West Coast Rush VS. Southern Rush

[Shark_in_Skirt]

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry if this is a really, really ignorant question... I'm new to this whole Greek experince. If one of the moderators finds this topic too ludicriously obvious, please delete my post.

I've been reading practically all of the posts that've been on here because I'm so nervous about rush!

I'm especially concerned about the attire for rush... I'm not very familiar with the members of this board, yet, so I can't quite tell who's from where. It seems, however, that the girls on this board are reccomending attire that seems extremely demure and formal.

Okay, getting to the point: Does rushing in California require the same undertoned, formal attire that seems to be required for rush in Southern states?

I've read dozens of posts suggesting pearls... Hoping that I won't offend anybody... I frankly cannot imagine wearing pearls as an 18 year old college freshman in California. Are the pearls that prevalent, practically mandatory?

I assume it's absolutely not okay to wear shorts to one of the sorority's casual events, even in CA?

Anyway, I'm sorry this post is so long and rambling! Thanks so much for your time!

XOXO,
Annie.

[Fewdfreak]

I'm rushing in Iowa, in the midwest, I saw lots of Tiffany hearts and Return to Tiffany necklaces and bracelets, but no pearls, execpt for a FEW people on pref nite, but mostly everyone wore like jeweled necklace for pref, and Tiffany stuff during the rest of the week.

[sugar and spice]

I think that, in terms of formality, the heirarchy goes something like this:

The South is generally the most formal, followed by the Midwest, the West coast and then the Northeast.

Bigger schools are more formal than smaller schools.

Schools with bigger Greek systems, of course, are more formal than schools with small Greek systems.

Of course there are exceptions -- some of the larger schools in California have more formal rushes than those in the Midwest -- and you have to take the school's individual climate into consideration (is the school known for being very liberal? etc.) but as a general rule nowhere is quite like the South!

I would say that outside of the South, pearls are a little too much, except maybe at Pref. But I'm by no means an expert.

[SoCalGirl]

From my limited understanding of UCR rush, it does not seem that different from UCSD rush. Pearls would fine on Pref nite. But they're far from mandatory. Just try to be comfy!

[mmcline]

Southern rush is usually the most formal. At my school, which is small, the only night people don't wear dresses or something nice is 2nd night because it is philanthropy. All my friends up north think I am crazy b/c we do wear pearls almost everynight, I mean people here where pearls to class all the time. I guess the pearls are a southern thing, having grown up in the south I have always worn pearls with dresses.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

First of all, never feel shy about asking a question on here! There are plenty of us who love to help out.

I am at U of Illinois, and we had a consultant one year from the South. She wanted to know why none of us were wearing pearls, and we just about burst out laughing.

So, no, a CA rush shouldn't be like a Southern rush, but remember it is ALWAYS better to be overdressed than underdressed (this goes for life, not just rush).

For a casual round, I wouldn't wear shorts, but capris would be okay. Personally, I have never worn capris in my life, so you could do a jean skirt or something like that too.

Unless...
Do you get rush t-shirts for the first round? If you do, then you should probably just wear them with jeans or nice shorts because anything else would look silly.

[justamom]

What everyone has said so far seems pretty accurate, (I've never read anything different on GC), especially the advice-if you have a CHOICE, dress a little bit UP rather than down.

My daughter's FIRST comment about the PNMs--She said this year, more girls than usual dressed "faddish" or more casual than in years past. She said you would see a girl in a fringed, really short denim skirt next to a girl wearing Anne Taylor. The comparison, for the party they were attending, favored the girl wearing the more classic style. I think the first thing to consider is how strong the Greek system is on your campus. If it's laid back and release figures are low, you don't have as much pressure for that "right" look. When there are hundreds of girls seeking membership, sad to say, but sometimes choices DO come down to little things. Like the saying goes-"The devil is in the detail."

[maggieaxid]

I recently gave my cousing outfit advice to wear for her rush. i rushed in the south which is far different from her rushing up here in the northeast, but some things are standard. this was my advice:
for first round, think like you are going out someplace really nice for dinner with say family that isn't in town much, dress semi-casual/semi-dressed up and also comfy enough to eat lots...sundresses, capris, or a cute jean or khaki skirt. Anything from JCREW. NO JEANS!

for second round, think like you are going on a first date. a lil' more dressy than the day before...think i want to dress to impress! Think black skirt or black pants. Cute top.

for pref. think like you are going to a cocktail party and the guy you have a major crush on is there and dateless. Time to pull out the dresses! Black, Red, pink, Blue...anything that will catch someones eyes and make you memorable. Think lilly pulitzer, ann taylor, bebe or benaton.

as for jewlery, my parents made me keep all my nice jewlery home for freshman year. so i went and hit tj maxx, ross, khols and H&M for get knock of jewlery for cheap. I refused to buy pearls though. My cousin is wearing a cross from tiffanys that she got for graduation for pref. (she went to a an all catholic girls hs) and she borrowed a turqouise and silver necklace from me to wear to round 2. other than that she'll stick with her silver hoops from target.

