Dress Forms

[dior_couture1245]

I'm looking for a professional dress form (not the adjustable ones, the REAL ones). Anyone know a good place online or (if you live around LA) at a store to find one. Preferably under $100, or just around that price range.

 

[gius]

oh nice.. you are in CA.. hope this helps

for customized body forms:

Carol Stith Zahn
1288 W. 11th St., Suite 200
Tracy, CA 95376
(209) 832-4324

I found this in the book, Shirtmaking by David Page Coffin ©1993

 

[gius]

by the way, it says there she is the inventor of this 'poured-foam cast' form. You can order a kit to make one yourself, then $70, or get five other people together and have her come to make forms for all of you.. this was in 1993. Hope it still applies--i'd love to get one myself

 

[kateelle]

foam? I was aware that professional dressforms were 200+ at least. Better luck with second hand shops that sells these than online and have to pay a greater amount for the shipping cost.

 

[declan_steed]

PGM Pro has affordably-priced entry-level dress forms. These are facsimiles of the Wolff forms you frequently see in schools. I don't have one, myself; but, I have worked on them in other shops.

If you're ramping up to design on an industrial level, though, I'd recommend Alvanon or Tuka. Their forms can be ordered based on your fit model's dimensions or based on sizing survey data.

It's all about the scale of your application...

 

[jun3machina]

ebay

 

[educo]

I'm looking for a professional dress form (not the adjustable ones, the REAL ones). Anyone know a good place online or (if you live around LA) at a store to find one. Preferably under $100, or just around that price range.

GOOD LUCK. You can't even get adjustable ones for $100 anymore. I suggest saving up atleast $400 to get a decent professional one. I have a dressform and it cost me $900. It would've cost me $1100 but I offered to pick it up.

If you're worried about putting down so much money, don't fret. Professional forms last a LONG time.

 

[Hanne]

My friend made one for herself.. I doubt it cost her a bundle..

 

[educo]

My friend made one for herself.. I doubt it cost her a bundle..

What did she do? Duct tape? paper mache? If you want that to be an option, then it's a great way to get a custom dress form, but don't expect it to last as long as a professional one and it seemed like she wanted a professional one.

Also, I recommend going to a local fashion college and ask if they have old dressforms they are willing to give away due to wear and tear. It might work out...

 

[dior_couture1245]

I got a PGM size 4 dress form and a right arm in Downtown for about $250 and it's great!

 

[Hanne]

she told me ages ago.. I can't recall..but i'll ask her next time I see her..

 

[educo]

I got a PGM size 4 dress form and a right arm in Downtown for about $250 and it's great!

Wonderful!! Good luck with your work!!

 

[aya_k]

PGM Pro has affordably-priced entry-level dress forms. These are facsimiles of the Wolff forms you frequently see in schools. I don't have one, myself; but, I have worked on them in other shops.

If you're ramping up to design on an industrial level, though, I'd recommend Alvanon or Tuka. Their forms can be ordered based on your fit model's dimensions or based on sizing survey data.

It's all about the scale of your application...

if your'e in NYC i suggest you try the FIT store - i heard you can get them for around $300 there. Mine is Alvanon and it is amazing, i love working with it - removable arms etc...

 

[gius]

some locations for dress form resources here

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/dress_forms.html

 

[kmccormi]

Here's how to make a packing tape dressform ... cheap and works pretty well if you can ignore that it doesn't necessarily look all that great:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-Dressform-from-Paper-Packing-Tape/

 

[declan_steed]

if your'e in NYC i suggest you try the FIT store - i heard you can get them for around $300 there. Mine is Alvanon and it is amazing, i love working with it - removable arms etc...

Nah... I only get to NYC one day every few months. Most of that time is scurrying from one fabric supplier to another.

I recently brought in a range of PGM forms. I'm quite pleased with them. Though, I still have my eye on Tuka forms, eventually. As I said, before, it all depends on the sizing surveys of the market I'm working with.

 

[fourboltmain]

Make sure you know how to use them! In class we had the Wolf forms, and everyone was bitching about some of them were broken. So I went to my car and got a wrench, came back and fixed them. That pedal at the bottom is a clutch, you press it down and move the form up in height. Releasing the pedal locks it in place. Press it again and it slides down. So many people just pulled the damn things off the slides without thinking. You could probably find some that are 'broken' and there's nothing wrong with them. If the torso comes off at the top, put the ball head back on and tighten it with a wrench.

Also, some lean due to age, so use a plumb line (a bolt on a string works just as well) and check and re-mark the lines if you have to by holding one end of the string at the top and letting it hang.

Oh, and make sure if you see a collapsible one (where the shoulders fold in) that in the wood skeleton on the inside isn't sticking out by the shoulders. This will throw your measurements WAY off and you'll be pissed at me for buying a bad form.

I named mine after my ex, in a vain attempt to make it a voodoo doll with all the pins in it.

 

[ChristionCouture]

I get my dressforms and mannequines from an Asian dealer in Queens, NYC. STUDIOROX.com They deliver. You can trust them!