The presence of a dress form in a sewing room comes in handy time and time again. In fact, it’s a must-have nowadays for any serious designer.
Having one makes it easy for one to perfectly fit their designed clothing onto a human form or likeness.
But wait, what’s a dress form? Good question. It’s a representation of the human torso, made of hard internal material and external foam material.
The exterior is made of soft material to make it easy for the tailors to pin garments.
But the dress form shouldn’t be confused with a mannequin. A mannequin is a representation of the whole human body and is normally found in retail stores. See the difference?
So you have a tailoring business or are a designer and want one of these dress forms. There are still a few things to get clear before you run to the store and buy one. If you’re a pundit in the field, you already understand that dress forms aren’t similar.
If this is you, jump straight into the reviews below. For the novices, note that when you want to buy a dress form, you’ll need to, first of all, get straight to what your intended purpose for it is. There are display dress forms that are used to display the finished garments.
These cost the cheapest as well. There are the more expensive professional dress forms that are used for the whole dressmaking process. From the preparation stage, where you’ll do lots of pinning all the way to the completion stage, where you’ll be displaying the finished garment, professional dress forms have no boundaries.
Then, a step higher is the bifurcated dress forms.
They are different from the professional ones in that they include legs. Then, finally, there are the most expensive ones, the adjustable dress forms that can be adjusted to take on anybody size you wish.
Our Top 3 Recommendations – Dress Form
“Following are the top three recommended products based on personal experience and customer feedback”
- Bonnlo Female Dress Form Pinnable Mannequin Body – (Budget Pick)
- Dritz Sew You Adjustable Dress Form – (Runners Up)
- SINGER Grey Dress Form – (Editors’ Choice)
Top 5 Best Dress Form Reviews
Okay, let’s take a look at some of our favorites that threaten to take the best dress form’s mantle.
1. only mannequins White Female Dress Form
This dress form is perfect for displaying female garments. Its shape and size represent the smaller female body sizes of 33 inches around the bust, 24 inches around the waist, and 34 inches on the hips. It also has a shoulder to shoulder width of 14 inches and a torso height of 27 inches.
Then, to make work easier for the designer, the people at Only Mannequins included an adjustable height feature. This one can be adjusted from four feet to a maximum of 6 feet. Why is this great?
Well, the different designers have different heights themselves. They can adjust the height of the dress form to one that’s comfortable for them. Then, once done, they can effortlessly readjust to the ideal eye level for display purposes.
Holding up the torso form is a tripod wooden base. This has been built to bear the weight of the clothes placed on the form, even the heavier ones like gowns and coats. The wood is a highly durable kind that can withstand the abuse, ensuring it lasts long. You’ll notice how stable this tripod is, giving you the confidence that it’ll always remain upright.
At the very core, the form is made of hard fiberglass material. We know that fiberglass is a highly durable and solid material, and it endows this dress form with that quality.
Covering the fiberglass is a foamy material that is further wrapped with a high-quality white cover. All of this is made to withstand the battering that comes with being in a sewing room. It’s excellent for pinning and brilliant for displays.
2. Dritz Sew You Dress Form
How about an adjustable dress form? It takes on whichever size you prefer and is brilliant to help you fit garments for varied body sizes. The Dritz Dress Form does all this. It’s opal green and has two dials on the front face.
These dials are used to adjust the bust, waist, and hip size to your preference. For instance, the bust can be adjusted from 33 inches to 40 inches, the waist can be adjusted from 26 inches to 33 inches, and the hips can be adjusted from 36 to 42 inches.
Measurements are crucial when deciding what dress form to buy, and having an adjustable one makes everything so much easier. And to make things even better, the neck and height are also adjustable.
The opal green cover is made of nylon. The advantage of this is that nylon is easy to clean. Get a wet rug and wipe off any dirt or markings. Pinning and marking are also quite effortless, thanks to this nylon. Everything about the Dritz dress form allows it to ease the work of a designer.
The stand underneath is made of strong and durable plastic material. It firmly stands on the floor, holding up the torso form and withstanding the weight of different types of garments. The whole dress form is pretty lightweight.
