The Melbourne Cup and the miniskirt seen around the world

Jean’s appearance was part of a ten-day promotional visit to Australia.  It was sponsored by DuPont Industries and the Victoria Racing Club. The purpose was to promote clothing made out of Orlon, DuPont’s new fiber. Dupont sent her the lengths of fabric for the four outfits she was supposed to wear.  She noticed that the company had been rather “stingy” with the material when she received it, so she told Colin Rolfe (the designer she was working with) to make the dresses a little shorter, because “no one’s going to notice.” She was paid 2,000 pounds sterling for the appearances.  

As part of the tour she was scheduled to appear at the Spring Racing Carnival, which is an annual event at the Flemington Race Course in Melbourne.  The Carnival is not only a horse race, but is also considered to be a major social and fashion event (much like the Kentucky Derby in the United States or the Royal Ascot in England). On Derby Day (Saturday, October 30, 1965) she was scheduled to appear and present prizes to the best dressed women as part of the “Fashions on the Field” contest.    Jean’s dress for the day was a simple white shift that ended about 4 inches above the knee.  She didn’t think twice about what she was wearing because in London most young women were wearing their skirts at about that length.  It was extremely hot, so she went without stockings and did not wear a hat or gloves because these items were not part of her wardrobe.  When she arrived at the race course a furore erupted because of the shortness of her skirt and the lack of (what conservative Melbourne considered) indispensable accessories.  The matrons snubbed and gossiped about her, the men ogled and whistled at her, and the photographers tried to shoot from the lowest angle possible - so as to make her skirt appear even shorter than it was.  The Australian press castigated her with headlines like, “The Shrimp Shocked Them” (Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial)

By the time Cup Day rolled around on the following Tuesday (November 2, 1965),  Jean had been humiliated and taken to task.  Headlines had spread around the world.  She was even written up in the weekly Sports Illustrated Magazine.  She stated to the press, “I feel Melbourne is not yet ready for me.  It seems to be some years behind London.” Indeed papers in London largely supported her and remarked that her appearance and fashion sense were creating the demand for British fashion that was seen throughout the world at that time.  Her sponsors, not wanting a repeat of Derby Day, supervised her attire and she turned up in a gray and beige tweed suit and wore a pale blue straw hat, gloves, and stockings as well.  She stated, “They’ve made me wear these.  I don’t feel like Jean Shrimpton anymore.”  The Daily Express referred to that day’s outfit as the “Taming of the Shrimp.”

Jean next appeared on Oaks Day/Ladies Day on Thursday, November 4th. She wore the same shift dress as she had the first day, but with the addition of a white double-breasted jacket over it and stockings, but no hat or gloves.

For her final appearance on Stakes Day, which took place on Saturday, November 6th, she wore a gray and fawn plaid coat, with matching skirt and dark top, tied her hair back in a black bow and wore stockings.  Once again, she did not wear a hat or gloves.

The cumulative effect was that she changed fashions for young girls in Australia overnight and contributed to the popularity of the mini-skirt worldwide.