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This week, Ebony and Holly are sharing some details on Kilbreda’s uniform over the years.

The Kilbreda College uniform has changed rapidly since the founding of Kilbreda in 1904.  In the beginning, very few Australian schools had uniforms. Kilbreda was no exception. Most students came to school neatly dressed until about 1920, when tunics became the fashion. At Kilbreda, the boarders wore black tunics and the day girls, navy.

In 1932, Kilbreda adopted the bottle green blazer and skirt. In 1934, they developed fawn velour hats for winter and straw hats for summer. The hats started as tiny circle hats into wider hats as the uniform changed, then into caps by the 1990s.

The school bags varied from a green vinyl bag with a handle and College crest into backpacks as the years went on and the uniform colour changed.

In 1934, fawn cotton gloves were worn in summer and woolen gloves with red and green bands on brushed cuffs were worn in winter.

In the 1930’s, students would play sport in their normal uniforms as the sport uniform was not fully developed. A green sports tunic with red and fawn stripes down the sides was worn for sport from the 1950s until the 1980s. Tracksuits appeared in the 1980s and 90s including the one pictured.

From the 1950s to the 2000s, the summer dress was a fawn with red and green stripes. This was replaced by a heavier green dress from 2004-2018, with Emily Davis (pictured) being the last student to wear both the summer and winter versions of this uniform, complete with red jumper and scarf.

Red jumpers for Year 12 students were introduced around 1995 and the sport red tracksuit pants, red polo, green jumper and green shorts were established.

In 1996, the senior sport rugby top, green bathers with a red 'K' for swim team and the green cap for Physical Education with red 'K' were all introduced. Mr Smith still wears this cap on yard duty!

In 2010, the maroon jumper was introduced. From 2015, Kilbreda introduced the new ruby and and grey uniform featuring the white cap, red jumper, red and white dress, white, red and grey sports uniform and grey blazer that is our current uniform.

Damian Smith

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