[ZTAMiami]

Originally posted by maggieaxid
and she borrowed a turqouise and silver necklace from me to wear to round 2.

Preffing Zeta by any chance?

[sbhill2]

In the south, we wore nice skirts or a casual sundress on the first round and then nice khaki shorts/ capris/ jean skirts were good for the philanthropy round. A few people wore pearls for the last night but most of us just had on nice silver jewelry that was tasteful without showing a lot of money. No need for pearls just simple but elegant jewlery. Good luck with rush.

[CarolinaDG]

Noone ever wears khaki shorts... any round... here. Even on just the orientation, most girls were wearing dresses. I know during my rush, I wore a J. Crew sundress first round, a different J. Crew outfit that I bought just for rush second round, a cocktail dress third round, and a formal dress pref night. And that's pretty standard. This year we did notice that more girls than usual were wearing denim skirts, but still no khaki shorts. As for the pearls thing, the only people who wear pearls every round are Kappa Delta sisters, because that's just their trademark. Every once in a while you'll see a PNM who really wants to go KD wearing pearls, but most of the girls I talked to only had on silver jewelry. Our sorority all wore our sorority beads every day except pref night, when we wore pearls.

[AOIIBrandi]

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby
Unless...
Do you get rush t-shirts for the first round? If you do, then you should probably just wear them with jeans or nice shorts because anything else would look silly. [/B]

I think that a khaki or denim skirt would be a good choice with rush t-shirts.

When I was active in the South we did not have philanthropy day, so I have no experience with that. We did dress up for every round. I think I wore dresses all week getting dressier each day. I didn't wear pearls b/c I didn't get mine till my 21st B-day, but generally the girls do wear them.

On the West Coast though, I would take everything we do in the south and divide by 1/4 to 1/2. Do take the advice of everyone when they say if there is a choice always go with the dressier one.

[CarolinaDG]

The sorority girls wear jerseys with khaki shorts or skirts first round, but are you saying that some girls wear their recruitment shirts first round?

Anyway, down here it's a big thing to wear t-shirts with knee-length denim skirts. I was actually talking to a friend of mine from C of C, and she said they do the same thing. It's kind of odd to people who don't do it, I guess, but it's pretty standard here. I only own one pair of jeans, and only wear shorts when I absolutely have to, but I do wear t-shirts a lot, so I find little creative ways to wear them (like a sweatskirt).

[Glitter650]

Well... living in California myself... I can say that ... for orientation jeans are ok, but look put together... not just jeans and a sweatshirt... but like jeans with a cute top and belt and boots or cute sandals or something... like an outfit you would wear to class when you put energy into what you're going to wear to class. 1st round a bit more dressy than that... but not much... like jean skirt would be fine... khaki pants would be cute... I would really wear jeans though (depending on the school.. if it's a smallish school a cute jeans outfit could be ok ) Third round def. black pants or a skirt outfit of somekind... not a jeans skirt.. more dressy than that... like someone else has said.. like a first date you want to impress... Pref. a dress doesn't have to be a ball gown... but not just a plain sundress either. Again... a lot of it has to do with your school. What school do you go to ? I'm familiar with most ... so maybe I could help more specifically if I knew.

[AOII_LB93]

Speaking as an adviser for a campus not too far from UCR who has helped with recruitment for every year since I went alum(in 1997), depending on the number of days get alittle dressier every day. At LB, day one is relatively casual. A cute skirt/capris/pants with a nice top would be fine. Day two is a little dressier, but still casual, and the same on day three. It's pref nite when you should "dress up" a little. Like the other post said, think of it as you are going on a date to a nice restaurant, or to "meet the parents". Don't go "prom style" but do look nice. In general it's all about good grooming and doing the best with your appearance. You wouldn't go on an interview looking schlumpy, same with rush.

Speaking honestly, as a collegiate it was odd to see girls who rushed looking like they just rolled out of bed. I hated that.