I have been searching for a long time for a book charting the history of mannequins and dress forms from their earliest days. I knew one must exist, but I just couldn't seem to find one - no matter how much I googled!I found a lovely little hardback book called 'Counter Culture - The Allure of Mini-Mannequins' by Steven Heller & Louise Fili. It has lots of wonderful pictures detailing their personal collection of vintage mannequins, but didn't really go into the history in much detail.
Now, given that the name of the wonderful book I have found is called 'Mannequins', you wouldn't have thought it would have been that difficult to find! Never mind, I have it now ... and I love it!
It is a substantial hardback book and in between making my mannequins, I haven't been able to put it down. From the inside of the dust cover ... 'In this first international history of the mannequin, the result of over three years of concentrated research, Nicole Parrot describes its aesthetic developmet and the highly refined techniques of its production from its first appearance in the sixteenth-century Venice to today's hyperrealist models.'
It has lots of wonderful pictures and is a must read for anyone interested in vintage mannequins and dress forms. Some pictures from the book below ... enjoy! (p.s my pictures aren't great - but the book is!)
