Body Design, Variable Realisms: The Case of Female Fashion Mannequins

Schneider, Sara K.

doi:10.2307/1511936

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Mannequins have evolved, from simple dressmakers' forms to poseable wax dolls and painted plaster (Schneider, 1997). Modern retailers even feature mannequins that can serve as electronic observers, using embedded video technology (Grewal & Levy, 2015).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mannequins vary in their shape, color, and features across retailers (Schneider, 1997). Of the ninety seven stores in the suburban mall that displayed mannequins, seventy-eight displayed full sized mannequins, thirteen displayed half sized mannequins (on the top or bottom), while eleven (jewelry stores) showed only the neck (the sum is greater than ninety-seven because some stores displayed multiple types of mannequins).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Does the presence of a mannequin head change shopping behavior?

Lindström

Berg

Nordfält

et al. 2016

Journal of Business Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the presence of a mannequin head change shopping behavior?

Lindström

Berg

Nordfält

et al. 2016

Journal of Business Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In keeping with a tradition of effigies in waxwork spectacles, mannequins in museum display have traditionally assumed a lifelike disposition (Hjemdahl, 2014; Sandberg, 2003; Schneider, 1997). This includes facial features, wigs and gait, thereby constructing a realistic, historically accurate demeanour.…”

Section: ‘Life Histories’: the Mannequin’s Career Trajectorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the original function of the tailor’s dummy to replicate the physical measurements of the client (Schneider, 1997), mannequin designs have evolved over time to enhance proximities between the object and its human counterparts (Engdahl and Gelong, 2019). This has included posture, pose and muscle definition but the most significant attributes have been the construction of personality, attitude and character through ‘neck-up realism’ (Schneider, 1997: 6). Mannequin design has reflected 20th-century correlations between consumer behaviour and celebrity endorsement with recognizable faces furthering desirability of the apparel being showcased.…”

Section: ‘Life Histories’: the Mannequin’s Career Trajectorymentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Strike a pose’: Fabricating posthumous presence in mannequin design

Davies

2020

Journal of Material Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Interviewed in 2004, designer duo Viktor and Rolf outlined their ambivalence towards fashion exhibitions suggesting that ‘somehow life is taken out of the subject’ (2008, cited in Teunissen, ‘Understanding Fashion through the Museum in Melchior, MR, 2014). Garments seeking spectator attention within the museum space are often perceived as static entities devoid of their original function as embodied artefacts. There is no denying an inert aura pervades listless materials that have supposedly lost their agency, now confined to the vaults of the museum-as-mausoleum. In their re-purposed role of performing as reminders of a life now departed, this article considers curatorial strategies that seek to revive a living presence in garment display with specific reference to the remodelling of Frida Kahlo in the V&A exhibition ‘Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up (2018)’. Addressing Dudley’s suggestion in Museum Objects: Experiencing the Properties of Things (2012: 19) that an artefact’s ‘fundamental material characteristics’ should be at the heart of contextual interpretation, the role that an object’s material properties can play in the re-materializing of embodiment is evaluated. In the V&A exhibition, a narrative emerges on clothing as an agent that conceals vulnerable corporeality. Sartorial practices armoured Kahlo’s body and the role material entities can play in containing and preserving the illusion of corporeal substance will be investigated. Given this premise, it seems wholly appropriate to focus on the contribution that the mannequin can make to this conceptual framework. After all, it is an artefact with a central occupation of establishing bodily integrity in the display of clothing. Reiterating Clark’s suggestion in The Textile Reader (2012) that the mannequin contributes to the vocabulary of a curatorial brief, this article proposes that this artefact can interrogate the tensions that exist between Kahlo’s sartorial practices and her abject body. Substantiating Appadurai’s premise of material objects’ agency in The Social Life of Things (2001[1986]), the exhibition arguably employs the once humble tailor’s dummy in a significant role, thereby reconstructing its dominant function of embodying fabric in the museum.

show abstract

“…An important function of photographs showing visitors observing displays is to demonstrate the museum's physical positioning of objects in relation to viewers; most archival photographs depict displays straight-on, framed by the dimensions of the case, whereby the proportion and perspective that are so key to museum scenography are lost.3 "Judy" is a term for a female dress form, although it is usually used for a sewing dummy and not a display mannequin. This usage seems to be peculiar to Mrs. Brett.4 This is the case for the retail world as well (seeSchneider 1997); one notable exception are the shaded mannequins used by the Museum at FIT.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Fashion, History, Museums Inventing the Display of Dress

Petrov¹

2020

Dress

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Notes 199 References 206 Index 227 CONTENTS 1.1 Unknown photographer, press image, c. 1912: "Costumes Added to the London Museum, Kensington Palace. Tudor caps (in top row) and shoes of the 15th century (two bottom rows)," London Museum Photo Albums, Museum of London archives. © Museum of London 16 1.2 Two postcards from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Wing series, 1924. Models are wearing dresses from the Ludlow gift (11.60.232a,b and 11.60.230). Author's collection 19 1.3 Undated postcard showing wax figures wearing costumes from the collection of the Society for Historical Costume in the Musée Carnavalet. Author's collection 24 2.1 William McConnell, "Eight O'Clock A.M.: Opening Shop," from page 87 of Twice Round the Clock; or, The Hours of the Day and Night in London (Sala 1859) 34 2.2 Modern and museum fashion at the Met. Original caption: "These comparisons between the ultrasmart evening gowns of today and those worn by the well dressed lady of fashion a century or more ago were made in the fashion wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the Costume Institute's collection of gowns, depicting the evolution of fashions for several hundreds of years, is on display. The 1954 fashions were designed by James Galanos of California, winner of the 12th annual Coty American Fashion critics Award. In the photo at left the Galanos creation (left) is a gold and black metallic evening gown built over a pellon and black silk taffeta. Compare it with the ball gown of cloth of silver vertically striped with blue silk and gold tinsel, brocaded in polychrome and trimmed with silver lace, beside it, which dates from the 18th century, Louis XV period. French, of course." Bettmann/Getty Images 42 2.3 Edwardian wax mannequin models, an eighteenth-century outfit at the Museum of Costume, Bath, c. 1980. Courtesy Gail Niinimaa 47 2.4 Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Photography.

show abstract

Body Design, Variable Realisms: The Case of Female Fashion Mannequins

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Does the presence of a mannequin head change shopping behavior?

Does the presence of a mannequin head change shopping behavior?

‘Strike a pose’: Fabricating posthumous presence in mannequin design

Fashion, History, Museums Inventing the Display of Dress

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About