What do you wear for prefs?

[Wine&SilverBlue]

what does your chapter wear for prefs?

[Sistermadly]

Black is classy, and even if it's all different colors of black, you still look unified. The 'diversity' will come from the different styles of dresses that the members choose.

Last year the chapter I advise wanted to wear pastels for pref. It was an absolute...well, let's just say that it didn't reflect well on the chapter, because everyone had a different idea of what 'pastel' meant. This year we were adamant about black dresses, and every one of the actives in the chapter had on a black dress -- each different, each emphasizing the member's individuality, but showing that the chapter was a unified whole. People coming through recruitment (and pref) all commented on how "classy" our chapter was, and it was this elegance that led to the most successful recruitment the chapter has seen in years.

Whatever you decide to wear, make sure that you do dress checks, and decide early on if you'll wear pants or dresses. Personally, I vote for dresses because it's just more elegant, IMO.

[honeychile]

We tried almost all of the above, and I've also heard of other ideas! We did formals (any color), all black (anything), all black (dresses), and white dresses.

One VERY rich chapter has each sister decide what type of dress she wants, and the correponding pattern. She then buys the amount of materal (made exclusively for the chapter!) at a somewhat discounted price, and either uses one of several designated seamstresses, or finds one of her own. Frankly, I think this is MUCH too fussy, but I've seen the photos from this chapter's Pref and all I have to say is Oh.my.gosh!!!!!!

Another chapter orders 4-5 styles of dresses in black, styles and color lots that coordinate nicely, yet flatter each sister. I like this idea a LOT better, as there are enough styles to flatter but few enough to let the PNMs realize that they are coordinated.

[sageofages]

Years ago....when I was membership director....YEARS AND YEARS ago...

coordinated outfits were for every party.

Information...we all wore solid pastel colored dresses. Very rainbow like...ok, rainbow sherbert, but it looked pretty decent. I still remember the pink dress I had (it was great, showed off when I was young and perky

Theme...it was a Beach boys medley, so we all wore white pants and hawaiian print shirts. Very festive, I love the photos.

Pref...very elegant of course. Everyone had on formal length white dresses. I think I still have mine hanging in a closet somewhere. I bought a "Gunny Sack by Jessica" (how is that for dating myself!)

[honeychile]

Originally posted by Wine&SilverBlue
We were thinking more along the lines of what sistermadly said...

Pick a set color, everyone has to wear that color but can choose whatever they want as long as it is dressy and in that color. not sure if we would allow dress pants, skirts AND dresses or mandate only skirts/dresses. we'd probably "prefer" skirts/dresses but allow pants if they looked dressy.

We're a little worried enough about people being upset by having to buy something they might not have --- I can't imagine the whole seamstress thing --- did the chapter pay for that or was it all out of pocket??? Do you have a picture though? I'd love to see how it looked

Did those chapters who wore all black have a problem standing out enough from the rushees? I know a lot of rushees tend to wear black...

From what I understand, the chapter paid what they considered a reasonable amount for the white dress (this was if you used one of their seamstresses/alumnae), but if you wanted something different, you could get more or less material, and have it made yourself. I know that one sister used something like 15 yards of material, for some really belle-type dress - REALLY expensive! I would really have to look for the photo - it was worthwhile, but this would only work if you had a fairly rich chapter and a large alumnae association who knew great seamstresses! I'll look for it, though.

My problem with wearing black was more because most of the other sororities wear black for Pref, not PNMs. The PNMs usually warned not to wear black for Pref, unless it will somehow stand out.

We had an almost impossible time matching azure blues for other parties - everyone's sense of what's "azure blue" or "wine" or even "navy" is different and it can look pretty bad. Also, my chapter does Recruitment after Labor Day, so white wouldn't work - which leaves black.

If you use the colors, I'd suggest that you give everyone an exact swatch of material that you expect them to match, and have a dress rehearsal, just to be sure.

[KSUViolet06]

My chapter (and most others here) sticks to the traditional above the knee length black cocktail style dresses. We had one chapter here that often wears red cocktail style dresses since red is one of their colors.

[WhiteDaisy128]

We wear black, but we all have the same dress...it looks classy and simple.



We have done the "wear any dress in black" thing before and it's great to show diversity...but girls focused sooo much on what to wear that they lost the meaning behind the night. The focus should be on the PNM and our sisterhood...not what one is wearing.

