Students on Woudestein wear suits or a smart blazer at the very least, but a jumper and a pair of old trainers is fine on Hoboken. Is the stereotypical image of Business Administration students all wearing suits actually based on fact? And are medical students so absorbed in their studies that they usually walk about without any make-up and with their hair carelessly tied back?
Gentlemen in suits on Woudestein?
Woudestein is bigger and there’s more diversity in the programmes offered as well as in the prevailing fashions. You can see a whole range of dress styles here, from three-piece suits and elegant dresses to tracksuits and trainers – including a number of sports bags, all of which are of course slung over the same shoulder. But it does seem as if today’s well-dressed gentleman is wearing shirts and suede shoes in every shade of beige. And if you walk about on campus for a quarter of an hour, you can see a large number of Clarks shoes all in the same style, but in different colours.
But medicine students still have different ideas about their fellow students on Woudestein. As medical student Marijn Veerman puts it: “Students and lecturers all walk about in posh clothes as if they’re about to give a sales pitch or appear in court. They always wear shirts, ties, blazers and shoes with heels no matter what gender they are.” His fellow student Machteld van Rooijen has an explanation for this phenomenon: “Maybe more people expect you to go around in a suit on Woudestein,” she adds. “And because there are so many students there, you don’t notice the whole lot, only the ones in suits. So you tend to think that people are better dressed there.”
Old trainers and pumps
Of course, elegant dresses and high-heeled shoes are more often to be found on Woudestein than on Hoboken, but you can see just as many people in jeans and fluorescent training shoes there. You can also see students in summery trousers with interesting prints, long ‘statement’ necklaces and rolled-up ‘boyfriend jeans’, even if the weather’s chilly. And the discerning observer on Woudestein can even spot some of them wearing old trainers that haven’t been cleaned properly after last night’s night out on the tiles.
On Hoboken, on the other hand, you don’t see so much glamour and glitter or jeans with holes or bare knees, or even the striking-looking accessories that a lot of people wear on Woudestein. Third-year medical student Maria Knol explains: “Medical students don’t wear much jewellery because doctors aren’t allowed to do this anyway due to hygiene. And students on Woudestein are generally more aware of the latest fashions. There are a lot more fashion dolls there than there are on Hoboken.” Her fellow student Daan van Dorst says he’s noticed the same thing as well.
Similarities
“A lot of the boys wear smart clothes like shirts and polo shirts with a pair of decent shoes,” Daan adds. “Not all of them, mind. But the girls studying medicine don’t generally wear anything special. It’s probably to do with their image. Woudestein people have to look good, and that’s why there aren’t many medical students who really stand out.”
Korrein Volders, who is studying Economics and Law, says that most of his fellow students wear smart trousers, a shirt and sometimes a blazer as a general rule. “Economics students wear the same posh shoes as doctors do, but I suppose medical students dress differently depending on what they’re specialising in,” he adds. “GPs probably wear different clothes to surgeons and internists, who are the medical profession’s Hooray Henrys as far as I can gather.”
Fashion trends for each specialization
Maria Knol agrees: “Surgeons are more likely to have been members of some well-known student fraternity when they were at university, so they’re more likely to wear suits and ties. Psychiatrists and GPs are often rather alternative types, but they don’t always have to wear white coats.” But fashion does seem to be less important at this faculty. Marijn Veerman adds: “There’s a consensus between casual and smart clothes at Erasmus MC. If something looks good and doesn’t get in the way of your work, you can wear it. After all, if you’re wearing a white coat, this covers a shirt that doesn’t fit or is otherwise bad news. And besides, doctors don’t need expensive tailor-made suits to win their patients’ confidence.”
