The Dollywood Times

All retailers know the value of their window displays. They are the first point of communication for gathering new customers. There is no better way to create a fresh and inspirational look to a shop front than to change themes and props on a regular basis.

Exclusive to Mannakin – our Retailers Starter Pack is an opportunity to gain access to the biggest mannequin cupboard in the United Kingdom. We give you the flexibility to choose from our range of new and used mannequins and exchange them for different types of mannequins as and when it suits you.

The benefits are enormous. By changing and exchanging perhaps black mannequins for white ones, realistic for faceless, your customers will always look to you for a fresh look. And for a viable mannequin investment, this is definitely the best deal we have seen yet.

For more information please use our web enquiry form to register your interest and we will forward further details of our Retailers Starter Pack to you. Nearly all mannequins featured at www.mannakin.com are available for you to hire.

The Newark Show, held annually is one of the biggest agricultural shows in the country. We sponsored the stand for the National Farmers Union with ten realistic mannequins to communicate the vast range of careers available within the farming industry. Here are a selection of images taken at the show. The stand won a Gold Award for the best non-commercial stand and a Silver Award for the best stand overall. The Mannakins were naturally very pleased.

It is true that almost every blog to do with fashion, weight loss and eating disorders is having a dig at Rootstein for creating a new design of male mannequin.

I thought it best to put our hat in the ring, being an upcoming designer and producer of mannequins.

Rootstein is known as the pioneer in the mannequin world. They produce fantastic mannequins that hold their value and almost everyone knows about them. They didn’t achieve this status by not producing different kinds and styles of mannequins.

The latest release is Homme Nouveau – a tall, 37 inch (waist) male mannequin with what I would call a ’slight’ build. This can only fill a gap in the market and would not have been created if the demand was not there.

A lot of bloggers have said that this encourages eating disorders in men. But what these reporters fail to realise is that there are men out there with builds like this and they are not malnourished or ‘manorexic’.

We say well done Rootstein for enabling us to gain yet another category in our mannequin world.

(Picture found on web)

A mannequin is a valuable investment for retail merchandisers, event organisers and exhibitors. Keeping your mannequins in ‘as new’ condition is not as difficult as it sounds. Armed with these tips, we hope to give lease to a long life for any mannequin.

1. Always unpack your new mannequin with care and consideration. Ideally, wear gloves when handling the body parts. If you do not have gloves to hand then at least ensure your hands are clean and rings are removed. Rings scratching against the surface of a mannequin will cause what looks like light pencil marks. They can be removed but in any case, avoid yourself the extra job of cleaning by removing your rings.
2. Clean hands are essential when unpacking, assembling and dressing a mannequin. We see the most common of marks caused by hands on key areas, such as around the neck, bottom of torso, thighs and arms. All of this can be avoided.
3. Join the mannequin together with care. Forcing a limb in place with undue care and attention can break the fittings. These can be fixed but again, safe yourself the hassle and expense.
4. Do not stick cellotape or double sided velcro to the mannequin. It will either remove the paint or leave a sticky residue which is time consuming to remove. It can of course be removed in about a half hour with white spirit, but it is an unnecessary task. If clothes do not fit the mannequin as you desire, use pins on the fabric, not tape on the mannequin.
5. Do not, if you can help it, drop the limbs. Whilst many old fashioned or expensive mannequins may survive, most modern, lightweight mannequins will not. If you think your mannequin needs to survive the hands of novice merchandisers, then please ensure they are adequately informed before they are let loose on your investment.

We once liased with a leading department store on the care of their mannequins. Their policy in fact was very bright. We were talking about damaged mannequins and how they recycled them. Simply put, they told us that there objectives were to always care for the mannequins and handle them in the correct way. As such, this attention to detail ensured that their investment lasted well into the future. With stores throughout the United Kingdom, this was obviously a good policy to have and saved a lot of time and money.

The world premiere of Before I Sleep, commissioned by the Brighton Festival started yesterday.

Before I Sleep is a site-responsive promenade production inspired by The Cherry Orchard, specially designed for the former Co-operative department store on London Road.

The characters in Chekhov’s greatest plays inhabit a world on the verge of collapse. They look out to the future and wonder what life will be like in years to come, unaware that, for them, it is about to change dramatically and irreversibly. Their future is now our present.

132 (no less) of our mannequins have been integrated into the set design and we are very proud to be working with such an exciting production.

‘dreamthinkspeak is an extraordinary company.’

The Guardian

knightsbridge, originally uploaded by i’mnopro.

It hardly even needs words – this image (to a mannequin enthusiast) speaks volumes.

This is a question that I get asked a lot. Can mannequins move their arms or legs? There is a simple answer.

If the mannequin is made from fibre glass, then it is in a static pose and cannot move much apart from its arms can move from by its side to a little higher – by having a hinge like joint where the top of the arm meets the torso. This mannequin video shows a great example, where the production team have used static (fibre glass) mannequins to imitate the dummies playing a keyboard.

But if you want a truly flexible mannequin that can do almost everything (apart from the washing up of course) then you need to look at our range of realistic and faceless flexible mannequins. They provide a very versatile solution to a variety of productions and are on the top of the list for a number of big idea directors.

Starring as yet the no name robot mannequin – more news to follow

OK, so a young Brad Pitt – but do you think he looks like him? Actually we don’t think he is as good looking as Brad, but he could pass as a substitute. Why not hire him and sit him down to dinner with yourself? Set your camera on the self timing mode and post it on Facebook – tell the world how you had dinner with Brad. Well, OK, we are getting a bit silly now but it is Friday and it is almost time to go home. Let us know what you think! Nice weekend. x