At school, there was an annual school disco and I’d be standing in my bedroom wondering what to wear for hours on end. Eventually I’d arrive at a decision that was just the most ridiculous costume you could have ever devised - I think it was probably knitted Christmas jumpers on top of buttoned-up white shirts.

In this recollection, Berryman frames adolescence as a mix of self-consciousness and experimentation. The long deliberation over what to wear suggests the pressure of peer scrutiny at school social events, while the “ridiculous costume” punchline turns that anxiety into self-deprecating humor. The specific image—knitted Christmas jumpers over buttoned-up white shirts—captures a youthful attempt to signal individuality that overshoots into awkwardness. More broadly, the quote fits a familiar coming-of-age narrative: identity is first tried on externally (through clothes), and only later refined into a more confident sense of style and self.