Fashion: These are a few of my favourite things: The student nurse: Mum, give me M&S vouchers or I'll jump off a cliff]
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Your support makes all the difference.Which will it be for Christmas Day: the Armani jacket you bring out on really posh occasions, the glittery party top, or that chunky jumper you found on holiday years ago and love to death? We asked an actress, a headteacher, a nurse and a student to be photographed in the outfits they will be wearing this Christmas, and to tell us about the rest of their wardrobes, from designer items to heirlooms, hand-me-downs, sales bargains and impulse purchases.
Kate Barton, 27, is a student nurse at Bloomsbury & Islington College of Nursing & Midwifery.
I'M spending a low-key sort of Christmas Day with my sister in Exeter, because my parents are away in Italy. I don't have much in the way of dressing-up clothes, so I'll probably wear my ever-so-vulgar glittery gold top with my blue jeans. Very appropriate for Christmas, don't you think?
The rooms at the nurses' hostel are small, but then I don't have so many clothes. My fashion budget is very small. I have to get by on pounds 370 a month all told, so I can't really afford to go wild on clothes. I've only bought three things since I started the course in September: a raincoat from Jigsaw, and a black skinny rib polo neck and leggings, both from Marks & Spencer. The coat was a real extravagance because it cost pounds 100. My previous coat, which was a real old friend to me, got ripped in a frenzy when I went to see Tom Jones in concert.
I only shop in two places - M&S and Jigsaw - but I try to avoid Jigsaw now because it's depressingly expensive. I think M&S is brilliant; it has really improved over the past few years.
I studied fashion at Trent Poly before I decided I preferred nursing. I'm still interested, but the fashion pages in the magazines make my blood boil. Most of the clothes are way beyond most people's means. I don't see the point in buying clothes that will only last one season. Most of my wardrobe is ancient: I've got a three-year-old Miss Selfridge skirt, a five-year-old Warehouse washed silk shirt, an eight-year-old polo-neck top from M&S.
I've got lots of polo-neck tops that are all wearing out at the same time, which is a real problem. I've asked my Mum for M&S vouchers for Christmas. If I don't get them, I'll throw myself off a cliff]
I don't want to look scruffy, so I wouldn't shop in charity shops, but I do like wearing big jumpers that you can curl up in. It's like wearing a sleeping bag. I also love jeans because they're so comfy; I've got two pairs - blue and overdyed red, both from Levi's. My smartest jacket is from Hobbs; I bought it for my interview. Oh, yes, and I'm a big fan of Gossard Wonderbras; they give you lift and shape. I think the biggest perk a woman can have is to look at her cleavage in a Wonderbra.
Don't ask me about my uniform. I don't get one until next spring. I'll have to wait and see.
(Photograph omitted)
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