<p>I’ve been on the hunt for good sorority dresses (specifically focused on recruitment) for a while. After looking online at photos of what to wear and of past recruitments, I got a pretty good idea of what modest sundresses to look for as I go through recruitment. The only problem is, I have tried searching high and low for nice, affordable and appropriate options around where I live. After many frustrating days of shopping from mall to mall, I had a lot of trouble finding the right pieces. The dresses I found were either too short and revealing, appropriate but too long and made for older women, made of fabric that would be too hot in Alabama in August (I live in the north, so there were many of these) or too expensive. I found a few nice things, so I at least have outfits for recruitment that I am pretty happy with and will feel comfortable in. </p>
<p>I would, however, like to see if I can find any dresses that I would feel my best in, and I have heard a lot of things about great boutiques to find sorority clothes in at Alabama. I am wondering if any of you could tell me roughly where they are. I’ve done some searching on here, but my question is are the nice shops closer to campus or near the Birmingham area? My parents are trying to find a hotel, and we’re going to head down early to try to see if we can have any luck finding some last minute dresses. If any of you know where some good places that would have what I’m looking for are, that would be fantastic. Thank you!</p>
<p>Sorry I can’t help with any of the stores in Tuscaloosa but I had my D do this:
Look for Prep 101 on facebook. Like their page. It is a personal shopper service but you don’t have to subscribe (though I would love to). They post pictures of whole ensembles all the time. What I do is screen shot an outfit they post that I really like then use that to help put together the look while shopping. It has made it easier to shop when I have in my head (or the pic on my phone) the whole outfit and what is needed to pull it together. </p>
<p>I’d love to know what stores to send my own D to while she is there now for EC. We found a few things here before she left at Dillards and a few other small local shops.</p>
<p>In Tuscaloosa, my DD has had luck shopping for events and helping her girlfriends find dresses for sorority events at the Belk, Bevello, Alter’d States and the Loft. The Belk has a small section of Lilly Pulitizer. I actually found an adorable black and white game day Lilly dress there for myself for $30. DD has found most of her interview/presentation clothing at the Loft – minimum alterations needed for those pieces. There is also now a Francesca’s in Tuscaloosa which has dresses and great accessories. She has traveled to Birmingham to the Summit and the Galleria for dresses. She had more luck at the Summit. Just a side note, we recently returned from a vacation in Savannah. We discovered an adorable boutique called the Red Clover. Cute, appropriate dresses that are affordable. They do have an online store for online shopping. Good luck to you and happy shopping!</p>
<p>I definitely recommend The Summit in Birmingham for shopping rather than waiting to get to Tuscaloosa. The shopping is really not that great there. It’ll do in a last minute pinch but if you have options then head elsewhere!</p>
<p>I hope you are not waiting until you get to Tuscaloosa to buy your recruitment wardrobe! Fall clothing is already arriving in stores and sales are clearing the racks of summer (and more temperature suitable) dresses!</p>
<p>Loft has already had some great sales. A few weeks ago they had 40% off the entire store.
Their sale email from them today is $12 shorts, today only. They did not have much to pick from 2 weeks ago when we went in the one here. Go to a larger mall to a Loft store to get a better selection. If you find something you like and they do not have the size/color you want, ASK. They can check other stores and even online.</p>
<p>Check your suburban downtown areas for small shops that are one of. Those types of stores usually have some really cute dresses for a very reasonable price. We found several of D’s dresses at one such shop. Lightweight cotton, really cute, and appropriate.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies! I’ll definitely check out all of those places online! I had dinner in The Summit before Bama Bound and saw some great stores. And I have outfits for every day of recruitment right now, but I just want to see if there is anything better that I can find in town. (As you might be able to tell, I’m slightly stressing about all of the details of recruitment. Haha.) Plus, it’s nice to know where these are for future events as well! :)</p>
<p>TXNewCollegeMom - is ruelala legit ? I’ve found mixed reviews online , and they have a pretty bad return policy, so I’m not so sure about purchasing.</p>
<p>AlmostLimitless, I believe I found out about them from another thread on sorority dresses. I have yet to purchase anything from them. I have ordered from Zulily, Laruechic, nomorerack and something else that I can not remember now. There is also Hazel and Olive.</p>
<p>We have ordered from Ruelala and found the return policy hit or miss. On our first purchase we returned three things and took store credit instead of paying to ship the items back. Last week I bought two items with our credit. They arrived Friday and to my surprise, the invoice said “Final Sale”. One item didn’t fit me but fortunately fit DD.</p>
<p>Also…how “into” designers are they over there? Do they care about girls having high end designer bags, shoes, clothing…like louis vuitton, chanel, gucci, prada? Do the girls carry these at the school? My friend goes to U Miami and said that all the girls show up to class with their chanel bags and really into labels over there…I’m curious about what alabama’s girls takes are on designer items</p>
<p>I have some. D does not. If D would like to carry such she can purchase them on her own dime, not mine. And, if she can afford those she will be paying for her own sorority dues and/or tuition. Just my .02 D does have some nice clothes but we don’t go nuts spending way more on things than one should.</p>
<p>i’m with you txnewcollegemom. designer things are for those who can afford to pay for them on their own.</p>
<p>there are plenty of people who are into that (designer things), i am sure, but there are just as many (or more) who are not. there are kids who have 500 dollar burberry jackets. there are kids who don’t.</p>
<p>i don’t even get the appeal of designer things. i am not interested in overpaying for <strong>anything</strong>.</p>
<p>We have ordered from Ruelala quite a few times. When you select an item, read the details. The first bullet will normally tell you if it is a final sale item. If it is Final sale, then it is not returnable. </p>
<p>We have never had issues with returns for non-Final sale items. I even got a refund for a dress that they showed as shipped and delivered but we never recieved. I don’t know if it was stolen from my house, or if it truly got lost in the mail, but their customer service was great about it.</p>
<p>I order from RueLaLa on a weekly basis. Everything is authentic and new. I got all my Jack Rogers for cheap, some of them for $40 ! Never had a problem.</p>