[deadbear80]

When I was in my chapter, we had to wear dresses that were all black. We didn't just pick one dress, everyone had to come up with their own (basically buy one or borrow one). I'm fairly certain the girls from my chapter still do that. All dresses had to be checked by the Rush Chair and approved--which I know made some girls a little upset. But honestly, the last thing you need is a girl with a dress that's way too revealing or one that somehow stands out too much--it takes away from chapter unity.
"Little black dresses" are easy to find--especially this time of year. Plus, they're versitile; once you buy one you can wear it 1,000 times. I, in fact, still have mine and still wear it; and have about 40 different ways of wearing it; it still is the dress I've gotten the most use out of.
I know over the years they've told rushees they can wear black as long as it's not a black dress...but again, it's been a while for me, so I don't know if that's still the case. I say go with black. It's easy to find. It makes everyone look good. And it's something that people can borrow or buy and get good use out of. Then again...you girls might get the 'you bit off of us' from my chapter too (I know Wine&SilverBlue goes to my alma mater).
Pick what you think is best--but from my experience, being as uniformed as possible looks the best.

Good luck!

[neonsparkles]

When I went through recruitment, the girls in Pi Phi wore various white or light blue dresses/skirt shirt combos and many had a wine colored accent, such as a belt. I remember that their pref rounds were so unique and that color combination stood out from all of the other chapters who wore the same color. They thing is, it was all the same shade of light blue (close to a silvery blue) and the ribbon some wore was all the same shade of wine. I think if you can pull this off it looks absolutely fantastic, and while it was not the reason I chose Pi Phi, it definitely left a lasting impression on me!

[BaylorBean]

When I went through recruitment we were wearing our "whites" for pref. Let me just say that it wasn't a pretty sight. Not everyone had a true "white" dress and some of them were past their prime. After that year we decided to go to a more uniform look with lavander dresses.

We picked out 3 patterens that we could choose from, each one flattered a different body type, and found some beautiful lavander fabric. You could go with a seamstress that we had found in town or go on your own. We bought lots of fabric so that girls in the future could have them made too. I think they looked really nice. We all matched yet were unique due to the different styles. The cost wasn't too bad either. I think it was $65 for everything, fabric and getting it made, which is about what it would cost for a normal dress anyways.

Later when people graduated they just passed thier dresses down to newer girls who went and had them altered.

From what I hear, my chapter has now changed to black suits. Not sure if they are skirts or pants. But they took the dresses they had and made shirts to wear under their jackets.

Best of luck!!

[AGDee]

Back in my old timer days, we wore our Initiation whites at Pref. We all had to have a tea length or long white dress anyway, so we just had our one white dress for the whole time we were in school. Mine was a Laura Ashley and had a HUGE skirt.. just shy of requiring a hoop, although that's what was in style back then. Now my chapter wears all black skirts/dresses, but so does every chapter on our campus. We're recommending that they switch to red for next year. If they have a year advance notice, it shouldn't be too hard to get prepared. AGD is encouraging red overall because it is one of our colors and will set us apart from all the black dresses.

Dee

[aephi alum]

We could wear any black dress (or skirt/blouse). 4 out of 5 sororities wore black, the fifth wore white. When I was a rho chi, I did informational pop-ins during pref (y'know, reminding PNMs where to go to sign their pref cards, things like that), and I must say I was impressed when I walked into the room of the sorority that wore white... they really stood out.

One year, our rush chair was adamant that we had to wear dresses or skirts. Guess who showed up in a black pant suit.

Edit: When I was a PX, we were asked to dress up on pref night, and we were told that we could wear anything EXCEPT black or white.

[NutBrnHair]

Originally posted by Diamond Delta
I thought this was against NPC rules about not wearing exact outfits. Did it change?

If memory serves me right, it was not an NPC "rule." (If your local Panhellenic Council made a "rule" that no like outfits were permitted, then yes, it was a local rule.)

The 1991 NPC Rush Resolution "discouraged" elaborate costuming and purchase of special rush outfits. It was up to the individual campuses to interpret & enforce this.

[ADqtPiMel]

My chapter wears black cocktail dresses. I think every chapter on campus does except:

DZ makes white gown-like things for their girls that they wear with a garland of roses and no shoes...very interesting effect.

Kappa allows their girls to wear all-white pin attire.

I believe AGD wears red dresses.

[Speechpath]

We wore all white, usually a knee length dress. We were the only ones on campus to wear white, most did black so we thought it was nice to be different and goes with our pref decor in the house (Pi Phi Heaven). I always loved it in white personally.

I've seen it done in all black as well with a different color scarf for each pledge class which I thought was cute.