It's these two again.
Yep, I am going Dress Mannequins this time!
Starting with a wild image. A Diesel advert, crazy cool, ay.
Are these Mannequins? A collection of old-fashioned plaster-of-Paris torsos, designed for medical use lined up along the wall of the CdG shop in Aoyama, Tokyo.
Could we regard this as one of the earliest mannequins?
When archeologists opened King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 they found a wooden torso in his likeness
And this is how pattern cutter, Nicolas Caito, works with them in his studio.
I have a couple of them in the classroom and five years ago I ran a 'Dress the Mini Mannequin' competition. The results were fabulous.
Want to have a go at making your own-to-fit mannequin dress form? This video may be helpful.
And this link could help to download a pattern for it.
And the outer garment had this appearance
You can read about it in this article. So much is revealed about some people's prejudice and ignorance regarding larger bodies!
Kenzo, wonderful prints and patterns. Walking down a street in Bayeau, I spied this glorious Kenzo twinset in a shop window. It looked so like me, of course I purchased it! Here it is displayed on one of the fab Katies dress mannequins that belong in my classroom. They have been a wonderful asset.
The twinset has this delightful chain on the zip, KENZO. He was a very cool designer.
If you ever get the chance, watch it, it is an astounding film.
There's something about this work by Gotscho, working with Comme des Garcons garments that reflects Fassbinder's mannequins in the Petra von Kant film.
while this rare 19th century German life size articulated mannequin relaxes in his chair, sits back and enjoys it. Hope you do as well.
Mannequins possibly came into being in the 15th century, when miniature "milliners mannequins" were used to demonstrate the latest fashions to their high-born customers.
Full-scale wickerwork mannequins became popular in the mid 1700s, perhaps like this.
In 1835 a Parisian ironmonger produced a wirework mannequin, which may have looked something like this one
France was to develop the fashion mannequin we are familiar with today. A Professor Lavigne designed the first one to be patented. In the 1850s he opened a mannequin house with a student of his, Fred Stockman. Together, they began to create mannequins, which were a much improved form compared with earlier papier-mache ones. (This is just an aside, but the development of mannequins sort of went hand in hand with the development of department stores.)
Fred Stockman eventually established Stockman Brothers, which later became the famous 'Siegel & Stockman'.
Fred Stockman was the first to think that it should be possible to standardize the shapes of the human body, thus 'sizes' came into being.
Lots of good information about Stockman history is to be found in the Siegel & Stockman website.
http://www.siegel-stockman.com/history
I like their 'Women Faceted Dress Form',
appearing in this display, along with some of Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone's colourful sculptures.
Here are some wonderful antique Siegel & Stockman mannequins
These ones are interesting for their display of the female shape as it changed according to the fashion of the day.
This is the more classic Siegel & Stockman form of today.
The Cutting Class provides good information about draping on a mannequin, such as what has been done in the above photo.
For his Spring/Summer 1997 collection, Maison Martin Margiela introduced a wonderful garment which referenced the Siegel & Stockman dress form.
I paid homage to MMM via it in my 'Conceptual' blog.
My half scale dress form, which is great to work with.
This is a useful blog, which helps to explain what makes one of these "mini mannequins" so good to work with.
I have created my own mannequin shirt garment. The fabric was given to me, and when I saw it, it just called out to made 'mannequin like'.
It will take on a form like this.
Was RK thinking along these lines, when she presented these two in her "Trashy" collection of A/W 2008...
These dress forms demonstrate what was involved in CdG's infamous 'Dress Meets Body Body Meets Dress' collection of 1997
Some other cool images relating to CdG and mannequins
Ralph Pucci International is a mannequin company, which started out by repairing mannequins in 1954. The company has expanded to include furniture and lighting and often collaborates with world leading artists and designers.
In 2015 many of the company's greatest pieces featured in 'Ralph Pucci:The Art of the Mannequin' held at Museum of Arts & Design in Manhattan . It really was a career retrospective of Ralph Pucci's creativity.
He believes "Exciting mannequins should always be changing and revolving. They should be a reflection of pop culture, fashion, art, sculpture, music and dance."
this link may assist, https://www.wagmag.com/ralph-pucci-elevates-mannequin-to-art/
Many fashion designers have had to think way outside the square for the Spring/Summer 2021 collection season, due to the current pandemic situation, maybe none more so, than Moschino's Jeremy Scott,who presented his SS'21 collection in an amazing marionette puppet show form.
Let's slip Ray Bradbury's 'Marionettes, Inc.' in here. Bradbury's short story is about a man buying a robot duplicate of himself to fill in for him as a husband, while he goes off and pursues his own enjoyment.
This could be a good moment to include an interesting article from Spanish Vogue, discussing the value of the mannequin in this time we are living through. 
Discussing Sinead Burke's drive for exposing the diverse body shapes that make up the world, brings in the story when Nike launched their plus-sized range in 2017, which went up to size 32. This required a plus-size mannequin to display the clothes, and did it cause outrage!
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In October of this year, French designer extraordinaire Elizabeth Caroustel put together a collection at Ralph Pucci. It was described as a whimsical experience, drawing inspiration from ancient Greece and cozy English country houses. Mannequin-like dancers from Alice Farley's troup mingled among the pieces contributing to the surreal scene.
If you are interested in a wee bit more of the background of Ralph Pucci,
And take in 'The Secret Lives of Fashion Mannequins'. A fascinating story about Cynthia, a beautiful mannequin designed by Lester Gaba. Gaba made life-sized mannequins modelled after well known New York debutants. His experience with Cynthia is amazing, she really was a part of his life. After the discussion about Cynthia there is some interesting history regarding mannequins, and do watch the skit from 'The Sonny & Cher Show'. Cher and Farrah Fawcett play department store mannequins, and do seem to enjoy taking the mick out of themselves!
