London, Aug 7 - Colombian pop star Shakira has revealed she managed to go unnoticed at an American university by attending lectures dressed in loose boys' clothes.

The pop star deferred her music career to take a History of Western Civilisation course two summers ago at the University of California, Los Angeles and was able to sit in classes without causing a stir by swapping her glamorous stage outfits for loose-fitting men's clothing, reports contactmusic.com.

'I went to university after my last tour and studied history. I lived the regular student life for a bit. I used to wear a cap, tennis shoes, big backpack, baggy pants - I looked like a boy. I tried to hide and concentrate on my classes,' she said.

'It was one of those things that had passed me by. I would have liked a normal career and to have experienced normal student life - but I'm not complaining,' she added.