Focus on this artwork and discuss the Background.
In 1962, the Victoria Racing Club, faced with waning crowd attendance at racing events in Victoria, Australia, added a "Fashions on the Field" competition to the program for the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival races held at Flemington Racecourse. The competition was intended to woo female racegoers in particular.Three years later, in 1965, textile manufacturer DuPont de Nemours International engaged Jean Shrimpton, then the world's highest-paid model, to travel to Australia to be a judge in the 1965 "Fashions on the Field". Her fee for the two-week visit was £2,000, equivalent to £35,690 in 2019, an enormous sum, equivalent to at least a year's wages for the average Australian man. Even the Beatles had been paid only £1,500 for their tour of Australia in 1964.During the four days of the 1965 Spring Carnival events at Flemington, namely Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Oaks Day and Stakes Day, Shrimpton would be promoting Orlon, DuPont's new acrylic fabric. DuPont sent Shrimpton rolls of Orlon so that she, in conjunction with her London dressmaker, Colin Rolfe, could design a secret wardrobe for her visit.It has been said that Shrimpton, more than any other model of the 1960s, can lay claim to having been the world's first supermodel.  Her visit to Australia was highly anticipated and was regarded as bringing international glamour and prestige to the Spring Carnival, which was the social and fashion event of the year. It was expected that, when attending Derby Day, she would be wearing a beautiful hat and accessories, including gloves and stockings—which were de rigueur for the ultra-conservative Melbourne establishment.The garment Shrimpton and Rolfe developed for Derby Day was a simple white shift dress. However, DuPont had not supplied enough fabric to complete the intended design, so at Shrimpton's suggestion, Rolfe improvised, by finishing the hemline 4 in (10 cm) above the knee. Shrimpton later claimed to have told Rolfe that "nobody's going to take any notice…" She also later told The Australian Women's Weekly magazine "I always wear my day dresses above the knee."
Orlon Melbourne Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival supermodel The Australian Flemington Racecourse Derby Day the Beatles acrylic fabric shift dress Jean Shrimpton DuPont de Nemours International Oaks Day de rigueur Victoria Racing Club Stakes Day Melbourne Cup The Australian Women's Weekly Spring Racing Carnival Melbourne Cup Day