Freshers: A Guide to Campus Dressing

To be a fresher is not always as easy and fun as it seems.

Most of you have spent the last few months studying (and panicking!) about one of the most important exams of your life. You’ve had to choose where to spend the next three years. As far as I can from my parents? Close to home so I can see my boyfriend/girlfriend every weekend? Am I going to work part-time? Where am I going to live?

Most of you have probably answered the majority of these questions by now, but now you’ve arrived at UEA it’s time to make new friends, and first impressions count a lot!

This guide is to help you make your life easier and ensure you don’t spend hours trying to answer one more question while looking at yourself in the mirror: WHAT DO I WEAR?!

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You’ll probably spend much of your first term at the LCR. My advice is: keep it casual! Heels are probably a bad idea since the floor gets too sticky, and even people with flat shoes fall over (a few times…). Therefore, even if it is quite funny to see people flying around the LCR, you don’t want to start your lectures on crutches!

You will have the chance to show off your favourite outfits on nights out in Norwich. We all want to look our best when we get our pictures taken by the club photographers (and to avoid any embarrassing ones!)

Go glamorous in a black mini dress (try River Island, Miss Selfridge), heels and a blazer (try H&M or Zara). Channel retro in vintage inspired dresses (try Republic, Primark, H&M), pumps, and lots of quirky accessories (try Accessorize). Rock chicks try a leather jacket studded with spikes (try Zara, Ark) paired with a patterned tee (try Topshop), perhaps adding a bowler hat. Boys can get away with more casual: jeans, shorts and t-shirts of all sorts.

There is nothing you can do after a freshers’ night to survive a lecture. Basically, wear the most comfortable clothes you own, so you can go back to your room and sleep as soon as it’s over! (Not too comfy though, I once spotted someone in a dressing gown in the middle of the lecture hall!).

Everyone feels as bad as you do, therefore, try your best to make a good impression without looking like you’ve tried too hard! Casual brands like Jack Wills, Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, Gilly Hicks, etc. are popular among students.

I’d advise you to buy a good concealer (to avoid the awful bad circles after a night out!) and some eye drops for tired red eyes. And if you’re a bit of a drunken singer you will probably need some Strepsils in case you need to use your voice in seminars!

Finally, my last piece of advice would be to not worry too much about it. After all, if it has been a good freshers’ night at UEA, you will arrive home looking like Russell Brand even if you left resembling Kate Middleton!