Leah de Boer (18)
First-year student Teacher Education in History
You’re wearing a striking coat!
“I often get asked about it. Usually, it’s the older people who say, “How brave of you to wear that.” It has eight different patterns, and the back still has all sorts of letters and shapes sewn on. I don’t consider it messy, despite all the ‘commotion’. The sleeve is still completely empty; I could use some fabric scraps on it. And it’s nice and sustainable: I bought it on Vinted from someone in France.”
How would you describe your clothing style?
“It’s a mix of second-hand shops, HEMA, and my mother’s wardrobe. I love stripes and polka dots, but they must be in color. As a child, I mainly wore boyish clothes and had my hair cut very short. Then I started following trends like the Anne-Fleur trend, but that didn’t suit me either. These days, I look for colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel, like red and blue for example.”
What do those pins on your coat mean?
“I saw this pin, with a cute hedgehog on it, in the window of a bookstore one evening, and I bought it the next day. The pin with the seal on it is from the Lauwersoog seal shelter. The pin with a key brooch on it was at first my backup in case of a wardrobe malfunction: I kept it in the pocket at the bottom of my jacket. But it kept pricking in my leg over there, so I put that one on the jacket as well.”
Are clothes important to you?
“I’ve really now found myself, partly because of my clothing style. You quickly compare yourself to Instagram models: ‘I wish I were that beautiful and thin.’ But I’m Christian, that thought doesn’t fit with what I believe and how I see the world. If I believe I was made beautiful by God, how can I not find myself beautiful? Clothing is simply my most important accessory.”
text: Michelle van der Molen
photo: Jasper van Overbeek
