Mannequin

I bought a tailor's dummy to display my clothes, cos I've always wanted one, but when I see clothes displayed by members on full mannequins, I think they look great and I want one now! There seems to be different variants around out there and I would need one slim enough for those itsy bitsy vintage sizes to go on. Also I have a small budget (well pretty non-existant!) so any advice help would be great!

Thankyou so much

Sarah

 

Sarah, I found mine - a tiny girl with arms and just enough legs to show pants - on ebay. Yup. Ebay.

I am also mannequin huting but for a sz 10 - not easy.

I do like the torso type with the pole set off center so you can show anything with legs. They are so much lighter weight and easier to deal with then a full body mannequin. Mine doesn't have ahead, and I like that. She can wear any period and not look dated.

Hollis

 

Sarah - I did the same thing! I bought the dressform because I always wanted one, too.

And , I almost fell off my chair because I've been having the same thoughts about a mannequin.

If you find a great one and they have more than one, send me the link!

Vicki

 

Thanks Hollis, I'll search on Ebay and see what 2nd hand ones are around for pick up.

Vicki, I like your tailor's dummy, it's so pretty, but yes a manni would be great to pose and at least they've got arms, on tailor's dummy, difficult to display any sleeves properly, cos as you know they just flop. You're in USA, I'm in UK, so best to look in our own locales. Happy Hunting!

Sarah

 

Hi there I am in the UK and I picked mine up at the local auction rooms. I also do quite a few stalls at local antique/vintage/ collectors fairs and see quite a few mannequins turning up there. They tend to be around the £50- £75 price. My friend picked up one from a car boot for £20. I think if you keep on looking you will soon come accross one. To be honest the one I have looks great and I thinks she originates from the 1950s or 60s but she is very awkward to handle. She is super tall, quite heavy and I have to unscrew arms/waist etc to get things on her properly. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to get a dress on her!! Good luck!

 

Thanks Beach-Bygones for info. I will keep searching, though I didn't think to look at local auctions or boot sales, so I'll keep my eye out! I'm very clumsy so I think I'll do myself an injury with an older mannequin!

Sarah

 

Hi Sarah! A dress form is a wonderful tool if you have a nice one that will fit your clothing and flatter the clothing that you're selling. When I started I had a very cheap form that I purchased on eBay for $80. It worked but I hated how it ended at the hips, leaving an unsightly line in my pictures of wiggle dresses and anything slim. I purchased my mannequin about 2 years later and used her for about a year before I decided that I rather liked the polished look that a professional dressform provided. The thing I do not like about most mannequins is that they do not have an hourglass shape to show off the curvature of the New Look Era dresses, which is mostly what I sell and that the figure is so rigid and dress forms seem to provide a softer appearance . The one I purchased I also got on eBay for just under $200. I repainted her lips with matte red acrylic so she would look era appropriate in her 50s attire.

I stopped using my mannequin when I found my 1950's dressform. My form has a tapered pencil skirt look that continues to taper to about knee level AND she has the perfect measurements to display vintage 34-23-34. I also have a wonderful vintage mannequin but I can't find a stand for her. I do occasionally use my mannequin for pants and some sleeved items as well as swimsuits. If you do decide to buy one, I would follow the advice of Hollis and choose one without a head as dealing with wigs and to crop the head or not in photos took a lot of my time.

Best of luck on your search!!

 

Thanks Amber for all your advice. Dressforms are nice cos as u say they are curvy! I do like the 1950s dressforms but they sure do go for quite alot of dollar on Ebay so maybe when I've sold some clothes I'll look at one of those. I do covet them cos of the tapered form and the small measurements which u can increase...fab.

I see your point about mannequins. I don't hv big rooms and I'm very clumsy & I can see myself knocking myself out with an arm or a leg lol. The thistle from my dress form has fallen off when I've moved it and whacked me on the head about 3 times now.

Once again, thanks for the great advice

Sarah

 

my $.04.

i used to have a full mannequin. they are such a pain to remove the arms and hands, put arms through garment, reattach hands, then detach hands, remove arms from garment. one of the best things i ever did was buy my french form.

light and easy to move around, no arms and hands to attach and detach. huge relief!

if you buy a dress form that was intended to be used for sewing, just be aware that they weren't designed to have their size adjusted very often, and can fall apart or break if you adjust it much.

if you're accident prone, i can tell you from experience mannequins can be dangerous! mine cracked 3 of my teeth when i was trying to remove her leg to get a swimsuit on her. (leg was stuck, came suddenly unstuck as i was pulling, hit me HARD on the bottom of my jaw.) man, did that hurt.

 

yikes!

 

Ouch Joan :exclamation: Well I'm definitely not gonna get a mannequin, I'd end up needing a full set of dentures after just one round with one of those ladies! :fainting:

Sarah

 

she was mean! which is why she's been permanently banished to the storage area, and disassembled. that'll teach her.

:USEGUN:

good choice, sarah! they're a rough crowd, those mannequins.

 

Hollis,

I need to get a form like yours, was yours just a one off or do they have a store? The one I have is a hollow 3/4 form and she is great for swimwear but I can't put pants on her. And if I display her on a plaster column I have I need to be mindful of the wind. Any strong gust and into the pool she goes to take a swim.

I don't want a full blown mannequin as I need to pack and put her away after the shoot, I don't have a dedicated area for a full blown mannequin. But I would like one with arms and a pole, that is fairly light and dismantles easily. I actually prefer no head. And I would like to find a similar male model.

Beach-Bygones - good to see you here!

 

Hi Marty, I'm UK based. I think for the time being I'll stick with my tailor's dummy, sounds less dangerous lol! Wouldn't mind one of those heads that you can display hats on though. I've been looking on Ebay and there are loads, just have to take take to sit and compare & get the right one for the right price of course!

I've just visited Joan's Etsy site....I agree....

Sarah

 

Hi Marty!

That is a great idea, but my girl needs an ankle rod that curves into her leg. I tried to see if my modern mani rod wouls work but it was too wide. is this how yours is or does it attach at the lower back or top leg?

 

Since I'm looking for a dress form now, I have another question: is it better to get a form that can display both slacks and dresses/skirts (the ones that have both a center and an offset position for the pole) and have a shorter torso below the waist, or a full-length dress form that can't take slacks?

I'm torn.... I've found a dress form that has the size I'm looking for--about an 8--but can't display pants. The forms I've found that can are a bit smaller than what I'm looking for, but still larger than either of my mannequins. I don't have a lot of slacks to sell right now, but it would be nice to be able to do both. I can do slacks on my hanging dress form, but I have to move stuff around to shoot her because she hangs in a different spot than the mannis live. I have enough quantity of pants to make it really time consuming to do that and my goal is to reduce the inordinate amount of time I spend shooting. I would love the forms that have the short split legs, but they're all too small....

And, lastly--if you have a size 6/8 manni or so, pinnable with jersey cover, how well do sizes 12 to 16 pin to fit? I could really use a size 6 and a size 10 form, but have no room. And a size 10 seems impossible to find--they're all smaller, or they're plus sized; they don't seem to make a size 10/12 dress form!!!!

Thanks!

 

What would the measurements for a size 10 dress form be? I could check to see if I have anything in the size you need.

I sold off most of my larger dress forms because they were always TOO big. Now I have an entire herd of dress forms, but I have no idea of their dress size. I like to have several to have some at the shop and some for shows and photos, but it seems like I have one or two too many right now.

Diana

 

I have several dress forms, including two size 2. None are small enough for the small fifties dresses. Claire