Who would have thought that a 600-year-old tradition would be trending on social media?
Not the University Challenge team from St Andrews University, that’s for sure.
The four-man team were just following six centuries of gown-wearing etiquette when they got behind their desks for the long-running BBC quiz show.
However, their red gowns, or rather the odd way they appeared to be wearing them, sparked a Twitter frenzy when they took on the eventual winners from Cambridge University’s Trinity College.
Captain Jamie Perriam, who is in the final year of his English degree, and PhD student Will Kew wore them draped around their arms. This stems from the idea of being ready to shed their scarlet gowns for black graduation gowns.
Third year French and Russian student Lewis Fairfax wore his off his left shoulder, in keeping with all arts students in his year, and first-year student James Adams wore his on both shoulders.
Quizmaster Jeremy Paxman dryly said: “Apparently the longer you’ve been there the more casual you can be with your gown.”
Viewers were so intrigued #universitychallenge began trending on Twitter.
One tweet said the “St Andrews kids” were out of touch with normal people while another said: “Very strange looking team wearing red capes. It’s like The Riot Club for numptys.”