As interns in the fashion industry, we are often asked to get rather, shall we say…. creative.
Take for instance, the task we were put to by our bosses at Presse. This summer, our charge was to find vintage dress forms that could be fixed up, re-upholstered and transformed into cool new mannequins to be used for unique store display.
Finding dress forms in this city is by far a very challenging task; especially when the task specifies the dress form to be of a vintage look, and most importantly CHEAP! Now, most dress forms as you may well know, are exceedingly expensive and can feel like you are placing a down payment on a Ford Focus. Consider yourself lucky, dear fashion friends, because what you have here before you is a tried-and-true guide to finding a great vintage mannequin:
1. WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES! When taking on the fashionable streets of Manhattan, you certainly want to keep your feet looking attractive during this uneasy mission. Newcomers to the New York fashion world feel that they have to wear high heels shoes at all times. We highly discourage this behavior if you want to see yourself at the finish line. Moral of this statement: you will be walking miles, so wear something you will be comfortable in.
2. START THE SEARCH AT THE BIRTHPLACE OF NYC DESIGN: Obviously, the fist place to look is in the two world famous fashion institutes conveniently located in NYC – aka: Parsons and FIT. However, be forewarned!! The fashion departments at these prestigious schools either sell, donate or perform a lottery with these forms for their students first. To nab these, you have to get there very early after the end of the year. On that note, another good starting point is to take a stroll up and down 25th-27th streets and around 6th and 7th Avenues (or “mannequin district”, as we like to call it). We found multiple little shops, willing to sell their vintage forms for negotiable prices.
3. OUR SPECIAL SECRET: After many miles walked, we found this little “hole in the wall” shop called “Sewing and Co.”, which is located on 38th between 8th and 9th avenue. This small shack owned by a charming man named Robin has tons and tons of vintage dress forms stacked around in the upstairs storage. Now, you WILL have to listen to Robin’s stories of his son becoming “a movie star”, and you WILL have to watch video segments of said 13 year old son acting in movie clips on his laptop, but once you pass the test, Robin will inform you of his stack of dress forms that he has dropped off at his house in New Jersey that he ever so often is willing to give you for FREE! A tip? You may want to splurge on some popcorn and give yourself a couple hours to kick back and watch some movies to score the deal.
4. ONLINE, BABY, ONLINE: Don’t forget to take a look online at Craig’s List or Ebay.com. Here, you have the ability to find a plethora of vintage forms for bargain prices as low as $25! Before you click the “Buy” button, make sure the shipping prices aren’t as much as you would be spending on a first class ticket to London, because that’s where they might get ya.
5. POUND THE PAVEMENT: When all else fails and nothing is going your way, just begin to roam up and down random streets in the Garment District or go to flea markets during the weekends, because you are always bound to stumble on something. Even if you come across a store that are not particularly dress form/mannequin selling stores, the best you can do is to bat those gorgeous eyes of yours and see if you can change the minds and hearts of all!!! 
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