Jean Shrimpton

Jean Shrimpton

By: RyeSea 2/11/13

 The 1960’s was a time of fashion. Famous icons such as Twiggy, Sandie Shaw, and Audrey Hepburn were discovered. Jean Shrimpton was one of them, she changed the face of the 1960’s, and even now girls sport the mini skirt she made popular.

   Born on November 7, 1942 and raised on a farm in England, Jean started as an ordinary girl. As a child she attended a Convent School. At the age of 17 she was discovered by David Bailey and she soon attended the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy: a modeling school in London.

   Soon Jean Shrimpton became the face of 60s. As she grew, her fame grew as well. She is even now regarded as the face of “Swinging London” (Biography.com). Her face was airbrushed into magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour. During her career she starred in the 1960s Film “Privilege”. Every girl wanted to be “The Shrimp”. Photographer (and boyfriend) David Bailey once said, “It’s almost impossible to take a bad picture of her”.  She was soon the highest paid model of the 60s and is regarded as the very first Super Model!! 

        In 1965 Shrimpton popularized the mini skirt when she appeared at the Melbourne Cup in Australia (Reed, p.12). This happened purely by accident when her dress designer, Colin Rolfe, had too little fabric to finish the 4 dresses for the event in Australia.  The miniskirt was not created by the icon or Rolfe, but soon all girls had to have one.

      Shrimpton ditched her glittering model/actress lifestyle for a calm life in the country. She opened an Antique Shop. She soon met her spouse Michael Cox whom she married in 1979 when she was 4 months pregnant with her son, Thaddeus (Wikipedia.com).

         Jean Shrimpton is now 70 years old and still lives with her husband Michael Cox. They now own the Abbey Hotel in Penzance, Cornwall.  Her big eyes and pouty lips make us remember her signature look, but what really impressed everyone was her contribution to fashion.  Jean Shrimpton is a fashion icon.

  

Written by Riley Grass

1.   Jean Shrimpton (2012). Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_ShrimptonInformation  

2.   Jean Shrimpton (2012). Biography.com.  From:  http://www.biography.com/people/jean-shrimpton-20881729

3.   Reed, Paula (2012). Fifty Fashion Looks That Changed the 1960s .  London, UK: Conran Octopus Ltd.