The Hunt For The Ideal E-Commerce Mannequin

With the rise in online sales and product photography – the ideal mannequin is as elusive as chaff in the wind. Just when you think you might have found one, it goes up in cyberspace.

The ghost mannequin is a concept that would make product photography more attractive. It would also make it easier to achieve a focus on just what you are trying to sell. You do not want to draw attention to the background, and could do without the quirks of a cheap mannequin.

Ghost mannequins are non-traditional mannequins that have multiple snap on parts, so you can remove sections that you do not want to show in the photographs. The only places to get ghost mannequins in North America – is New York and Toronto.

Unfortunately, since they have multiple magnetic parts and a metal stand, it means they are very heavy. This makes shipping a problem, because they are over seventy pounds. Plus one has to consider working with one, and the amount you have to move a mannequin around when space is limited. I am not convinced it would be worthwhile to have something so heavy to deal with.

Even without a ghost mannequin, there are ways to minimize and ghost the background, if you have the right light, angle, and camera lens. It is difficult to get even light throughout the entire image though.

In searching for a better fibreglass or plastic mannequin, based on my own experience, I think fibreglass is better. But if you drop an arm and it breaks, you have to discard the entire mannequin. They are quite tall and awkward to carry around. It looks weird to haul one around in your back seat, or sticking out of a trunk. You can’t just throw the old one away either. You have to find a home for it, or get it hauled to the landfill.

In doing product photography, you want to (at least I want to) line it up, so the garment looks symmetrical on the body. If one leg is forward, or if the mannequin is posed as though it was dressed for a shop window, it is not quite the same as a mannequin used primarily for product photography.

For anyone who pays attention to mannequins, see if you can find one that is facing straight forward, with both arms and both legs straight? They don’t seem to exist. Yet if one leg is forward, it tends to make the shoulders look off-kilter.

Another major difference between using a mannequin for display, and using it for product photography – is the number of times you dress and undress it. It is handled much more often when using it for photography. In contrast, most window mannequin outfits are only changed every four to eight weeks.

The hunt for the ideal mannequin continues. The perfect plastique photogenic dream girl is out there somewhere!