In your first week at university you will make friendships that will last for years. You might even brush shoulders with your future life partner. Thousands of students, therefore, will be standing in front of their wardrobes trying to decide what to wear for this monumental week. First impressions count and among so many young and beautiful people, you will want to stand out.

Students are offered a loan of up to £4,625 a year (£6,475 in London) to cover living costs. With the overdraft ticking away, now is as good a time as any to update your wardrobe before blowing the budget on books.

One of the best things about starting university is that you can reinvent yourself. Nobody will know that your penchant for rave neon brights has replaced a love of all things goth or that friends from home would fall of their skateboards laughing if they saw you in a Pete Doherty-style trilby.

There are plenty of university style stereotypes, from the boarding school brigade (identifiable by pastelcoloured pashminas and polo shirts), to the year-out students (sporting deep tans and numerous wooden-beaded accessories).

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Look out for the fashion and art history students, who turn up on campus looking like they have popped in to lectures before dinner with Glastonbury star Mark Ronson, and the rugby boys, who cannot resist university-branded sportswear. It is not clear whether these people seek each other out, or slowly morph to become the same person. To retain a bit of individuality and beat those first-day fashion nerves, here are some tips.

Comfort matters

Although you may be using a whole new group of friends as an excuse to make the transition from being a fan of American musician Marilyn Manson to a lookalike of model Daisy Lowe, you will want to make sure you are comfortable in your new clothes. You do not want to be shifting uncomfortably in the corner of the union bar, wishing you had worn your old faithful biker boots.

If you are happy with the clothes you have, just buy a few key pieces to update your wardrobe.

Start with the basics

You will need a decent coat to keep out harsh winter chills as you make your way to and from lectures (and in extreme cases to wear to bed when the heating breaks down). This autumn statement coats will be big news, so there is no excuse to shiver in the lecture theatre.

Go for bright colours and original fabrics. Topshop offers a burnt orange number. If you really cannot bear to wear a big coat, try a military-style jacket or a pea coat. Gap has a black one for £78.

Splash out on some good boots or trainers. Get a selection of two or three plain T-shirts that you can wear under things and other plain items that can be jazzed up with accessories. For boys, a cardigan worn over a shirt or T-shirt gives a trendy edge.

Luckily for students, the courier satchel has been big news on the catwalks, all the better for transporting all your books and notes around. Smart shopping is essential because the student loan may feel like a big windfall, but do not forget that you will be paying it off for years.

Thrift

For the seasonal trends, try not to spend too much. One of the benefits of the credit crunch is that fashion money-saving ventures are popping up all over the place. Try clothes swapping - websites such as bigwardrobe.com allow you to swap clothes or buy for cash, or a combination of both. Shops such as Primark transfer trends from the catwalk to the shop floor at breakneck speed.

Charity (sorry, vintage) shopping can give you a look that nobody else in the library (read student catwalk) can emulate. Oxfam has also opened up boutique stores in London - good for lower-price designer goods for that special occasion. The Salvation Army shop off Oxford Street is well known for quality vintage items. And do not forget that many high street shops offer student discounts.

Smart clothes

Sometimes it is easy to forget that your entire university venture is actually geared towards getting a good job. Invest in some smart trousers or skirt and a shirt in case you get a dream work placement. Women students could try wide-legged style trousers with a blouse and men slim-fitting, lightly checked grey trousers (H&M have them for £19.99).

Borrow

It is a fact of the first term that once you have worn that top once too often to the nightclub, you will start delving into friends' wardrobes. You will feel like you have won the lottery.

And finally

Experiment. If you were thinking of trying out Henry Holland's tartan suit, as worn by Agyness Deyn on the catwalk in February, now is the time to do it. Once you have a job in an office, such fashion crimes could seriously damage your income and chances of promotion.

Clothes say a lot. We make assumptions about someone from what they are wearing in the blink of an eye, so why not express yourself?

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