Hi rbigg~
This is an areas of great interest to me, as a costume historian.
Thanks for asking!
"Mannequin" used to be the term used for live models. (Indeed, in
Europe, it's the word still is used for live models.) In the late 18th
and early 19th century, when clothes were not available ready made and
women couldn't try on dresses to see whether or not they liked how
they looked, live "mannequins" (who worked for dressmakers) wore mock
ups of dresses and paraded around in them for clients.
The word has French origins (France, at that time, was the undisputed
leader in fashion), but as another Researcher pointed out to me, leads
back to the Dutch word "Manneken," which means "little man."
Why little man? Because at an even earlier time (the late 17th and
18th centuries), dressmakers (and some tailors) sold clothing via
doll-sized figures dressed in miniature versions of fashionable
clothes. These "mannequins" were hand delivered or mailed to clients,
who would then approve of the fashions before they were made up full
size. Such mannequins also gave potential clients a chance to examine
the dressmakers general skill. These original mannequins were also
sometimes called "fashion dolls" by English speakers.
The book "Four Hundred Years of Fashion" by the Victoria & Albert
Museum, illustrates one such mannequin from the mid 18th century. The
text reads: "Fashion dolls were originally made by dressmakers to
illustrate their skill in miniature for their clients. The practice
developed in the seventeenth century and continued until the growth of
fashion magazines in the nineteenth century..." Here is the Amazon
listing for this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1851773010/qid=1087417532/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6380403-8211920?v=glance&s=books
Regards,
Kriswrite
RESEARCH STRATEGY:
Personal knowledge
Consulting other Researchers about Frnech/Dutch
Looking up references in respected fashion books |
