Bid Day Outfits: What to Wear on Bid Day (Ideas for Every Chapter)

Bid Day is the most chaotic, joyful moment of the entire recruitment process — and almost nobody tells you what to actually wear until the night before.

Here's what you need to know.

The Bid Day Run changes everything

Most schools do a Bid Day Run: PNMs sprint across campus to find their new chapter gathered in a specific spot. This is not metaphorical. You will be running, probably in a crowd, almost definitely in heat, and almost certainly getting confetti, glitter, or paint thrown at you within minutes of arriving.

Plan your outfit around that reality, not around looking perfect for a photo.

What to wear: the short version

The formula: Comfortable + colorful + something you don't mind ruining.

• A casual sundress in a bright or pastel color
• A matching set (bike shorts + crop top, or shorts + tank)
• A cute top with shorts and sneakers
• A flowy skirt with a fitted top

Shoes: Sneakers, sandals you can run in, or flat mules. Not heels. Not new sandals you haven't broken in.

Hair: Up, or styled in a way that survives wind, running, and someone hugging you from behind. A half-up style or a ponytail is safer than a blowout.

Wait for your chapter's instructions first

This is the most important thing in this guide.

After you accept your bid, your new chapter will almost always send instructions — either through a group chat, a direct message, or email. Those instructions override everything else, including this guide.

Common chapter instructions:

• Wear a specific color — "wear pink," "wear white," "wear blue and gold"
• Wear a provided shirt or hat — chapters often make custom Bid Day merch
• Full matching outfit — some chapters coordinate the whole look
• Wear your letters — if you have them (you usually don't yet, but sometimes alums donate)

If you don't get instructions within 24 hours of accepting your bid, ask in the chapter group chat or DM a member you connected with during rush.

Color strategy if you have no instructions

If for some reason you need to choose independently:

Safe choices: White (photographs with any chapter color, works for every chapter), light pink, light blue, yellow

Avoid: The specific colors of chapters you didn't receive a bid from — especially if you're running toward your chapter across a large campus where people can see you coming

What to bring

Keep it minimal — you're going to be running and hugging people and moving constantly.

• Phone (charge it fully the night before)
• Portable charger or power bank
• Small crossbody bag or fanny pack — something hands-free
• Comfortable shoes, confirmed
• A hair tie on your wrist

Leave behind: large tote bags, expensive bags, anything you'd be devastated to lose in the chaos.

The photos are going to happen

Bid Day is the most photographed moment of recruitment. Every chapter does a photographer, a chapter photo, and individual photos with new members. You will be in a lot of pictures.

The one styling tip that makes a difference in photos: wear something with a defined shape. Flowy is fine, but a boxy oversized shirt photographs as a blob. A tucked top, a fitted dress, or a waist-defining detail (a belt, a cinched waist) reads much better in photos taken fast, in full sun, with 60 people in the frame.

What actually makes Bid Day special

It's not the outfit. Every Bid Day photo from the last ten years looks basically the same — colorful clothes, big smiles, confetti mid-air. The outfit is the background.

What makes it is showing up ready to be genuinely excited, meeting the people who will be your closest friends for the next four years, and not wearing stilettos on the run.

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Find sorority rush and Bid Day events at your school: EventReels lists open rush events, interest nights, and chapter events at USC, UCLA, NYU, UMD, UC Berkeley, and more campuses.