Mannequins are usually the right height, but size? No way. Not in the US, anyway.
British department store Debenhams has debuted new mannequins that reflect real women’s body types, and even more refreshing is that they aren’t to model a plus sized line. The new displays are a size 14 (US size 16) compared to the usual size 10 (8 US) mannequin, and feature signs that read, “I’m a size 16. Do you want to see more of me?”
Debenhams spokesman Mark Stevens says of their new mannequins:
“We are proud to offer a broad and varied choice for women of all ages, shapes and sizes in store, so we thought we should reflect this in our window displays. If it’s popular with customers we would love to roll it out.”
The mannequins allow consumers to see what the clothes would actually look like on them, as the average UK size is 14 or 16.
Wonder when this will catch on in the US?
One of my biggest peeves is when I enter a store and the smallest clothing size has to actually be pinned together in the back because the waists of the plastic models are so impossibly (quite literally) tiny.
I don’t care what the clothes look like wrapped around a flag pole. I want to know what they would look like on me. I am often drawn to the displays in Torrid’s windows, a trendy clothing store for plus-sized girls. Even though I am not plus-sized, the mannequins draw my attention because they look like normal people, and I can see how those clothes would look on me, a normal person.
Mannequins, to me, are not runway models. Runway models (for now, at least) are meant to walk clothes down the runway without showing them up, which means disappearing inside of them. Mannequins are meant to make me buy, which means showing me how the article of clothing will look on me. If I walk around the back and see that the only way a shirt looks good is if I am so emaciated that an extra small has to be stapled to me to stay on, I’m going to pass. I don’t need any mannequins telling me it’s my fault a shirt doesn’t look good on me.
