About Mannequins

Mannequins and dress forms have been around since the times of Egyptian pharaohs. They were used throughout history in many cultures and periods as a guide and display of men's and women's trends as fashions evolved. These figures have been used in shoppes, miniatures and as an icon that is a staple in worldwide shopping, designing and historical figures.

History

King Tutankhamen's tomb was opened in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered what could be history's first example of usage of dress forms in history.
In the 1400s, Henry IV of France commissioned miniature dolls fitted with current dress styles, elegantly attired dolls to his fiancee, Marie de Medici of Florence, to update her on French trends.
In the 1700s, fashion dolls ranging from 1 inch high to life size began to become the main progenitor of fashion display and design.
In today's culture mannequins are plentiful in stores and boutiques, used as an advertisement and visual aid to the current fads and fashions and constantly changing with the ever changing trends.

Function

Mannequins are mainly used today as an advertising technique. A shopper sees a cute outfit on a very small sized mannequin in a colorful environment and it draws consumers to the look, feel and trend portrayed on the image.
Department stores rely on these displays to draw in new attention from fashion savvy individuals and boost sales toward the newest and most expensive designs that appeal to all different types of personalities, ages and tastes.

Features

Mannequins come in assorted colors, shapes, sizes and styles. Many are faceless and are posed in fashionable stances. These forms are made to accentuate the clothes, make the forms look fashionable and fresh and show the consumer what the clothes would look like on an actual human form.
There are other forms of mannequins that come in bust forms without heads that are made to display shirts, suits, sweaters, jackets, and other tops that are mainly placed on shelves and in groups to create color stories and attractive advertising attention.

Misconceptions

As a consumer barraged by these constant images, it is important to take the size of the actual mannequins with a grain a salt. Most mannequins are about size 4 to size 6, and the plus-sized mannequins are only about size 10 to 12. Be aware that these mannequins are heavily pinned by visual merchandisers so that they look perfect and hang perfectly on the forms. These outfits will more than likely not look the same on your body shape, but don't let it get you down, there are very few people who can fit the outfits placed in the public eye.

Potential

Mannequins shown with props, lighting, furniture, strategic merchandising and an artistic eye can bring an interesting and eye-catching display that can boost sales and increase demand for the product.
While visual merchandising is a physically demanding and fast-paced job, it can lead to artistic projects in a highly public and visible market. The downside to this is that many brands dictate how they want their displays and are becoming more rigid and taking more freedom away from the stylists. It is also important to understand that most people do not pay much attention to the displays in stores and have little to no knowledge of the work, strategy, marketing and artists behind the scenes.

Resources

• Wikipedia on Visual Merchandising
• Fashion Windows, The Mannequin Defined