It’s easy to move around. Also, the torso can detach from the stand and be placed on a table when needed to. The Dritz caters to the different needs of different sewists.
3. Giantex Female Mannequin Torso Body Dress Form
Finally, in our search for the top dress form, we came across the Giantex. This is a unique-looking mannequin. We say this because most other mannequins we’ve encountered have either a plain white color or another plain color.
This one comes with a beautifully patterned torso form. If that isn’t your cup of tea, you can still get a plain black or white one. Anyway, the Giantex is made of Styrofoam material. It’s a very lightweight material that makes the whole dress form easy to move. Plus, the Styrofoam is soft enough to allow for easy pinning.
It’s then clad in a polyester fabric made to allow for marking because it’s straightforward to clean. A simple wet rug easily gets it spic and span.
The base, holding up the mannequin and ensuring total stability, is made of rubberwood. This is an inexpensive material that allows the whole dress form to come at an affordable price. And rubberwood is still quite strong, able to hold up the mannequin.
It also withstands the everyday grind making it quite durable. So if you want to display sweaters, T-shirts, jackets, dresses, blouses, and even accessories, the Giantex female mannequin is up to the task.
4. only mannequins White Female Mannequin Dress Form
This is a dress form that’s made for the female body. It bears 34 inches, 26 inches, or 35 inches, making it perfect for the average female size. Made of purely recyclable material, this dress form is eco-friendly.
You can be sure there’ll be no pollution in your sewing room, at least not from this dress form. Still, there isn’t any chemical glue used to attach any part of it. Ledum has made sure that every bit of this piece is as eco-friendly as they come.
Still, it’s made to be extremely sturdy and highly durable. The wooden tripod stand underneath holds up the torso form with zeal. It’s assisted by a stainless steel tube that runs up and keeps the form in place. This collaboration of wood and steel gives the mannequin a steady stance, and they prevent it from toppling over easily.
And when it does, on the rare occasions topple, the strong build will keep it from breaking. With such sturdy construction, the Ledrem is perfect for displaying heavyweight items of clothing.
The strong build doesn’t take away from its portability. The torso form of the dress form is lightweight, supported by the sturdy stand. All these are easy to move around, as we know you’ll often need to. Simple lift and shift its position with ease. It doesn’t resist and doesn’t cause a hassle.
And when you need to disassemble it, you can. The process of disassembly is simple and utterly painless. The instructions come accompanying the product package and are easy to decipher. You can detach the different parts within just five minutes.
Assembly is equally easy. In an equally small amount of time, the dress form will be back up and ready to display your wonderfully made garments.
5. Best Choice Products White Female Mannequin
If you’re looking for a low-cost yet highly functional dress form, then perhaps the top-rated dress form for you might be the Best Choice Mannequin. But what is it that makes this dress form your best choice? Well, first of all, it looks sophisticated.
It’s all white from the torso form to the pole and stands. Everything is pure white that screams out. The mannequin itself, at the core, is made of fiberglass. This material is perfect for maintaining strength and durability, meaning you won’t have to worry if it falls over.
Still, fiberglass keeps the mannequin at an acceptable lightweight making the whole dress easy to move around. Over the fiberglass is a layer of foam that gives it the ability to accept pinning. And we know this is something vital in making dresses.
The pole connecting the mannequin above to the feet below is made of aluminum, another lightweight yet durable material. Needless to say, this aluminum is capable of withstanding a lot of battering that comes from being in a sewing room.
At the same time, it will ensure the mannequin’s stability, keeping it upright at all times. The feet are made of wood. They provide a stable base for the Best Choice mannequin. This ensemble gives you a perfect dress form to display your clothes on.
Whatever you dress it in, from a full dress to skirts or blouses, the dress form brings out the beautiful look of your clothes.
Are You Looking For Dress Form? Here’s What You Need to Consider
If you are looking forward to buying a dress form, there are many aspects that you may need to consider.
If you are not really sure how you can find the perfect dress form for your requirements, this post will walk you through some of the most important factors considering which you can have the most suitable dress form for your purpose.
