An ovve is your student overall: one garment, worn in the legs slot, that you sew patches onto. It works whether or not it is nercabbad.
Patches
You can earn patches at chapter events and in games. A patch you are given goes into your stash with a flourish and a line in chat, and waits there until you take it out.
Open the stash with /ovvar patches and hover a patch to see who drew it and where it may be sewn.
Storage
The ovve is also a bundle, with double the usual capacity.