One of the most commonly used display item, especially in clothes and accessory shops are of course mannequins. We take them for granted, but while they have been around in one form or another for thousands of years, their use in store displays is more recent.

They were first used by Kings and Queens who would have a dress form made to their body dimensions to allow the court dress maker or tailor to make their clothes without the possible embarrassment of a fitting.

In the late 18th century, mannequins were made from wickerwork and often filled with stuffing and leather. Wire-framed versions came into existence in 1835 but were used largely by dressmakers and tailors for private use, rather than for store displays.

The 1880s saw the appearance of street lighting, and shops began to have window panes. At the same time, improvements to sewing machine technology enabled ready to wear clothing to be made in large quantities for a new middle class with money to spend, created by the industrial revolution. Thus more retail stores opened and the store owners began to use mannequins to display the latest fashions.

Around that time mannequins were made of wax, wood or heavy fabric. To allow then to balance in an upright position the feet were constructed from iron, and papier-mache and sawdust were used to give them shape. Consequently, mannequins of this era were expensive, hard to maintain and heavy. Yet by the turn of the century the mannequin had already become central to a new industry known as 'window dressing' which is now known as 'visual merchandising'.