang21]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
It does. I've seen women wearing your letters.

Anyway, I had a funny run-in that I don't think I ever posted about. I was working at the wrap desk during the Christmas rush, and had met quite a few sorority women - I always wear my lavalier to work so people notice it. One woman came up to me and was wearing an Illinois Sigma Chi/Delta Delta Delta Homecoming sweatshirt. I asked her if she was a Tri Delt, and she said "No, my sister dated one and he gave it to her, then she gave me this sweatshirt." I told her that she probably meant her sister dated a Sigma Chi, and she's like "Oh, I guess so, I just wear it because I like it." It was so random.

i'm sure it's happened for all of the frats. maybe a jacket if the woman is cold. if it's another guy, it's getting taken off.

[decadence]

Won't that get someone arrested or something?

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by pinkey08
I don't believe that anyone should wear the letters of an orginaization that they are not a member of. My step dad is an Alpha and my mom would always wear his shirts around the house and it would always make him mad so he went and got her a black t'shirt with gold letters made stating " My man is an Alpha man". If someone is wearing the letters of a sorority/fraternity they are representing that organization and if they are not a part of it they may do or say something to make that organization look bad.

I completely agree!! You know, if I saw a woman in a Theta Nu line shirt, she BETTER be a soror or it's on. If I saw a man in one, we'd be having words!! I don't know how I feel about my letters being on t-shirts, at all. Oh, and if I saw a man wearing a Theta Nu crossing jacket, and if his girl weren't standing right next to him to explain herself, there would be a HUGE problem!!

The ONLY reason you should ever wear letters is if you know what they mean. If someone is wearing letters who is not part of the organization, I'm going to assume that person knows what the letters mean and then I'll wonder what kind of member would give out such sacred information. But, I don't think I'd mind horribly if I saw a man wearing a shirt that said, "My Lady is a Theta Nu" or something to that effect. Of course, I'd ask who the "Lady" was and what chapter she was from...then we'd get back into what I was talking about before and I don't want to have to throw dem bows!!!

[AlphaSigOU]

And I don't blame you guys one bit for protecting your letters! If you don't know what they stand for, don't be caught wearing 'em. It leads to - at the very least - awkward moments, especially if you decide to prove if they are really members by the usual manners and methods (secret grips, phrases, etc.) and they don't know how to respond properly.

The same goes with wearing the Masonic Square and Compasses - in certain states, it is a crime to wear them if you are not a Master Mason in good standing.

[sageofages]

Originally posted by lonestaradpi
I no longer wear most of my sorority shirts (been out a few years) but I will NOT throw them away or give them away. I admire the statement above about someone being glad that someone had something to wear, but I guess that I'm not that nice. I donate tons of my nongreek clothing to charities. I will take my GLO shirts and have them made into a quilt. The ones I don't use for the quilt I will just keep until they rot.

Too bad....one of the lines of our creed is "to lend to those less fortunate a helping hand"... another line is "to esteem the inner man above culture, wealth or pedigree".

If that means donating clothing with our name on it to charity, so that someone has relatively decent clothes to wear, then I think we are "living our creed" and not just paying lip service.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
It does. I've seen women wearing your letters.

Anyway, I had a funny run-in that I don't think I ever posted about. I was working at the wrap desk during the Christmas rush, and had met quite a few sorority women - I always wear my lavalier to work so people notice it. One woman came up to me and was wearing an Illinois Sigma Chi/Delta Delta Delta Homecoming sweatshirt. I asked her if she was a Tri Delt, and she said "No, my sister dated one and he gave it to her, then she gave me this sweatshirt." I told her that she probably meant her sister dated a Sigma Chi, and she's like "Oh, I guess so, I just wear it because I like it." It was so random.

Hah yeah...this girl I just saw was wearing those iota letters and washing this oldsmobile in the south side of chicago. It was pretty obvious she didn't care and the shirt and letters were all dirty. It wasn't even hers and it was ALL MESSED UP!

-Rudey
--I guess those guys didn't care enough and gave it to her for some reason?!?

[ASTLuv21]

I really don't have a problem with people wearing a shirt saying "Alpha Sigma Tau" but letters I would, espcially if they aren't Greek. In my eyes, someone wearing a shirt that said Alpha Sigma Tau on it would have to know that Alpha Sigma Tau is a National sorority and if they are interested in contacting them or learning about what a sorority is, that the person wearing the shirt knows the person to contact. I find this a good recruiting idea.

