Fashion Mannequins

The demand in Britain today is growing for fashion mannequins — girls who know how to wear clothes with elegance and how to walk with poised, graceful steps amid a crowd of critical eyes, with complete coolness, smiling, composed, or laughing according to what the new model on display requires.

The school for mannequins in London, after its head, Mrs. Lucie Clayton, reopened it at the end of the war, has received hundreds of applications. This shows plainly that the tiring profession of the mannequin undoubtedly has its lures and its attractions in the eyes of girls — those who spent several years in the fighting forces, the factories, and the Women's Land Army.

Some girls take up this profession because they believe it truly amusing for a girl to put on beautiful clothes, become the focus of all eyes, and, in the end, draw a salary that is not to be despised. But there are certain other girls who look upon this profession in quite another way, entirely different from the first.

And although a great number of girls have their applications accepted, there are certain matters that cannot be overlooked. If a girl is accepted into the ranks of the mannequins, she must possess a taste for the wearing of clothes, even if it is still only natural and untutored, for the task of the experts is to polish that taste and raise it to the highest levels. Next, the new pupil must be versed in the manner of walking that draws all eyes, for if she is ignorant of this she will certainly diminish the value of the gown she wears.

As for her age, it must not exceed twenty-five — with some exceptions, naturally — quite apart from her height, her weight, and the measurements of her figure, which are of the first importance. Then comes the turn of beauty, which she must enjoy, since every one of these girls is required to be beautiful to some degree, though that does not prevent her from being alluring as well. Before she leaves the school she is taught something of the art of the stage. She begins with physical exercises to correct her figure; then her work develops into training in the poised walk, in turning with grace and suppleness, and in taking off clothes and then putting them on in a tempting and engaging manner, and so forth.

It is worth mentioning that some of these girls advance so far in the field of the work that they draw the attention of film directors and magazine proprietors, who ask them to work with them — and thus their futures are settled.