Adjustable Mannequins for Stores, Shops and Dressmakers
Probably one of the most well-known appearances of a mannequin in fiction occurs in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Empty House,” in which the famous literary master of detection Sherlock Holmes avoids getting a pistol-caliber bullet in his skull by diverting his enemy, crack shot Sebastian Moran, with a bust in wax, executed by ‘Monsieur Oscar Meunier of Grenoble,’ seated in Holmes’ quarters at 221B Baker Street. To further deceive his enemies, Holmes has his landlady Mrs. Hudson change the mannequin’s pose every eight minutes.
Roles of Adjustable Mannequins
In real life, an adjustable mannequin is often employed for more prosaic uses such as in store windows. They can be display mannequins, showing of the shop’s wares; dress mannequins, which can be used to help in designing, sewing and storing clothes; or jewelry mannequins, dressed in finery and enticing the viewer into wanting to own the same.
Early mannequins were made inflexibly with wood, wire or wax, but with the advent of the Industrial Age and the premium placed on realism, these were replaced by lightweight creations which could be quickly moved and adjusted to cater to the demands of the store owner or the display.
How Do They Move?
An adjustable mannequin can be moved into different poses through movable joints in the mannequin’s structure or more normally by using detachable, rotatable heads, arms, legs, hands, and feet. With a few changes, a male mannequin shown previously as seated on a chair reading a book can be transformed into one wearing cold-weather clothing and holding up a pair of skis, standing happily beside a female mannequin amid a panorama of styrofoam snowflakes and soap snow. Or a dress form supporting a wedding gown in one display can, with a few adjustments, also be used to show off a plus-size evening dress in another department. This makes the shop mannequin not only the effective visual merchandising tool it already is, it makes it more cost effective, too. Now, the store will not have to stock so many mannequins, each limited to one pose, nor will it have to find the space to store all of them or find the time for their upkeep - a serious matter when your typical fiberglass mannequin, male mannequin or female mannequin, can cost upwards of a hundred dollars.
Today there are articulated mannequins which are able to move through pneumatic, hydraulic or electric means. These liven up attractions like amusement park rides and are beginning to appear in some of the higher-tech department stores.
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