Skimpies tell of working behind bars in outback Australia in new documentary

THEY serve beers in their underwear, raking in thousands of dollars in the process. Welcome to the world of skimpies.

THEY travel the country along dusty outback roads to remote roadhouses and country pubs with a suitcase full of lingerie and not much else.

Welcome to the world of skimpies — the women who serve beers to miners and farmer in their underwear, racking up thousands of dollars worth of tips in the process.

Shae, 29, and her friend Courtney, 32, have been working the skimpies circuit for close to a decade.

The profession has its benefits they say — namely freedom, an abundance of money, travel and good times.

In with the locals ... Shae and Courtney mingle with the punters.

There are, however, downsides with the bartenders having to deal with sexist putdowns from boorish punters as well as unwanted roaming hands.

The best friends — who feature in a new ABC2 documentary called Skimpy — often drive four or five hours between pubs in remote Western Australia to ply their trade.

Courtney said the job’s “easy money” made the work of skimpies “addictive”.

Raking it in ... Courtney says easy money makes skimpy work “addictive”.

“The best money I have made doing this was ... in two weeks not even taking our knickers off, we made $17,000, which is out of control money.

“That was about five years ago, it’s not quite as good these days, everyone’s a bit tighter with their money.

“But if I do five pub shifts a week, you can easily walk away with three grand — minimum would be $1500.”

Outback town ... bartender Courtney chats to a punter.

Courtney said the rules as to what skimpies could wear varied from town to town.

“There are no actual rules as to what you can wear. If the local cops say you have to three-quarters of your bum covered, that’s what you need.

“If they say you can wear a g-string, you wear a g-string.

“If the local cop say you can wear nipple tassless, then you can wear them. Otherwise, it’s a bikini top - it’s different at every pub.”

For the girls working the bar, their beauty rituals do not come cheap.

“The stuff you have to do, it’s amazing,” said Courtney. “Botox, face peels, tans, outfits, stockings, make-up. It would have to be 10 grand, at least, 15 grand. It’s insane - there’s so much stuff.

The process of getting ready for a shift behind the bar takes time and preparation, Shae said.

“For any good skimpy, it should take at least two hours to get ready for work. You need to out your tan on and let that dry. You need to have washed your hair, blow-dryed it, straighten it, tease it.

“And then you’ve to got to put on your make-up and then you have to figure out what to wear to make sure it all matches considering how your weight feels for that day.”

“It’s funny when guys say ‘you don’t even need make-up, you’re beautiful’. I’ll be like ‘b-------, you didn’t see me this morning.”

Skimpy will be available to watch on ABC iview for the next two weeks