Overview
Our Miss Universe: Lorraine Downes
‘I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that they had chosen me’. Lorraine Downes, 1983
On the evening Monday 11 July, 1983, American television host Bob Barker announced to the world that ‘Miss New Zealand, Miss Lorraine is Miss Universe 1983’. A stunned 19 year-old smiled through her tears, as the crowd at the St Louis, Missouri auditorium went wild. The next evening, as the broadcast hit New Zealand, excitement spread, with the New Zealand Herald proudly trumpeting from its front page ‘Our Miss Universe Lorraine is the fairest of them all’. It was the first time that a Miss New Zealand had taken the Miss Universe title.
It wasn’t only beauty pageant followers and the country’s media who were buoyed by Lorraine Downe’s unprecedented win. The country’s politicians also revelled in her success. ‘Government jumps in to ask Lorraine to rove world for New Zealand’ The Evening Post, Wednesday July 13, 1983 The Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, sent Lorraine Downes a telegram that read ‘Congratulations, all New Zealanders are very proud of you. Beating the Australians at rugby league and now the world at beauty, poise and charm. Well done’. (The New Zealand Kiwis had beaten the Kangaroos a couple of days earlier). While the PM offered his congratulations, Mr Rob Talbot, Minister of Tourism began to think about how New Zealand could capitalise on her win, observing that ‘From the coverage last night I think this is the greatest international coverage New Zealand as ever had from one personality’.
Before Lorraine began her Miss Universe duties in earnest in the United States, she returned to New Zealand briefly, and attended a function at Parliament, at which Mr Talbot appointed her Honorary Ambassador of New Zealand for ‘the magnificent public relations job she has done for this country’. On her arrival at Parliament for the official ceremony, she was greeted by a guard of honour of marching girls and 200 MPs and dignitaries. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, was the first of many heads of state that Lorraine would meet during her reign. So began an action-packed, often surreal year that would transform Lorraine Downe’s life.
What a difference a year makes
'It was a fantastic education all squished into one year … I grew so much in confidence … there was an outward change and an inward change … I just learned so much about life and people.' Lorraine Downes, 2013
When Lorraine won Miss Universe she had just turned 19. Fresh out of high school, she had never travelled, and she had few life experiences under her belt. Her year as Miss Universe, however, her to a wealth of life experiences into a mere 12 months – and taught her a great deal about the way she did and ‘didn’t want to live’. Life as Miss Universe was exciting and frightening; glamorous, yet at times deadly dull, and always frantically busy. As Miss Universe, Lorraine travelled from country to country for weeks on end working for the Miss Universe Incorporation, its sponsors and clients. She attended trade shows, product endorsements and numerous functions and while also undertaking charity work. During this time, she witnessed everything ‘from the top end to the bottom end’.
Life after Miss Universe
‘I was ready to hand over my crown to the new Miss Universe. I remember on that night …a feeling of this year is coming to an end and I’m really excited about my future… .' Lorraine Downes, 2013
After her year as Miss Universe, Lorraine made the decision to return to New Zealand. She continued to pursue her modelling career, and also invested her winnings in her own business – a grooming and modelling school entitled Care of Lorraine. She was eager to share the experiences and confidence that she had gained during her year as Miss Universe with New Zealand girls and women: 'I felt that I could teach young girls about tapping into what’s important. I have always believed that once you’ve tapped into having a belief in yourself that is where confidence begins… its about believing in yourself and knowing who you are. It doesn’t matter if perhaps you don’t look a particular way.’
Today, Lorraine Downes owns her own image consultancy business, and continues to model. She has regularly used her public profile to draw attention to issues surrounding beauty and images, including authoring Real: the Truth about Fashion, Beauty and Image with Frances Jones in 1998, and in 2010 taking a public stand on stand on air-brushing and re-touching in magazines.