There can be a few of them you are already aware of, but it is not always easy to keep them in mind, right?
This is why we thought of coming up with this post to give you a very comprehensive yet simple picture of things that you can easily keep in mind while buying a dress form.
Custom Dress Form or DIY
The type of dress form largely depends on your exact requirements. There are two ways to go about it. You can either choose a custom dress form or DIY. If you need one for draping, drafting, and designing, you can certainly go with a custom dress form.
However, one big downside happens to be that it may not be suitable for all body sizes. If you are sewing for others much often and at the same time, is on a tight
Budget, going for a custom dress form may not be the right thing to do, and DIY would be the best option for sure as it offers you more flexibility and is also much affordable.
Resizable Dress Form
No matter if you are designing a dress for just one client or multiple clients, choosing a resizable dress form can be worthwhile since it is a fact that the shape of our bodies changes with time, which means even if you are dedicated to just one client, you would still need dress forms of different sizes over time.
You can’t afford to spend so much on dress forms and, at the same time, have your workstation or room filled with so many dress forms. This is where a resizable dress form comes in handy as it can be easily adjusted according to the requirements.
Bifurcation Dress Form
This is another important point to bear in mind while buying a dress form if you want a perfect dress form. A bifurcation dress form includes arms and legs. This is the ultimate next level to the professional dress form.
Some come with magnetic arms too, which can be very useful and convenient to use. This sort of dress form is most ideal for draping and pattern work. However, it will work equally well for all types of design work.
Partial or Fully Pinnable
This is another factor that needs your proper attention. Before you go ahead with buying a dress form, you would first need to decide if you need a partial or fully pinnable. Fully pinnable dress forms are much preferred, and they come with a foam layer to help you have the pins directly inserted.
It is handy for pinning heavy fabrics that have to be actually inserted at an angle. A partially pinnable model can’t do this job effectively since one won’t hold the heavy fabric’s weight when it is inserted at an angle.
Add Padding
Even when you order a professional dress form specifying the right dimensions, most of the time, you will find that the dress form doesn’t match the exact measurements. For example, if the bust may be positioned up too high on the dress form or maybe, the torso is a bit longer.
This is when you can consider adding padding to get the form closer to your exact measurements and requirements.
Collapsible Shoulders
Has this feature already crossed your mind? This can be a handy feature, especially if you are into tight garments. The feature works just like the real-life movement of putting on tight garments. At the same time, it also helps you easily fit the items into the form.
Hence, you can look for a dress form that comes with collapsible shoulders, and that way, you can ensure that you have the most advanced and comprehensive dress form in place.
Choose from the Best Brands
Choosing from the best brands doesn’t essentially mean that things will get expensive, but that way, you can always ensure better quality and durability. As far as the pricing goes, you can always compare the pricing and choose the brand that offers you the product at the most competitive price.
With that being said, it is not wise to get a cheap dress form if it doesn’t meet the purpose, and it is not a bad idea to spend a little more if one comes with advanced features. However, we need a perfect balance and the right frame of mind when making a buying decision.
Wrapping Up
If you have read this post carefully, you should now have no difficulty finding the dress form for your purpose. We suggest you try selecting a dress form that meets your exact requirements in the first place.
Besides, you can always try looking for more advanced features in the dress form, some of which we have already mentioned in this post, such as Resizable Dress Form, Bifurcation Dress Form, and Collapsible Shoulders. Last but not least, you can always count on the best brands for better quality and durability.
Finally
By figuring out what you want the dress form for, you’ll be able to make the right choice on which one to buy. The adjustable ones are quite convenient if you have a busy sewing room, making dresses for different-sized individuals.
And as we’ve seen with the Dritz above, they don’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. However, if your only need for the dress form is for display purposes, the cheaper ones will do. Whichever one you prefer, durability and stability are key features that shouldn’t be compromised.
Also, the material used for the mannequin torso portion should be considered. If you want to do a lot of pinning, then a soft material like Styrofoam is ideal.
Whatever your choice, our list above contains the five best dress forms you can find at an affordable price.