Anyway. I have a shirt from the Zeta Tau Chapter of Theta Chi that says "Theta Chi Girl" on it because I'm a sweetheart of theirs and let alone I earned that shirt (I support those boys by doing philanthropy's with them, fundraising and much more...I even sometimes clean their house. I know I'm crazy for cleaning their house but hey, I was staying a week there!). I never wear their letters unless I am cold in the house and the guy I am seeing gives me his hoodie that says Theta Chi on it but also has his letters on it. I never leave that house with his hoodie on. I know not too. His brothers don't mind me wearing the hoodie either while I'm in the house.

[starang21]

Originally posted by Rudey
Hah yeah...this girl I just saw was wearing those iota letters and washing this oldsmobile in the south side of chicago. It was pretty obvious she didn't care and the shirt and letters were all dirty. It wasn't even hers and it was ALL MESSED UP!

-Rudey
--I guess those guys didn't care enough and gave it to her for some reason?!?

ummm, that's a negative. but thanks for playing anyway.

[CarolinaDG]

Originally posted by ztakrissy
this might make me sound like an awful mean person, but seriously...when we do crush party with another sorority...I hate having their letters and ours on the shirt. I don't want people to confuse me with them. Isn't that awful? I'm all for Greek unity and whatever, but my letters are just that: MINE!

I was up at UT a couple of weeks ago for their Dance Marathon, and I was looking for other DG's, but not many people were wearing their letters. Well, I finally found one girl wearing a DG/Phi Mu date party shirt, and I was too embarrassed to ask her if she was a DG. Turns out she was, but I know why you feel that way after this. I also had brought a UT DG/ZTA date party shirt with me b/c I thought it was funny (I had received it at a t-shirt trade). I ended up not wearing it because I didn't want people wondering why they didn't know this girl in their chapter, or thinking that I was a ZTA. I don't think I would have had a problem putting my letters with another sorority's, but I completely understand you having a problem with it.

[Munchkin03]

I just don't think people who aren't members should be wearing letters. I'm not the biggest fan of lettering or sweetheart organizations, either. If you want letters so badly, join a house. Or start your own. Plus, the nature of most college relationships is so temporary, even if you think it's permanent. You might love someone enough to pin them in your sophomore year, but things seriously change.

Having the name spelled out, on the other hand, doesn't bother me so much. We sponsor a leadership conference that is in part facilitated by members of other NIC/NPC groups. We all get a shirt at the end, and it says "impact alpha chi omega," not impact AXO.

[veemers]

It really makes me mad too. When I told my older sister that I was a pledge, she told me that she wanted a sweatshirt. I was all, "Hello! My sorority! First of all, *I'm* the first person to get a sweatshirt. Second of all, you go to UWGB and I am joining a local sorority. People are going to ask you how your boyfriend likes his fraternity, and Theta is definitely not full of men!"

I feel the same way about college logo gear. If you're wearing a sweatshirt from Beloit College, you'd better be a student, alum, employee, or past employee that retired (aka not fired).

They're my letters. I love them and I'm rather protective of them.

[CarolinaDG]

Now, I do have a problem when other women (non greek or other sorority women) are wearing my letters. This would usually be acquired as a "shack" shirt. It would totally make me mad b/c the person had not been given the shirt by a member of my sorority and really had no right to wear the letters. This didn't happen very often at my school.

What is a "shack" shirt? I've never heard that term. I thought maybe it meant that the shirt was borrowed by a girl after shacking up with the shirt's owner but if "shacking up" means the same thing it did when I was in college I seriously doubt if that is the case!

[/B]

I think in this case it means the guy had a shirt from another sorority and gave it to the girl he shacked with. I dunno that I could take that, anyway... I mean, a guy gave me a Chi O koozie one time to use and I stuck with the cold hand instead of taking it.

[ChaosDST]

Originally posted by prophet
[B]I hate when people not in my fraternity wear my letters, sweet hearts! I never seen males wear my letters if they are not in the fraternity but girls I have If you did not pledge my fraternity and work for them, you should not wear em'. The only reason I see chapters of any fraternity let-ing girls wear their letters, is because they use this as a way of showing off to others, that girls like them. HAHAHAHA>That's wack! Girls wear the letters, thinking their some thing special....hahaha>That's wack! People who do this, come on....you don't look like a pimp and you don't mean anything special to the fraternity as a whole. If anything, chapters should make sweaters with their chapter names on em'> That's cool...it shows that the girl is important to the chapter. I'm a bring it up to my chapter, damn I'm creative. We never had sweet hearts, because we don't believe in having people not in our fraternity wearing our letters.
-Heath

NICE POST!!!! I always wondered why some GLOs let other folks wear their letters.

[ChaosDST]

Originally posted by starang21
ummm, that's a negative. but thanks for playing anyway.

*Martin Lawrence voice*

"Hello starang21!!! How are ya?!?!"