The dress that shocked the nation 60 years ago returns for Derby Day

If the internet had been around in 1965, Jean Shrimpton would have broken it more forcefully than a Kardashian when she arrived at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Derby Day in a mini-dress, without a hat or stockings.

On the 60th anniversary of the dress that changed racewear forever, the minimalist silhouette looks positively demure, with the Birdcage Enclosure having survived more recent jarring sights of Paris Hilton in a halter top, Bec Hewitt in a bra-top and white shorts and an array of outfits from Brynne Edelsten.

“It was a moment in time,” says designer and artist Prue Acton. “All the young people in Melbourne were already wearing mini skirts by then. But if you look at the outrage on the faces of the surrounding women, there were clearly still older types waiting to catch up.”

Acton was selling plenty of mini-dresses and skirts from her fledgling label by the time Vogue magazine cover regular ‘The Shrimp’ touched down in Australia with The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert actor Terence Stamp, who died in August.

“Of course all the kerfuffle in the press helped move sales along,” says Acton. “By Christmas hemlines were so high that we would say they were up to disgusting. They had to be two inches lower for Sydney customers. They weren’t quite as swinging.”

“What I dislike about the Jean Shrimpton legend is that it is held up as an example of Melbourne being behind the rest of the world. That wasn’t true. Melbourne was swinging just as much as London, even if the people at the races weren’t.”

The fashionability of Shrimpton’s dress silhouette, designed by Colin Rolfe to promote a new DuPont fabric Orlon, failed to shield Shrimpton from the prudish conventions of the racing community. A scarcity of the fabric determined the mini-dress design, with a hemline 10cm above the knee.

“I had no hat or gloves with me, for the very good reason that I owned neither,” Shrimpton, 82, recalled in her 1990 autobiography. “I went downstairs cheerfully from my hotel room, all regardless of what was to come.” Shrimpton was unavailable when approached for further comment.

Nine racing commentator Francesca Cumani, the daughter of trainer Luca Cumani, grew up in Britain surrounded by racewear codes and says that they can still be intimidating for outsiders.

“It’s something as a racing community that we need to get better at communicating,” Cumani says. “It’s all about making people feel comfortable expressing themselves. When you look at Jean Shrimpton, she looks comfortable. It certainly looks appropriate for today.”

Cumani adheres to Shrimpton’s less is more approach, finding today’s preference for elaborate gowns from some racing guests, on the nose.

“I think there’s a fine line between dressing for the races and dressing for an event, like a ball or a black tie dinner. You’re going to the races in the day, not a cocktail party.”

To accompany this story Australian designer Rebecca Vallance created a modern interpretation of the Jean Shrimpton dress for Cumani to wear.

Along with drawing on Shrimpton’s casual flair, Vallance found inspiration from regular racegoer, Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne.

“Zara Phillips has that quintessential British style but also injects some modern feminity into racewear,” Vallance says. “She has worn our dresses to Royal Ascot so I wanted to bring a bit of Zara along for the ride as part of this tribute to Jean Shrimpton.”

“Growing up in Victoria I’m well aware of the impact this dress had on racewear,” says Vallance, who dressed last year’s Cup Day guest Nicky Hilton. “I think that she looks amazing in photographs from that day. I would happily wear that dress today, if I wasn’t able to get my hands on this one.”

A lace insert on the bodice replaced Shrimpton’s ’60s brooch detail on Vallance’s design. Nadia Bartel, co-founder of Melbourne fashion label Henne, chose a different device for dramatic effect.

“I have always loved Jean Shrimpton’s iconic 1965 Derby Day moment, as I was drawn to the quiet rebellion of her look,” Bartel says. “The simplicity is what made it so chic for its time.”

“We focused on refining proportions, keeping the lines clean around the neckline and the length short to echo its energy, while modernising it with the addition of a cape,” Bartel says. “Capes are having such a moment.”

The mini-rebellion continued the next year in 1965, when there was an outbreak of mini-dresses on the Flemington lawns.

Even with the strong sales that followed, Acton finds it difficult to understand the fuss Shrimpton’s dress caused.

“Lucky they never saw me at the races,” she says. “Occasionally, I’d sneak in but I never wore a hat. I was probably wearing shorts. Imagine the looks.”

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