In the media

Could the blazer and old school tie be the next casualty of COVID-19?

It is already shaping up that way at Kingswood College, a 130-year-old Uniting Church school in Box Hill, which will ditch its longstanding uniform next year and replace it with activewear.

Navy woollen blazers, striped ties, grey trousers and blue checked dresses – already mothballed during several weeks of remote learning – will be permanently swapped out for casual polos, shorts and compression tights from the first day of the 2021 school year.

It’s a creative move by Kingswood College, one of a long list of high-fee non-government schools in Melbourne’s east, some of which use their blazers as a symbol of prestige as they compete for enrolments.