Helen Alten\u2019s \u201cMuseum Mannequins\u201d workshop covered a variety of methods for designing, building, and adapting mannequin supports.\u00a0 Construction processes were broken down into additive, subtractive, and cast-and-molded techniques.\u00a0 The majority of designs were for male and female torsos.\u00a0 Padded hangars, T-mounts, and full-body mannequins with cast-from-life appendages were also discussed.\u00a0 Design and presentation issues were covered, emphasizing the use of appropriate undergarments and appendages.\u00a0 The benefits and problems associated with many prefabricated mannequins were discussed.\u00a0 Questions and discussions were encouraged throughout the PowerPoint presentations and hands-on activities, which was helpful as workshop participants had varying levels of experience and each participant\u2019s contribution enriched the workshop.<\/p>\n
A 29-page handout was e-mailed prior to the one day workshop.\u00a0 This was appreciated, as a lot of material was covered.\u00a0 The handouts that were provided on site expanded on the initial handout with a workshop outline, a five page bibliography, a list of material suppliers, \u201ccheat sheets\u201d for measuring garment dimensions, a basic bodice pattern, and six articles on designing and constructing mannequins.\u00a0 Helen also pointed us to useful resources such as Patterns of History <\/em>historic garment patterns, Museum Mannequins: a Guide for Creating the Perfect Fit<\/em> (2002) edited by M. Brunn and J. White, and A Practical Guide to Costume Mounting<\/em> (2007) by L. Flecker.<\/p>\n Each participant was asked to bring a garment to measure for the practical workshop.\u00a0 Hands on activities included measuring the garment, creating a pattern for a rigid-board mannequin, and creating a foam mannequin.\u00a0 Two groups made mannequins out of Ethafoam\u00ae, a material commonly used for mannequins, and one group made a mannequin from Plastazote\u00ae, a softer type of polyethylene foam.\u00a0 As a molding demonstration, two participants cast their hands in plaster using alginate molds.\u00a0 The workshop went about 1 hour over time and most participants chose to stay.\u00a0 Samples of buckram were provided for experimentation at home.\u00a0 All supplies and tools were provided.<\/p>\n Helen encouraged participants to contact her with future questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Helen Alten\u2019s \u201cMuseum Mannequins\u201d workshop covered a variety of methods for designing, building, and adapting mannequin supports.\u00a0 Construction processes were broken down into additive, subtractive, and cast-and-molded techniques.\u00a0 The majority of designs were for male and female torsos.\u00a0 Padded hangars, T-mounts, and full-body mannequins with cast-from-life appendages were also discussed.\u00a0 Design and presentation issues were … Continue reading “39th Annual Meeting \u2013 Workshop, May 31st, \u201cMuseum Mannequins\u201d by Helen Alten”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32,16,17],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annual-meeting","category-objects","category-specialty-sessions","category-textiles","tag-aics-39th-annual-meeting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}