I was intrigued with the male models mentioned in 'The Secret Lives of Mannequins"
They made me think of the Tracy men! 'Thunderbirds Are Go', created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, was a 1960s television show of wonderful marionette puppetry.
Take the link to view the whole collection, and all that goes with it. What fashionistas can you name?
Mind you, it's not the first time puppets have been used in a fashion show. Maison Martin Margiela went that way with his A/W 1998 collection. The marionettes were created by Jane How.
You can watch the original episode that was made for 'The Ray Bradbury Theatre' television series.
Issey Miyake's collection was also pandemic related. The design team were all working remotely and sending packages to each other, so the concept for the collection evolved into clothing that could be folded into a single drawer. I liked the mannequins that were at work during the showing of the collection.
https://www.vogue.es/moda/articulos/maniqui-moda-diversidad-sostenibilidad
Tim Walker delivered a much cooler garment for her, a burberry trench coat. Sinead's got the right attitude hasn't she.
It refers to how mannequins have taken on a role in society beyond being a clotheshorse. Now, they are assisting with social distancing in cafes, bars and other public places.
There is also mention of Sinead Burke, amazing woman, writer, speaker and advocate for disabled diversity. A mannequin was created using her body shape to demonstrate just what a wide range of body shapes there are. I appreciate the mannequin they created with Sinead's assistance, but I'm not overly impressed with the dress on it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/inspire-me/113578576/the-nike-obese-mannequin-outrage-reveals-hatred-not-health-concern
The one above brings me back to my own mannequins, like this classic art one,
and this wee one,
Someone has taken that classic art mannequin and put together a cool little 'Seedlings, The Fashion Designers Kit'. What a fun idea. I would have loved this when I was little!
There is something in this style that had me thinking about my gym-frock from St John's Girls School days. The shoulder straps started it, so that's where I went. I had some denim that was just the right quality, did away with the elasticated waist casing and the pockets, added top stitching ala denim jeans. Honing it down helped to deliver a very cool "school dress" attire with a bit of swagger. Add a shirt with a collar, slash the sleeves, as they're too low in the armhole, ditch the tie, leave the hem looking like the student has cut it off and we get a look, blending uniform with disarray, that the wearer is totally in control of!
'Silent Partners: Artist & Mannequin from Function to Fetish' was curated at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in 2015. The aim of the exhibition was to reveal the multiple purposes which mannequins served, specifically in the art studio, and how they were "our artificial other", as they seem to be in cafes & restaurants to help provide social distancing, if it is still required!
Before the widespread use of photography, it was common for artists to use what were known as 'lay figures' to stand in place of a model.
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| J.F.Weir with his favourite model |
This Guardian article provides an interesting comment on the exhibition, and you can click to view some of the works that were displayed.
One fascinating story coming out of the exhibition is that of Oskar Kokschka. In 1981 he met Alma Mahler, widow of Gustav. A hot relationship evolved, but by 1913 it was cooling and by 1915 it was over. Kokschka had trouble letting Alma go! He went on to commission doll-maker Hermine Moos to create a life-sized Alma doll to her exact anatomically accurate specifications. However, this too, didn't end well. I believe Alma the doll ended up decapitated in the back garden!
This site covers the story well, and do take in the recording half way through, it's fun.Maybe this film was inspired by Oskar and Alma...
I mentioned Tim Walker before in comments regard Sinead Burke. Some of his images were in 'Silent Partners'. I always love his work.
The one above brings me back to my own mannequins, like this classic art one,
which will dance around if you want it to.
And, my wonderful David mannequin. He hangs out in my classroom. He has interesting feet, his maker must have got interrupted during the job.
I always loved this dress form, which made up the cover sheet of the Moulin Rouge Fashion Show.
I like the concept of these garments that are displayed so nicely on a dress form. Five vintage sewing patterns were sent to some local Australian fashion ladies, who were asked to give the designs a bit of a revamp. I don't know if I would call the patterns vintage? (This concept came from a Frankie magazine)
I want to take this concept and deliver it as my tribute to Kenzo, who died recently, due to Covid-19 complications.
The Kenzo patterns I have,
with this being the one I will use.
Kenzo Takado
27 February, 1939 - 4 October, 2020.
Known for bold exuberant prints.
R.I.P.
Just want to make mention of Simone Leigh. She is going to be the first black woman to represent the U.S.A. at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Her wonderful large scale sculptures take mannequins to a fascinating artistic height.
Let's now wind it up with a quote from the exhibition, 'Silent Partners',
"Thinking about (the mannequin) as a person is not quite as twee as it seems. For who can shake themselves free of the fantasy that one day the mannequin, the little man, might loosen up, shake its wooden limbs and start to dance with us?"
It's not the man, it's the woman in this film, 'Mannequin', a 1987 film starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall. The story line is, artist Jonathan Switcher, lands a job as a department-store window dresser, who falls in love with a mannequin, which comes to life, but only on occasions and only for him. This trailer enables you to view pretty much what the whole film probably had to offer.
Another film, with a mannequin feature, the amazing 'The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant', directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. It is the intense story of fashion designer Petra, and her dynamic relationship with her mother, her daughter, her cousin and her shallow lover, Karin. Mannequins seem to enact aspects of Petra's life, and at time she seems to even resemble a mannequin!
And I must finish with Kraftwerk's 'Showroom dummies'
SLTSLTBsigning off.
