There’s something quite intimate about asking people to talk to me about their favourite clothes. I look at the items differently after being told what makes them special; it’s been a funny exercise acknowledging how much sentimental power we equip material goods with, and lovely realising why this particular vein of arguable materialism isn’t such a bad thing.

Of course, sometimes things just look nice and that’s why we initially fall in love with them. But speaking from experience, I know I love my clothes much more after a year of making memories in them than on the day of their purchase.

Leonard:

“The coat reminds me of my sister – I got it on a trip to Japan just after Michaelmas. I needed a spring coat, and she said she wanted to get me a birthday/Christmas present. It wasn’t something that I chose autonomously – anyone can do that on ASOS or in a store. It’s nice when your family thinks something looks good on you. It reminds me that it wasn’t just a choice I made by myself, but that it was a family effort – and it’s nice to wear it in Cambridge. Sometimes it’s almost like you live two parallel lives; when you’re in Cambridge, and when you’re back home with your family. This reminds me that things aren’t always about Cambridge: I’m here on my family’s pay cheque, and there are always things to go back to. It’s the material manifestation of what I carry with me from home, to a foreign place.

Every time I look at it I’ll think of all the places it’s been, the people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve had

“The bag is from Japan, too – by a company called ‘Make it Simple’. They take military-grade ballistic nylon and stuff, and repurpose it for civilian use. I don’t think there’s anything particularly sentimental about the bag itself, but that’s the thing: the more you carry items round with you, the more they take on meaning and attachment. I wanted to get the bag specifically for uni. It’s followed me for two years – it’s been all over the place – Singapore, to Malasyia, to Santorini, and all over the UK. It’s gonna be cool when I graduate and take it back home, and I’ll still carry it around with me. Every time I look at it I’ll think of all the places it’s been, the people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve had.”

Morgan:

“I’m wearing these boat shoes, which are really tattered and old, and my mum hates them because they look so awful and used, but they’re the comfiest shoes that I own. They’re very simple, and they were really cheap when I got them three or four years ago. They’ve been with me every time I’ve gone travelling. I wore them when I was an au pair in France, I took them with me to Japan, they’ve been with me to the Middle East, to Jordan, to Israel.

“My shirt kind of looks like a lab-technician’s, maybe an artist’s, overcoat. It’s ridiculously oversized, but it’s French, and what I really like is that it’s a very 1980s kind of French engineer’s coat that you might see in some sort of weird car sales yard in the south of France – I’ve invented this whole story behind it, even though it was probably only actually made a few years back. But it’s special to me, and I like it very much.

“I’ve always bought quite cheap sunglasses, but then I realised you’re more likely to look after them if you spend a bit more money. The reason I always used to wear Wayfarers is because of John F Kennedy. I had a massive obsession with him when I was younger, I’d always wanted to build off that style: young, Catholic, preppy president.

“I bought my cap off Depop a few months back, thinking ‘Great! Now I’m at uni it’s time to recreate myself!’. I still really like it though; I love the idea of a corduroy cap and I think it’s quite cool right now.”

Yung:

“These trousers are my mum’s. I found them and thought they were quite light and summery. They’re long, but then they don’t get too hot, and my wardrobe in winter is pretty dark – lots of monotone things – so when it’s summer, I like taking advantage of the opportunity to make up for everything I wore during winter.

“The jacket is also my mum’s – you can probably sense a theme here – and the sunglasses were her old ones as well. She wore them when we were little for quite a while, and then during this last summer before going to university, I went through lots of her old stuff and lots of my grandma’s old stuff. My mum’s style has changed quite a lot during her life: when we were really little, and before we were born, so I guess it’s quite nice for me to get that old style back.”

Things seem to accrue meaning over time, from when they are bought, ‘borrowed’, or found, and onwards. The topic of travels and the topic of family crop up with every person I’ve spoken to. It’s been wonderful to learn that when we carry our clothes, we carry our experiences, our relationships, our values and our interests with them.