Thirza combines eight patterns

The campus sometimes feels like a catwalk. Students share what they’re wearing and why. This time: Thirza loves wool, bold accessories and patterns.

“This was the last item I put on today”, says Thirza (22) about her tie. “I thought it contrasted nicely with the red of my T-shirt.” The tie features an intricate pattern in muted shades of blue and green. She wears it over a turtleneck and a T-shirt. “Without the tie, the outfit didn’t feel complete – that’s what my gut told me.”

There’s been snow on the ground for a week and the ponds next to the university library are frozen. The wind chill is below zero, but Thirza has still made her way to campus. She’s just had a class in philosophy of science, a subject she says reminds her too much of maths. Despite the cold, her outfit is anything but dull. Thirza’s tip: “Wool, wool, wool. Nothing keeps you warmer. I religiously wear wool hiking socks from Decathlon.”

Another trick for keeping warm: hand warmers, which she picked up at the DIVAexhibition at the Kunsthal. Thirza is a fan of eye-catching accessories. For example, she wears two belts. Hanging from the lower one is a pink pouch that doesn’t hold anything. “I like to mix things up with my clothes – textures, colours, patterns – but I never feel like it’s too much.”

Including her scarf, Thirza is wearing eight different patterns: two types of check, houndstooth, stars, stripes, and three kinds of floral print. “Finding the right combination is a matter of trying things out.” Back in primary school, she bought all her clothes at Coolcat, where you could find clothes in every colour and pattern imaginable – “things you couldn’t dream up, even in your wildest fantasies”. These days she looks back on those outfits with mixed feelings, “but I like that I just wore them anyway”.

Most of Thirza’s clothes now are second-hand. She organises clothing swaps where friends exchange pieces they no longer wear. “The turtleneck I’m wearing now, I found at a swap”, she says. “The first time, I was amazed by how many clothes there were. That’s what’s fun about these swaps – I always have something lying around that I know a friend will like.” The swap days are a hit: “Everyone loves new clothes and everyone loves free clothes.”