Formal Recruitment can seem like a huge undertaking to college girls who are about to embark on the beginning of their Greek journeys. I am here to tell you first and foremost that it's not something to be scared of- it's actually a super fun and exciting process! Girls in every sorority on campus are literally over-the-moon excited to meet and get to know you- how flattering is that?! I am also here to tell you that recruitment gets a lot more stressful and nerve-wracking once you are on the other side and participate in it with your own sorority- there is way more behind the scenes stuff to learn! So enjoy your own recruitment year while you can. :-)
I thought that it would be fun to share some of my outfit inspiration ideas for any college ladies who read my blog that might be going through or considering sorority recruitment! The best part about today's post is that it's actually a collaboration with Audrey from Audrey Madison Stowe- but more on that later in the post!
At Queens, sorority recruitment always took place about a month into the school year, and over a weekend. At larger universities throughout the nation, recruitment will often take place over a whole week either before the school year starts, or during the first week of school. If that's the case for your school, then you might need more outfits to wear! I was just using my own experience as a guide.
The first night of sorority recruitment is usually the most informal, and you do the most walking and talking as you're visiting all of the houses! (Or in the case of my college, "lodges" instead of sorority houses.) I wore a pair of Lilly Pulitzer dress pants on my first night of recruitment, but a skirt option like the one in the collage is also a great choice, as is a more casual (yet still conservative dress). Dressing modestly is very important for sorority recruitment! This isn't the time to be looking sexy or trying to use your body to impress anyone. It's a time for outfits that show how elegant, poised, and confident you are- let your clothes help add to showing off your personality and wonderful attributes! :-)
My personal taste is to lean more towards traditionally preppy brands for recruitment attire. I featured a Lilly Pulitzer dress here for my second night outfit inspiration (I also wore a Lilly dress for my second night of recruitment!), but I think that any dresses by Lauren James, Vineyard Vines, Kate Spade, or anything similar from department store brands would be find.
When I went through Formal Recruitment, I found that the last night, Preference Round, was the hardest to dress for. It is a formal round, but your outfit should still be more conservative and not distracting or revealing. Many of the formal or semi-formal dresses that I had at school at the time were covered with embellishments, which would have been too much. I ended up wearing a simple green dress from Francesca's that fit me well, and dressing it up with wedges and coordinating gold and green jewelry.
Me shortly before my third and final round of sorority recruitment, back in 2013!
I think the Preference Round outfit that I featured here would be a great choice to wear! A cute pair of heels, some simple jewelry or hair accessories, and a bold but simple cocktail dress and you'll be good to go!
I didn't feature any watches or purses in these collages, as the rules at my school for recruitment didn't encourage girls to bring either of these things to the recruitment rounds. I'm not sure if this varies school to school!
As I mentioned earlier, this sorority recruitment outfit post is a collaboration with one of my blogger friends! Audrey from Audrey Madison Stowe is a Zeta Tau Alpha and sophomore at Texas Tech University. Her school has a very different Greek life culture from mine- not only is about 75% of the school Greek (not sure what the percentage was at my college but I don't even think it was 25%!), but the university itself is huge! Audrey's chapter alone is bigger then all four of the Panhellenic sororities at Queens. There are definitely pros and cons to being in large or small chapters of a sorority, but it's interesting for me to have met some friends through the blogging world who have had such different Greek life experiences than I did!
Go check out Audrey's guide to recruitment fashion today, and also follow her blog if you aren't! She's a total cutie, and is a fellow member of the Millennial Blogger Network.
And if you're interested in seeing posts that I wrote while in college about my sorority experiences:
Posts about Recruitment/Bid Day:
Posts about Black Diamond Formal (ADPi's annual Spring Formal event):
Posts about my internship through Alpha Delta Pi at the 2015 Fraternity Communications Conference:
Misc. Greek Life Posts:
*7 Truths About Greek Life
I hope this post was helpful to you if you're thinking about going through recruitment this year or in a future year! If you're also a college grad, were you in a sorority in college? How was your recruitment experience?
One last fun memory that I have from my recruitment week is that at the very same time, my best friend Jules from high school was participating in recruitment at her university in Maine! She ended up becoming a sister of Alpha Xi Delta that week.... and one year later, my other dear friend from home, Katie, joined Jules's chapter of AXiD! So now my two favorite friends from home are sorority sisters. :-)
I hope this post was helpful to you if you're thinking about going through recruitment this year or in a future year! If you're also a college grad, were you in a sorority in college? How was your recruitment experience?
One last fun memory that I have from my recruitment week is that at the very same time, my best friend Jules from high school was participating in recruitment at her university in Maine! She ended up becoming a sister of Alpha Xi Delta that week.... and one year later, my other dear friend from home, Katie, joined Jules's chapter of AXiD! So now my two favorite friends from home are sorority sisters. :-)
xoxo Miss ALK
I'm in a sorority myself and this guide was great!
ReplyDeleteCute outfit ideas! I so wish I had looked into joining a sorority when I was in college :P
ReplyDeleteI love that purple dress and wardrobe scheme, its too cute! Tech definitely has a HUGE greek life!
ReplyDeleteThese are such great tips! My school did recruitment second semester and I always felt bad for the girls trying to look cute when it was freezing and usually snowing or raining out!
ReplyDeleteKristin
The Blush Blonde