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Other Wordless Friends—
Cheryl Andrews
Kristen den Hartog
Sheree Fitch
Allyson Latta
Elizabeth Yeoman
And David Williams, photogrpaher and host of a WW blog hop.
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Matilda Magtree 
Dress forms are so interesting, and you made a really great choice to put it in black and white. Beautiful!
Thank you! So glad you like it. I find them both interesting and a little spooky. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a normal sized one.
Looks like body armor! I NEVER had a waist that small … glad to see it’s adjustable. Do you use this? Are you into sewing? Impressed. Never got the hang of it :)
Noooo. This is NOT MINE. Saw it upstairs in Furby House Books (Port Hope). Didn’t ask any questions though I suppose I should have. Not sure it’s intended to make human clothing… (;
And yes, I did sew quite a lot once upon a time. No mannequins involved. Just lots of trying on and cussing.
My mother had one that lived in the upstairs hall of our family home for many years. She made her own clothes and some of ours when we were young, as well as reproduction period clothing for museums and theatre. So to me it looks homey more than spooky. Hers was padded though, which perhaps made it slightly cozier. In your photo the juxtapositon of the comfy armchair and the angled metal dummy creates a very intriguing contrast.
Oh, yours sounds wonderful! That is was used not only for clothes but costumes. What an interesting mother you have. I’m guessing you saw some very lovely items on that ‘form’. No wonder it has such good memories. Me, on the other hand, have only ever seen them as quirky headless things, and never shaped like real people. This one was spotted in a back room at a book store. Which may account for the chair. As for why a dressmaker’s mannequin is in a bookstore… your guess is as good as mine!
Your blog is so simple and lovely! Thanks for linking up for wW :))
Paula
lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com
Simple is my goal. Lovely is a bonus, thank you! (;
Carin, my maternal grandmother was a talented seamstress and she had one, but I seem to recall it was all mesh, like armour. It fascinated me the way she could adjust it to different people’s measurements and whip up beautiful creations. As a little girl I wondered if I would ever have the shapely figure it took on for dresses for my grandma, mom and aunt.
After my grandmother died I was asked what I wanted to remember her, and the only two things I desired were her oak secretary (with its secret drawer) and her dressmaker’s dummy. But I was young and living in shared apartments at the time, and moving around a lot. I did get the secretary, and have it yet, but I had to give up the dummy. I think it went into storage, and from there … who knows. Your photo in black and white really emphasizes shape and texture. And for me it brings back a rush of memories!
I’m astonished at the connections people make with this item. I have none. I merely find it ‘interesting’. I can picture the mesh one, I’ve seen them, but can’t imagine them ‘shape-shifting’… that must have been great fun to witness. Now a size ten, now a fourteen. Pear-shaped, oval, hour-glass. I’ve only ever seen them in perfect (and impossible) proportions. I might have been fonder of them had I ever seen them in some realistic light, as you did. I love how you wondered if you’d one day have such a grand figure! A girl’s first role model? I’m delighted that it brought back such nice memories. And thank you so much for sharing them. The best part of WW!
I love these so much I put one in my novel: “The dummy had a lovely, gentle shape and could be wheeled from room to room along the roads of my imagination.” I was inspired by such a form when I stayed at Gibraltar Point, working on the book in its early stages. There was a dressmaker’s dummy in the quiet hall near my quiet little room, and every time I passed her I felt ideas taking shape…. So nice to be reminded of that.
Well fancy that! And “…wheeled from room to room along the roads of my imagination.” So lovely. What a beautiful image. Also that you associate ‘her’ with ‘ideas taking shape’. I think you’ve changed how I see these ladies. Thank you. (:
Really like this in black and white.
Missed you at Wordless Wednesday Bloggers (www.wordlesswednesdaybloggers.blogspot.com). Hope you’ll join us!