Hello. Ahem. Pause ogling that photo over there for just a moment and look over here at these words, please.
The image you see to the left is a real Miami mannequin, which boasts (as you may have noticed) somewhat un-real proportions.
What you observe over there is merely one of about forty-thousand Bust-a-licious Mannequins in Miami. These top-heavy plastic ladies are in EVERY South Beach window these days!
You see, at a certain point, mannequin designers in South Beach must have looked around at the street and said: “Oh my… these skinny little twig mannequins do NOT look like the curvaceous babes strolling down Ocean Drive! It’s time to add a little more plastic up top. Er, actually, a LOT more.”
Or perhaps one too many Miami women with, er, physical enhancements, walked into South Beach stores and screeched “I do not feel represented by those window dolls! Look at that bikini on that skeletal mannequin. How could I possibly know how that would look on ME, given that I have THESE, and that plastic punk does not? I demand to be represented! And my silicone-filled chest does, too!”
At this point the store owner must have quaked in his designer boots and gone straight to his iPhone 4 to dial up a company called something like “Ye Olde Large-Chested Mannequin Company.”
I mean, really… who are the people who design these dolls? What are their meetings like? Do they start cracking up every three seconds, or do they keep straight faces throughout, and get really stressed out like normal office workers?
If they are married men, do their wives get jealous of the mannequins? Perhaps whisper feverishly at night: “Do you like those artificial plastic wenches better than me? Do you wish I looked like that?”
But this is an educational travel blog, so let’s pull it together and snip that flight of imagination right now to move on to cross-cultural comparison… of mannequin chests and butts.
For those of you who were reading this blog when I was in Vietnam, you may have read my article analyzing the rear ends of Vietnamese mannequins.
The conclusion of that article was: Brazil’s mannequin’s have “Fatties” (luscious round rears), and those in Vietnam are… “Flatties.”
(Click here for the full article on Vietnam mannequin butts.)
I’m back in Boston now, land of conservative, petite mannequins, but I can’t help but think back a little wistfully to the ridiculous plastic humans lining Miami’s storefronts. I mean, it’s already pretty offensive to have all clothes modeled on washboard-tummy-ied, white-(plastic)-skinned, Size 4 dolls… How are the completely over-the-top mannequins of South Beach, Miami that much worse? :)
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Angel says
Miami mannequins also have much junk in the trunk… which are realistic proportions in Miami ;)
Lillie says
Yup! :)
Pete Laberge says
If you look at Discovery Channel They used to have videos from a show called “How Things are Made”. And one episode, about 6 months ago, was, I think on making mannequins!
Pete Laberge says
I wonder if the clothes are made special to fit the mannequins? Mind you, if you look at male mannequins, most are plain and featureless. Only the female ones are well detailed. Is this smart selling to the ladies, or to the men in their life, who imagine the lady love in the dress… and assume she will look like that? One wonders!
Lillie says
Hah! Good questions!
Kurt says
See, I guess it never occurred to me before. I guess mannequins are anatomically different depending where on the globe you are.
Qiyin Y. says
The mannequins looked like they had plastic surgery. .___. I’m glad Boston doesn’t showcase such skin in their shops! Anyways, it’s pretty cool to see mannequins fit for the beach.
Kenneth Holman says
The third picture is really weird. I mean, pairs of legs with no upper bodies, very creepy!
Abby Murphy says
I think the mannequins are funny, but realistic at the same time. I think it is really disappointing when you see these kind of “things” when you are out.
Oriana Hairston says
I don’t understand how that help sells what’s really important, the CLOTHES. What about the mannequin makes the clothes more appealing to the buyer? -.-
Koraliz says
They can poke an eye out. :)
Fiona Phie says
The chest is way to big!
Sofia L :) says
I think that those plastic mannequins are like barbies but a bigger version. If you compare the mannequins here in Boston and the ones in Miami, the mannequins in Miami are so tan while the ones in Boston are pale. Women in Boston might walk pass them and get jealous because they don’t have a tan and the Miami mannequins are. This is so funny.
Liz C. (Koraliz) says
Wow. So unrealistic, why would they make that? It’s funny but not realistic. I wonder how others reacted….
Yara says
They should really consider getting “normal” mannequins. This is just ridiculous. (-_-)”
chavonna xu says
I don’t think that it is appropiate to let like children to see those manequins. I don’t think there is much to say if the husband chooses the mannequin over his wife. That husband might have problems liking a plastic doll over a living human being, well that is his lost.
Matt says
My room mate from college and graduate school is a plastic surgeon down there. Methinks he may be to blame!!!
Katie says
When I was in Cusco a couple years ago, a friend and I were cracking up over the mannequins they had there – not just a bit disproportionate on top, but they all had the bottoms turned around so the butts faced front! Wish I could post a picture to share :)