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| New
Mannequins Impact How Shoppers See, Buy Clothes |
Posted:
11.22.04 | |
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Mannequins may be putting on a few pounds. Those life-size fiberglass female
forms that can be seen sporting the latest fashion trends in retail stores in
New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere, have emerged with larger measurements, most
notably those of the backside. Some say it's a move toward more accurate body
representations while others think it's just a new way to sell more clothes. Printer-friendly
versions: HTML / PDF | |
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Clothing retailers have begun to display their wares on shapelier mannequins
and pants forms. Tight, low-rise jeans hug the 38-inch hips of the voluptuous
pants forms. Plus-sized mannequins now appear in sizes up to 20, well above those
of the traditional sizes 2 to 6. Shops that sell clothing will do whatever
they can to boost sales, and shapely mannequins appear to be doing the trick for
many retailers. Women apparently like seeing clothes on more voluptuous frames,
since the displayed clothes are hot sellers. "Anything we put on the
mannequin, people buy it," clothing retailer Fredy Shabani told The New York
Times. "The women love them. They see the pants look good."  Curvy
mannequins may be a result of the fashion pendulum swinging back to the more voluptuous
female shape. Or they may be the logical result of millions of female consumers
who are just tired of looking at nothing but stick-thin women -- both real and
fiberglass -- modeling clothes intended for diversely shaped women's bodies.
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| Evolution
of the 'ideal' woman's body | |
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Women's fashions have often alternated between ideals of curvy and slender.
In the past 100 years alone, the ideal feminine figure -- as dictated by the fashion
of the times -- swung from voluptuous to skinny and back again, time after time.
Starting with the extreme
hourglass frame of the Victorian era, women began to embrace the skinny, boyish
"flapper" look of the 1920s. In the 1940s and '50s the size 14 Marilyn
Monroe Hollywood "bombshell" ideal was the rage, followed by the slender,
leggy "Twiggy" look in the 1960s. In the 1980s, women climbing the corporate
ladder influenced a period of more masculine, big-shouldered styles.  The
"ideal" female shape in the 1990s reached perhaps its most emaciated
incarnation, with what was sometimes called "heroine chic," supposedly
influenced by the skeletal quality of a drug addict's body. To achieve this, women
and girls seeking "perfect" bodies often developed eating disorders,
emulating fashion models who typically were 5 inches taller and yet weighed about
25 pounds less than the average woman.
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| Hip
influences | |
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Fashion trend watchers credit American pop and urban cultures for the rise
of the bigger mannequins.  Rap
artist Sir Mix-a-Lot declared that he appreciated large posteriors in the 1992
hit song "Baby Got Back." Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez drew raised
eyebrows for flaunting her well-proportioned derriere, and R&B group Destiny's
Child produced the song "Bootylicious" in tribute to feminine curves
and sexuality. Rap artists Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot showed the world that
stars can be big and beautiful … and sexy.
People magazine noted in
2001 that more actresses were becoming comfortable with a curvier frame, a stark
contrast from the pencil-thin ideal many in Hollywood try to embody. The magazine
identified Drew Barrymore, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kate Winslet among the women
who were not afraid of a little more flesh on their frames. | |
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| Cultural
criticism | |
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However, some people see the emphasis on a rounder rump as another step toward
cultural degradation. Michael Steward, executive vice president of mannequin
 design
company Adel Rootstein USA told The New York Times, "It's not creating an
image of a woman as an elegant creature. It's a little bit down and dirty, a little
crass." Meanwhile, others are gratified at the apparent loosening
of rigid beauty standards. Susan Bordo, author of "Unbearable Weight:
Feminism, Western Culture and the Body," told the San Francisco Chronicle,
"I don't feel nearly as ashamed to wear tight pants and a top that shows
off my shape as I would have five years ago. And that's thanks to hip-hop culture."
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By Emily Birr, Online NewsHour | |
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