Today, in the Norm Theatre, a small yet dedicated audience gathered to watch a series of election debates involving the candidates for the presidential office, as well as the positions of the VP external and the VP finance. We steeled ourselves for another hefty round of political banter, ruthless audience questions, and painfully careless wardrobe selections. And we were not disappointed.

Let’s start off on an uncharacteristically optimistic note, shall we? Natalie Swift, one of the two front-runners for position of AMS president, showed the most promise, sporting a fitted blazer that, despite its suspiciously ambiguous color, created a strong first impression. Maybe we are looking favorably upon her simply because of an inclination towards sharp dress, but Swift exuded confidence as well as style, setting her miles apart from her opponents, more specifically, Pak Ho Leung.

It was painfully obvious that Leung can’t read our minds, as he would have quickly realized that hooded sweatshirts are an unforgivable elections debate faux pas. During senate debates, we grimaced at Gary Tse’s fine apparel. And the facial spasms get more violent when Leung’s aforementioned hoodie was accompanied by Nike high-tops, an overconfident grin, and a tendency to embody a vague echo who tacks on “dominate!” to the end of every other statement.

Sean Kim was wearing a suit—with a pocket square. Oh those pocket squares. Are we supposed to assume that he is a cultivate individual? Bijan Ahmadian was wearing what appeared to be a fleece sweater, but we shall overlook that, as it was not a hooded sweatshirt.

This is all I have in my notes regarding Timothy Chu: “Light grey sweater vest. Light blue shirt. Minimalist? Yawwn.” Moving on.

Jeremy McElroy and Stas Pavlov created bold statements with some color and pattern, namely bright blue and argyle. Bless their souls! The debates may require more formality than your average day at UBC, but these two understand that you need not dress as if you were attending a funeral. However, these VP external candidates were soon upstaged by Aaron Palm. He commanded attention from all present with answers smelling strongly of cutthroat satire and displaying impeccable dress. There was some serious irony as the crisp and professional suit was juxtaposed with some ridiculous responses to the moderator’s questions.

The only candidate – excuse me, the only visible candidate—for VP Finance candidates, Elin Tayyar, sported a rather casual checked shirt, with the sleeves rolled. Pretty non-descript, yet surprisingly fitting, as he gave off the appearance of being rather at ease with sitting nearly alone on stage while audience members lined up and fired some hard lining questions about important fiscal matters. The Invisible Man, on the other hand, escaped detection, mockery, and critique, by remaining quite advantageously invisible.

See the Fashion Files in our Culture section! Here and here.