Mannequin for my size?

[pebbleton]

I am soon to take receipt (LINK removed by Admin) of a jacket which is second hand, had a life, but still wearable - it's what people might call "vintage".

I would like to keep the shape of it, not that it was designed with that in mind and the cloth looks quite soft, but wanted to get advice on how best to find the right mannequin for the job?

I am a male and unfortunately mannequins only seem to come in around one size: 42" chest. The jacket is a 22" (pit to pit), which I take it is a 44"? So If I got a mannequin with a slight difference in size would I be able to get away with that and in which order: the mannequin can always be larger than the garment, or vice-versa?


I've not done this before and only read about it, any advice or references would be welcome!

 

[Pinkcoke]

Jacket sizes take into account the wearer usually has a shirt and perhaps a waistcoat on underneath. So I would expect a 44" jacket to perhaps fit a 42" chest. Of course you may not do this with a display mannequin. Unless it is a very special or unusually shaped garment typically a standard size mannequin of a slightly smaller size would be padded out with wadding and then recovered to fit the garment it is made to support perfectly. There are a couple of video examples of this on the Victoria and Albert Museum's blog if you want to see it done.

 

[pebbleton]

Thank you for the tips Pinkcoke, as I intend to use this system for myself it need not fulfil the general public's expectations, I am happy to experiment.

I couldn't find the video examples you refer to, but I get the idea. If you have any affordable or DIY best practice suggestions for padding areas out I would appreciate that. I simply plan to throw the peacoat over the mannequin when returning home, I just like the idea of it taking shape when not in use as it's to be my main coat.

I found advice online suggesting that the buttons/zipper should be done up and the front smoothed over by hand when on the mannequin, this a major element to keeping the jacket's shape even when left on a hangar.

I quite like the one from Luk-Mal with two leg poles as that should stop the mannequin swivelling on the usual single one. Also, the base is quite sturdy looking, the bases on tripods seem to me that they could tip over quite easily.