All items are manufactured from specially selected materials such as low-styrene resin that is also free from harmful fire-retardant chemicals. We work closely with the textile conservators on every project and constantly review and upgrade our materials in line with their suggestions.
Our textile conservation grade torsos and figures are chosen for the long-term display of precious costumes such as Lord Nelson’s Trafalgar coat and waistcoat at The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich [pictured right].
Two male ranges meet the different requirements of military uniforms and civilian clothes; a number of female ranges to match the different shapes of fashion styles from the 1500s to the present; and a children’s range that includes a baby. If required, heads and hands from fully realistic to ‘featureless’ styles are available for all ranges.
Ranges with specific body shapes have been created to suit entire costume collections. [pictured left] The Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation Museum, Nafplio, Greece.
Three-quarter torsos can be supplied with adjustable nape to waist measurement and this is a standard feature on full-length figures. Some pairs of legs also have adjustable hip sizes.
We have several cantilevered systems that enable figures to appear to be seated, but without any pressure being applied to either costume or chair [pictured right].
We specialise in adapting items from our ranges to fit individual costumes by reversing the made-to-measure process that created the original garment. Museums in the Far East, Greece, Finland – and even London’s Royal Opera House have asked us to create specific body shapes to suit their costume collections. We also create cut-away costume mounts so that only the costume is visible.
[pictured left] An example of a cut-away form, Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
In the mid-1980s we worked closely with England’s National Army Museum and the Museum of London to develop suitable body shapes to display their collections. The original male and female ranges evolved and expanded over the years through collaborations with many other national and international museums. The experience gained from this means that we have figures to fit clothes worn by ordinary people as well as the more extreme corseted shapes seen in fashion plates.
[pictured right] Our made-to-measure figures for ‘Wedding Dresses 1775-2014’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum feature a head specifically sculpted by us for this exhibition.
