King's student Kaamil Shah has found himself at the centre of a veritable media frenzy this week, after having the audacity to appear on University Challenge wearing what we can confirm to be a pleather (a type of synthetic leather made of polyurethane film) vest. Twitter was (fittingly) up in arms about it, using the hashtag #vestgate to express their reactions – which ranged from confusion, to rage, to unabashed sexual arousal. 

#vestgate even caught the eye of some famous tweeters. David Baddiel, King's Alumnus, took to twitter to say “Hate to judge a book by its cover but so far the bloke in the leather vest and bling has lost my old college 10 points. #universitychallenge”. Julian Clary wrote “A VEST on University Challenge… I’m calling the police.” 

Wading into the debate, UC golden boy of yesteryear, and devoted knitwear advocate, Ted Loveday tweeted his support, praising Kaamil’s bravery. Ted’s cable knit jumpers were much coveted by his loyal twitter following during his now iconic run on the programme. One begins to wonder whether, if Ted had simply made a more avant-garde outfit choice, he could have saved time revising ancient Greek, and still enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame. 

Quickly, #vestgate attracted the attention of the national press. Of course the expected popular news sites realised the potential of #vestgate as an ornament amongst their collection of trite, irreverent clickbait – Buzfeed, The Metro – but then even the Broadsheets began to weigh in. The Telegraph, breaking away from cricket and the EU to cover a student's choice of garment? Why the furore? 

Responding to a (largely imaginary) demand for information on 21-year-old Kaamil and his life leading up to the moment when he decided to don a vest and become a paragon of University Challenge achievement, old faithful Mail Online offered a higher class of shrewd investigative journalism. Some eager reporters managed to get statements from his mother and younger brother, print a picture of his family home, and include – presumably at a push for sources – a (personal favourite) quote from a family friend ensuring readers that, Kaamil “eats well and I think he goes running, so he likes to keep healthy.” Perfect in both brevity and, indeed, banality – unnamed source can’t even be SURE he goes running. But how does he get those arms toned enough to show them off in front of Paxo?!  

The Telegraph treated this story with the gravitas it deserved by enlisting Men’s Style Editor, Stephen Doig. Doig’s take is enlightening, and obviously incredibly well informed. Dropping constant – and conspicuous – hints that Shah might in fact be a sadomasochist poorly masquerading as an undergraduate, the verdict on the apparel is that it was “as out of place on University Challenge as an Ann Summers-clad Hen Do in an Oxford don’s study.” 

The Telegraph’s guide to “vestiquette” did not stop with the reprobation of Shah’s fetishwear:  they also made astute comparisons between this and fellow famous vest-with-man-in-it, Jeremy Corbyn. With Corbyn’s vest attracting media attention, it seems that a vest can be a rather reckless political or personal decision, as I’m sure both Kaamil and Jeremy would agree. The Telegraph ran an impressively speculative article about the extent to which one could use Corbyn’s vests as a reliable source for comment on his campaign to become Labour leader.

In contrast to Corbyn’s apparent resolve to give up his vests and conform to convention (so much for him being the conscientious candidate), Kaamil’s response to #vestgate has been one of noble and dignified impenitence. When questioned by DJ Bobby Friction on BBC Asian Network, Kaamil defended his sartorial decision simply stating that he was “going through a tank-top phase at the time”. DJ Bobby respected this, and lauded Kaamil with becoming “a hero to every rudeboy in a souped up Nissan micra across Luton and Manchester.” Surely a much sweeter victory than a less miserable defeat might have been.

Speaking exclusively to Varsity, Kaamil concedes of “the strangest week of his life” that “some of it has been absolutely amazing”: for instance, being called "an inspiration to rudeboys everywhere" on BBC Asian Network has been (understandably) a true highlight. Of course the media coverage hasn’t been entirely positive, reaching obscenity at points – such as “having the Mail Online publish pictures of my house with zero permission and having read more than a few comments of a racist nature.” Overall, he says he has tried to enjoy his taste of fame, and reassures me that “I do realise that it was all ironic, and so no negativity surrounding the story has got to me. I’m still sad I’ll never be a champion on UC, and I hope Paxo doesn’t hate me for all this!”

In addition to #vestgate, Kaamil declared on national radio that the event has allowed him to realise his ambition of becoming a BNOC. With just these two incidents considered, you have to applaud Kaamil Shah for his adamantine grip on irony. Besides, the more subtle irony of his teammate wearing a Christmas jumper out of season seems to have been lost on most viewers.