Bid Day Shirt Ideas: Themes, Colors and How to Order

Bid day shirts are the first thing your new member class gets from your chapter, and they end up in hundreds of photos. Here's how to pick a theme, choose the right shirt and order on time.

Start with the theme, then design the shirt

The strongest bid day shirts look like they belong to the theme, not just to the chapter. Pick the theme first, then let it drive the colors, fonts and artwork.

Bid day theme ideas that photograph well

Disco or "Dancing Queen": mirror balls, metallic ink and bold 70s lettering.
Western or cowgirl: a desert sunset, cactus and boots, with your letters in a rope or ranch font.
Coastal or "Beach Please": sun-faded colors, seashells and a retro surf script.
Cherry on top or strawberry: red and pink fruit graphics on a white or butter shirt.
Sports or varsity: a jersey number for the class year with your letters as a team name.
Y2K: butterfly clips, bubble letters and bright pastels.
"Welcome home": your house illustrated with a porch, flowers and the class year.

Choose colors that pop in photos

A few rules make bid day photos look better:

Light, saturated shirt colors photograph best outdoors. Watermelon, chalky mint, butter and blossom pink are favorites.
Limit the ink to two or three colors. It keeps the design crisp from across a field.
Tie-dye is a shortcut to a fun look. A pastel spiral like the Port & Company PC147 does a lot of the work for you, so the print can stay simple.

The best shirts for bid day

Comfort Colors 1717: the classic. Garment-dyed, soft and available in 67 colors, so you can match nearly any theme.
Port & Company PC147 tie-dye: every shirt is a little different, which suits a playful theme.
Comfort Colors 2349 tank: for early-fall or warm-weather campuses.
Bella+Canvas 8803 muscle tank: a flowy cut that looks great with a small chest print.

Bid day ordering timeline

When	What to do
4–5 weeks out	Pick your theme and text us your inspo. You'll get free mockups the same day.
3–4 weeks out	Approve the design and share your chapter store link with current members.
About 2 weeks out	Close the store. Production takes about 10 business days.
Bid day	Hand out shirts already bagged by name.

New members join on bid day, so most chapters order their shirts in a size range rather than collecting sizes from the new class. A safe split for a sorority class is mostly small, medium and large, with a few extra smalls and larges.