Skip to main content

Cheap Dress Form-like Mannequins

I recently started using a dress form, and I really like it.  I used to always just keep trying on things and looking in the mirror, but the whole getting dressed, getting undressed, trying on, getting undressed, getting dressed again- well that can get exhausting!  (Actually, if no one was home, and I was at that point where I knew I would have to be trying things on a lot, I would just sew in my underwear- LOL!)  But no more, now that I have my dress form! 

BUT- they can be rather expensive though.  So, I wanted to clue you all in on a super cheap alternative.  The national women's clothing chain stores CJ Banks and Christopher and Banks are updating their mannequins, and selling off their old ones that have a definite look of a dress form.

They are selling the ones on a stand for $20, and the table top models for $10.  Each store has a lot of these to get rid of- our stores had about 20 at each store.  I understand that the whole chain is doing this, so if you have one in your region, they either have already received theirs, or will be soon.

The ones from CJ Banks have a full bust of 44, and the ones at Christopher and Banks have a full bust of 36.

They told me that they use a size 8 garment on the smaller ones and a size 1X garment on the larger ones.  They aren't adjustable.  I think that the body is some type of styrofoam and they have a muslin-shaded knit cover.   The base is solid wood and is very pretty.  The CJ ones are really tall which is nice for tall women.  I'm guessing they are set at about 6 feet tall.  The Christopher and Banks ones were considerably shorter- probably around 5 feet 4.  I know that I was looking downward at them, and I'm 5 '9",  but I didn't get one of those to take home. 


I can definitely stick pins in them, and they make that styrofoam-y scratchy sound when the pins go in.  I'm guessing that if your measurements don't match, that you could either pad it or if you are brave, do some sculpting to make one smaller.  At this price, it's worth a try!

I picked up two.  I think these will go fast, as they are very nice for display as well, so if you need a dress form for cheap, and have these stores in your area, then give them a call!



Comments

  1. Check your location. I called but our store (northern CA) did this 3-4 months ago and all are long gone. Glad you were lucky.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting my blog! I would love to hear your opinions! Please share your comments here.

Popular posts from this blog

What to Wear in Madagascar

To be honest, I have no idea what to wear in Madagascar, and this title may need to be changed to "what NOT to wear in Madagascar" in a few months.  We will have to wait and see.  My 22 year old daughter, Alyssa, left for the Peace Corps this week, and she will be stationed in Madagascar for the next 2 years and 3 months.  Yes, you read that right- TWO YEARS and three months!!! We are very proud of her for wanting to help make the world a better place, and for being fearless in doing so, but it will be a looooong time for Mama and Papa back home. Not knowing anything about Madagascar, the first step in figuring out what to pack was to figure out the weather and the cultural norms.  Madagascar is a very large island off the southeastern coast of Africa.  It's very, very unique in it's ecosystem, and has many species that are not found anywhere else in the world- most famously lemurs. Right now, it is experiencing it's rainy season, as you can see by the

Vogue 9305 Asymmetrical Tunics

It's April and we're expecting snow tonight.  Have we switched hemispheres?  Nevertheless, I am sewing with visions of warm sunny days.  And for those warm sunny days to come, I imagine sitting in the shade with a light breeze flowing through the air, enjoying a light beverage with friends.  Just close your eyes and you can imagine too.  What would you be wearing?  Well,  I love a dramatic asymmetrical tunic made of the softest linen.  As luck would have it, I found just the fabric in the "As Is" section in Fabric Mart's sales category.  With just some irregular dye marks on the selvage, it was marked down, but still completely usable.  It started out as a solid color, but I did an ombre dip dye process to get this look- more on that later! For my pattern, I chose Vogue 9305 , a tunic with a shaped hemline, and two styles of pants (I didn't make the pants).   This pattern must be the biggest bang for your time possible.  The tunic went tog

Grey Cashmere Coat Simplicity 3672

For the past few months, Fabric Mart has had the most gorgeous array of Michael Kors Wool Blend Coatings that I have ever seen!  During COVID stay at home time, I've been letting my gray grow out, and I thought that even though some of the delicious sounding shades like apricot and apple green would be beautiful, the heathered gray shade would be the most flattering to my gray hair and the most versatile for a winter coat.  And it was one of the coatings that listed Cashmere as one of the fiber components, so I was curious as to how that would feel.