The "Mannequinage" or fitting process

Before an exhibition, a costume should go through several phase, like the restoration, which we evoked in the previous article, and the „mannequinnage“ or fitting process.

Their presentation to the public should appeal to inert supports which will not damage them. The "mannequinage" involves conceiving a support made to measure for the costume and which respects its aspect and the forms of the body for which it was made, all while integrating the constraints of conservation for the duration of the exhibition. 

Any garment that is to be exhibited must be tough enough to stand being handled, then shown on a dummy for some months. Once consolidated, it can be fitted on the dummy, a process that can take up to a day when the item is a complex one. The actual setting up of an exhibition will take the fitting team a month. The aim is not only to recreate the look of a given period, but also to ensure that the garments will retain their shape throughout the exhibition; heavy and sometimes well-worn, they have to bear their own weight for several months, something they were never originally intended to do. This is why certain items must be displayed flat.

Fitting also uses such chemically neutral conservation materials as polyester wadding, neutral cardboard, polyester film and polyethylene foam, and elements of lingerie, underskirts and corsets are sometimes remade since they are missing from the collection.

The fitting process is a delicate alchemy involving the concrete – the measurements of the garment – and the abstract: the spirit of an age, for example. Skilled fitting must combine padding techniques with sound knowledge of the history of costume and the evolution of silhouettes. Research into the cutting and assembly of clothes provides invaluable information, which is then backed up by visual material from the period. In this way the shapes and postures of the time can be reestablished, while preserving an awareness of the gap between image and reality.

The type of presentation mannequin is chosen with the scenographer of the exhibition: a pre-existing mannequin which will be adapted with padding or sculpting; creation of a made-to-measure mannequin which can disappear under a costume with a simple structure; black or beige covered mannequins, or even more fanciful ones…

Fashion accessories make the same demands. It is crucial to understand the object and identify its weak points in order to come up with the optimal means of presentation. Every exhibited piece is closely studied with a view to creating a support that will ensure clear, attractive display while also taking account of its structural features and its fragile points