Bid Day is the best day of the year. New members run home, and creepy men stand outside the Boot to watch the spectacle. It’s essentially a holiday and a fun day for everyone. 

More importantly, it means I get to write the sequel to this lovely article that I’ve been waiting to tackle all year. As I scanned the area outside the Lavin-Bernick Center with all the chapters waiting patiently for their new members to run home, I evaluated the themes, ready to let my criticisms fly. But, I’ll be honest, everyone looked great. Whether it was due to the incredible visions of each of the chapters or fear of my scathing review, I was overall very impressed. 

But let’s be real, this article wouldn’t exist if I didn’t feel compelled to comment when I wasn’t asked. So let’s get into it. 

Pi Beta Phi: City of Angels 

I’ll be honest, this read very similarly to last year’s theme in the sense that it was more of a vibe than a theme. It took me a moment to understand exactly what was going on, but once I got it, I liked it. The silver metallic and black color scheme looked like a night out on New Year’s Eve which I thought to be fun and festive without being too holiday. This also makes the bid day outfits easily re-wearable. However, my main hyper-specific gripe is the tagline — City of Angels. I understand that one of Pi Phi’s unofficial symbols is an angel, and it makes sense to play off of this for a night out in the city theme. That being said, the City of Angels is Los Angeles. Maybe there was a Hollywood undercurrent, and I wasn’t big-brained enough to understand, but the opportunity was right there. Come on, guys. 

Chi Omega: 70s 

I cannot resist a 70s fashion moment and, for that reason, this was one of my favorite bid day themes. Every Chi Omega outfit I’d seen from bid day, and quite frankly from recruitment in general, was absolutely stunning. Earth tones open house and jewel tones sisterhood day truly rocked my world. I do, however, have one question. Where are the bid day shirts? I have no clue what they looked like and haven’t seen a single post with someone in one, which I found shocking. Call me a traditionalist, but shirts are a staple of bid day. The 70s had some incredible moments for graphic design, and I would have loved to see a groovy bid day shirt inspired by this era. 

Phi Mu: Candyland 

This theme was undeniably cute, approachable and — not to be too on the nose — sweet. The fun candy jewelry, cute decor and abundance of glitter made for a welcoming bid day celebration that could allow for easy bit-commitment. Overall, a cute and fine bid day theme that leaves little for critique or praise. Solid, but nothing special. 

Alpha Delta Pi: Hannah Montana

This theme gets points for originality and creativity. I can’t say I’ve seen a Hannah Montana bid day theme before, and I am into it. However, in the words of the queen herself, nobody’s perfect. I personally would have liked to see a little more commitment to the bit, if you will. From what I can tell, there was a severe lack of tacky blonde wigs and blow up microphones. This could be leftover righteous anger for ADPirates, but this was probably my least favorite theme. There was an opportunity to really play into the D-com tackiness of it all, and I have yet to see solid evidence of this occurring. 

Alpha Epsilon Phi: Strawberry Shortcake 

Overall, very adorable and a huge step up from last year. Strawberries — though seasonally inappropriate — make for a cute motif to center a bid day around. They even had an adorable aesthetically pleasing spread. But, when I first heard the theme was Strawberry Shortcake, I thought they meant the popular Strawberry Shortcake characters. I was so excited. I’d never heard of anyone doing that as a theme and I thought it would be so adorable. But the Phis instead focused on the literal dessert, while still cute, left me confused and mildly let down. Though I would have loved to see a cottagecore moment centered around these fun characters, I can still appreciate the effort. 

Kappa Alpha Theta: Planet Theta 

Though their nebulous space themed bid day was a winner in theory, the execution was a let down. For example, there was a glaring lack of aliens. I get aliens aren’t for everyone, and you’re allowed to be an alien denier if that’s your prerogative, but they’re an integral element to a space themed celebration. Also, the random cowboy elements I keep seeing. Space cowboy is a fun subgenre — which I’ll add implies the presence of aliens — however here it seemed like an afterthought. Either fulls end futurism or hammer home the space cowboy theme, don’t half-commit to both. Shirts were cute though.

Delta Delta Delta: Perfect Match 

A fun fact about me is that I played tennis a lot when I was younger and live in a very pro-tennis household. With my biases out in the open, this theme was excellent. The shirt designs, color scheme and the addition of bid day crewnecks as well as shirts sold it for me. An absolutely flawless level of bit commitment and, as always, extra points for the usage of the Tulane Bea Field Alumni House. Please get them into a house, they deserve it for this absolutely fantastic serve alone. 

Kappa Kappa Gamma: Après-Ski

I’ll be honest: I had to google what this one meant. For those wondering, it refers to the social activities and entertainment following a day of skiing. A bit niche for bid day but alright. I’ve never skied before so I can’t really comment on how well this was executed, but everyone looked great and seasonally appropriate. I also loved the band and the bounce house at their bid day party outside of their house. I thought that was very fun. That being said, I have to point out the lack of bid day shirts on active members. The only reason I know what they looked like was because one of my friends picked one up off the ground. They were cute guys. Why not wear them?

Sigma Delta Tau: Barbie: Welcome to the Dreamhouse

In light of Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece gracing the silver screen this summer, this was very topical. My comments still stand from last year regarding my aversion to product-based themes, but Barbie was objectively a very good idea. However, I got the impression that the theme was more the color pink rather than the famous Mattel doll. I had to inspect the font of the shirts and really pause to understand the theme. I’m not saying a pink Malibu was necessary, but a little extra umph would have been appreciated. 

All in all, bid day was extremely well executed. The effort that goes into planning bid day — and the entirety of recruitment to be honest — is insane and not something to scoff at. I hope everyone had fun at their bid days and love the houses they’re in.