King’s Parade is a runway, and you are legally obliged to walk it all year long. The academic pressure of Cambridge, not to mention maintaining a social life and myriad of societies, can make it all too tempting to reach for the same jumper and jeans every day. Whether you’re looking to turn heads in every lecture or just to feel more confident, faking it until you make it is the Cambridge way. It’s never been easier to reinvent yourself with a totally Cantab-ulous new look.

Old Money

Between the Swiss ski trips, horse-riding, and grandiose getaways to her family’s (many) holiday homes, one wonders how she has time to keep her hair so perfectly coiffed – let alone do any coursework. For Halloween, she went as Holly Golightly. She lives a lavish lifestyle set to Lana del Rey, or would very much like you to think so. She orders an almond croissant in the ARC Café, and sighs that the coffee was so much better in Italy. You’ve seen her around Cam, whether you knew who she was or not – she’s native to the region. As at home on the family tennis court as she is at a black-tie event, Cambridge fits the Old Money it-girl like a glove. You may not have her country-club life, but here’s how to get her look.

• Polo shirts
• Tennis skirts
• V-neck jumpers
• Mary janes or loafers

Clean Girl

She wakes up everyday at 5am to squeeze in a run before her 9am lecture. It seems completely impossible that she could be involved in every society going, a BNOC, and still smoking you in your supervisions, but the evidence speaks for itself. She only has the Pret subscription for the Sweet Greens smoothie, though she makes sure to alternate it with sips from her big-enough-to-drown-in, hour-marked water bottle. Her perfectly slick bun and pastel workout sets are the envy of her legion of TikTok followers, and anyone who happens to be sat near her in the library. Her skincare routine is long enough to fill all those books on your shelf you’ve yet to read (but she has). The Clean Girl is the uniform of the chic, effortless overachiever – exactly the kind of energy you need to clear those mock exams.

• Matching workout sets
• Sweatshirts
• Blazers
• Simple gold jewellery

Coquette

Usually found wandering Waterstones or clutching a chai latte, she idolises Rory Gilmore – for her academic drive, but mainly for her plaid skirts. Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation is her Bible, and Sofia Coppola the god she worships. She does ballet, or tries very hard to look like she does. The Coquette is a contentious celebration of ultra-femininity, expressed through baby-pink cardigans, white lace socks, and thrifted Vivienne Westwood pearls. She’ll be the first to admit that she’s more than a little toxic – and she loves it. And in a hyper-competitive environment like Cambridge, who can blame her?

• Slip dresses
• Ribbons
• Lacy vests
• Wrap cardigans

Rockstar Girlfriend

A natural-born club rat, she appears by day only to grab a coffee and make half the lecture hall fall in love – when she deigns to attend, that is. She’s a woman of mystery, the modern muse. She didn’t rip these fishnets on purpose (she insists), she’s still wearing them from her last wild night out. Her artfully-smudged eyeliner and daring micro-mini tell you at a glance that she frequents much bigger venues than the Caius Open Mic. The Rockstar Girlfriend is indie reborn, a vision of neon nights, vintage leather, and cigarette smoke – just don’t ask if she went to private school.

• Leather jackets
• Miniskirts
• Fur coats
• Baby tees

Model Off-Duty

The key to her look is affected effortlessness – she should look as if she’s just strutted off of a train, with her hair still tousled from the last city. She’s the sort of girl you might imagine at some glamorous fashion internship, when she isn’t catching up with her equally-fashionable girlfriends in Benets. She’d explain the difference between style and trends to you, but never in anything other than a husky whisper, her iced matcha glued to her hand. The Model Off-Duty is the modern cool-girl, ‘basic’ reinvented, living in Vogue Beauty Secrets playlists and low-rise jeans. And yes, she’s a nepo baby.

• Tank tops
• Cargos
• Sunglasses
• Trainers

As much fun as it might be to play dress-up as Blair Waldorf or Bella Hadid, it’s important to remember that fashion is just that – dress-up. Wear your aesthetic, but don’t let your aesthetic wear you; there’s more to life than headbands or slick buns.