Manifesting Mannequins

 

Categorically mannequins are articulated dolls used by tailors, window dressers, artists to display their clothing. An artist’s jointed model carries the ‘word history’ from France to the flemish ‘manekken’. In the visual merchandising and fashion industry, they play a very major role. The mannequins ‘were’ and ‘now’ are extensively used for shop display purposes.

In this blog, we’ll figure out different time assortments from history, to the present, and to the future. As the mannequins carry a rich history, it will be more interesting to map out their roots to the present day.

In the past hundred years, figures are changing to reflect advents of window shopping, subversive androgyny, liberation for women, wartime rationing, fetishism in barbies, fiberglass, and Twiggy. Shapes rotate from poles to lunettes and backgrounds. To date, models reflect changing stances on the female form, patterns of consumer behavior, material and technological developments, which are symbols repping each era.

Let’s take the historical chronology era-wise -

1. 1900-1910

The mannequin evolution from a headless doll to a human figure is synonymous with the Industrial Revolution when the manufacturing plates, sewing machines, and electricity were readily available to transform the shop front into open air space. This period marks the beginning of the bourgeois activities of 'window shopping,' with mannequin models of recent fashions at the center. The average price of a mannequin at that time was $15.

2. 1910-1920

When the First World War started in 1914, women were carrying out labor-intensive work in industries like arms, replacing men who had been recruited to the front line. Mannequins reflect this social change by shedding their hats, unlacing the corsets, uncovering the knees and anchors, and flattening the Victorian mono-breast. The mannequins were more relatable as women were becoming more practical.

3. 1920-1930

By the 1920s, the formal, straight victorian woman had left and been replaced by the easy, boyish, and androgynous flapper who possessed a slim, straight, and flat chest figure. Mannequins of this period emulate this change of preference and simultaneously reveal the influence and geometrical representation of the human form on art deco and art nouveau movements.

4. 1930-1940

The Great Depression began in the 1930s and displaced the 1920s by a more conservative approach towards fashion. Mannequins become softer and glamorous features like high cheekbones and oval faces were added to beautify.

5. 1940-1950

During World War II, the shop window was subdued. Bright clothes were replaced by dark expressions as they evoke a sense of patriotic duty. The silhouette was getting slimmer and less adorned and the mannequins were made shorter than their predecessor to conserve valuable resources.

6. 1950-1960

In the 1950s, American consumerism boomed, and models became more uniform in form and size, reflecting the ideal idea of the female form in shops around the country. The mannequins were modeled with tiny defined waistlines, rounded hips, high busts, and sloping shoulders just like the most populous movie star of that era, Marilyn Monroe.

7. 1960-1970

Mannequins of the 60s embody the changing standards of the beauty of the sexual revolution. If to ignore the shape and size of the average consumer, though they appear different in style from the previous decade. The period represents the era of "The Supermodel". Fiberglass was introduced in the material base of the mannequin as it makes it lighter and sturdier.

8. 1970-1980

In opposition to the glamorous, recognizable celebrity mannequin from the 1960s, mannequins from the '70s become more abstract and faceless – slowly turning into headless drone-like figures that gain fugitive popularity in the 1990s. They were particularly painted in solid black/grey/white color.

9. 1980-1990

A sharp focus on health and fitness was created by rejecting the unhealthy attitude of the body image, which took center stage in the 60s, whose devastating consequences were evident in the ‘70s. Mannequins were made with realistic and toned characteristics in response to the above rejection.

10. 1990-2000

The 90s represented a "heroine-ic" trend, a decade in which the unattainable thin figure of supermodels such as Kate Moss prevailed as the ideal women's shape. Over this period, retailers in plus-size and fashion became more popular, and thus, larger mannequins that were close to the average woman emerged in the markets. Narrowed hips, straight shoulder lines became popular as the toned body fashion boomed.

“Today’s Talk”

In contrast to the early 20th century, the majority of the mannequins that we see in the shopfront are now 8-10 rather than 14 (like earlier). And fashion companies show no signs that they will soon change their models. For the most part, commercial models today have moved from realism or variation completely, but in the past 100 years, they have slowly transformed into faceless, block-colored drones. Women started to achieve so-called ‘beauty with plastic surgery and botox treatments, these mannequins have also started mirroring them.

If to discuss The Future, mannequins will shape more effectively, moreover, technology like augmented reality can escape the scope of future mannequins, as people will experience more by fitting the outfits on their own bodies. Similar to the fashion and visual merchandising industry, advancements will be seen in order to the growth (scientifically and material-wise). But as witnessed that the past trends tend to return with greater interest, same can be done with merchandising industry, victorian mannequins can be seen on the streets with recurring fashion trends,