Any decent tailor will tell you that he or she creates and alters clothing to fit the clients body shape. They take measurements of shoulder span, arm and leg length, neck circumference. The exhibits designers at the Greeley History Museum take those measurements too, but in reverse. Tailors make the clothes to fit the body. We make the body to fit the clothes.

Like bees in the hive, the museums designers are busily creating an exhibit that chronicles the history of Greeleys Spanish Colony neighborhood. As part of the exhibits team, I am making a mannequin to help illustrate the dynamic story of the neighborhoods sugar beet field laborers. However, getting from the vision in my mind to the finished product has been quite a journey.

A mannequins most important job is to support and preserve the clothes it displays. So, it is crucial to use the best materials to construct our mannequins. Styrofoam (or Polystyrene Foam) holds its shape, but can attract dust and may release a gas that eats through fabrics like moths in a closet. Instead, we make all of our mannequins from Polyethylene Foam (brand name Ethafoam) because it is rigid, acid free, and inert- meaning it does not release gases.

From my experience creating mannequins for past exhibits, I knew that my first task was to gather clothes the typical sugar beet laborer would have worn. Though the museums collection of historic clothing is very large, we have few mens clothes, and even fewer mens work clothes. Working with shoes from our collection, thrift store finds and costuming supplies instead, I gathered overalls, a button down shirt, gardening gloves, and a straw hat.

My next task was to construct a mannequin form from Ethafoam. I glued pieces together to create a rectangle that measured 26 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and 6 inches deep, leaving a hole in the bottom for the mannequin stand. Feeling like a sculpture artist, I took out my handy electric turkey carver and got to work forming the contours of a basic human shape. Knowing that I am a newbie sculpture artist, I asked a veteran- Exhibits Curator Nancy Lynch- to help me visualize and carve the mannequins head and neck.

Even when the shape was all carved and glued together, I still wasn’t done. Since humans are more than their basic bone structure, mannequins should be too! This mannequin needed padding. And arms! And a name!

I used beige nylon pantyhose to cover the mannequins head just enough to cling to the faces features. Cutting pieces of a tube sock-like, knit material called Stockinette, I covered the Ethafoam torso and began to add padding. I circled the mannequins ribs with large, flat pieces of batting and a stomach pillow, then added pillow stuffing in layers to his buttocks and chest. Another layer of large Stockinette held that stuffing in place.

Then, I cut two pieces of smaller diameter Stockinette, tied knots at their ends and stuffed them with pillow stuffing to create basic arms, continuously measuring to fit the length and width of the shirts sleeves. After adding pads at the shoulders and pre-formed hands with white gloves, I felt satisfied with his basic structure and decided to name him Manny.

After hemming the overalls, I dressed the mannequin and started making plans for the next phase. Unlike most mannequins I have created thus far, Manny is going to get some props.

Written by Holly Berg, Greeley Museums Exhibits Assistant

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