Finding the Perfect Lingerie Dress Form // Part Two: PGM Lingerie Dress Form Review
Hi guys, as promised here is the review for the PGM Lingerie Dress Form that I purchased back in April. I wanted to use the form for a few months before sharing my thoughts.
If you are interested in how and why I chose this form, you can check out that post here.
If you are interested in the review of the form, read on!
This post contains affiliate links.
General Things of Note
- The topper part is plastic and you get a choice of a gold or silver topper.
- The total height of the form from the topper to the bottom of the flange at the right leg is 34″. The shortest height of the stand including the wheels at the lowest setting is 56 3/8″. The tallest is about 82″. Even with the stand at the lowest height, you will need at least a 7 1/2 feet ceiling to use this form because you’ll have to constantly take it on and off the pole to put on panties or one-pieces. If you are putting this form in a room with lower ceilings, you can get the form on and off the pole by laying the whole thing out on the floor and then righting it once you have the form on.
- There’s a hole in the crotch area of the form and I think you can put the form on the pole that way instead of using the flange at the right leg. I haven’t tried it though.
- The form is hollow. This also means that it’s very light.
- There are two ways to lower and raise the form. You can use the foot pedal or you can just lower the form until it’s at the ideal height and then you can tighten the knob on the flange on the right leg to keep the form on the pole.
Things I Like
- It takes less than 5 minutes to assemble the form. I used this guide–it’s for a different PGM form but it works for this form too.
- The form is very well packaged/padded to sustain damage during shipping transport.
- The form is decently built for the price point ($200). It’s pretty sturdy, especially considering it’s actually hollow on the inside.
- The form is semi-pinnable. You can’t jab the pins directly into the form, but it’s perfectly pinnable if you put the pins in at an angle.
- The cast iron base is heavy and sturdy, so the form is very unlikely to topple over.
- The wheels make the form really easy to transport.
- I love the overall shape of the form and it really has become an indispensable tool for photographing lingerie sets.
Things I Dislike
- In order to put underwear or one-pieces on the form, you have to lift the form off the pole every time. This part can get time consuming. Pro tip: I would put a bunch of underwear on the pole with the right leg opening of the panties around the pole beforehand. I will then set the form on the pole and adjust it to the ideal height and then just change out the panties as I photograph them.
- The adjustable foot pedal is not the smoothest. It takes a bit of fiddling to move the form up and down using this method. I don’t actually use this method a lot since I am constantly lifting the form off the pole. I can just lower the form to the ideal height and keep it in place by tightening the knob at the right leg.
- The shoulders are not collapsible–of course I cannot expect this feature on a $200 form but it does make it pretty hard to get pullover bra styles on and off the form.
Sizing
To start, I’m including the form’s measurements. I’ve also pulled the measurements from PGM’s own size chart and as you can see, there’s only a slight variation between PGM’s size chart and the actual measurements. I purchased the Size 2.
I’m putting the form’s measurement up because I’ll be using it as the fit model for pattern reviews. This will allow you to see how various patterns will look and fit on a consistent fit model.
If there’s another measurement you would like to know, comment below and I will be happy to provide it.
PGM also says the form is a B cup. I often find that’s not very informative without the context of a band size. A 32B is very different from a 40B.
I will use two common bra sizing methods to determine the “bra size” of the form.
US Sizing
In US Sizing, there are several ways to calculate bra sizing. The one I will be using for the form is one of the more common ones. It’s the one I generally experience when getting sized at boutiques or department stores.
For this method, you add 4″ to the rib cage measurement if the number is even.
You add 5″ to the rib cage measurement if the number is odd.
The form’s rib cage measures 25″, which means we will add 5″.
25″ + 5″ = 30″. The form’s band size is 30.
To find the cup size, you subtract the band measurement from the full bust measurement. The difference in each inch is a cup size. So in this case, 32″ – 30″ is a difference of 2″. A 2″ difference is a B cup. Based on this sizing method, the form is a 30B.
US Cup sizing taken from Bare Necessities.
UK Sizing
For UK Sizing, your rib cage measurement is generally your band size. If it’s an odd number, you will round up to an even number. For the form, the rib cage measurement is 25″. The band size is 26 since we are rounding up to an even number.
To find the cup size, you will subtract the band size from the full bust measurement. In this case, it’s a difference of 6″. Based on UK’s cup sizes, the form is a 26E.
UK Cup Sizing taken from Bare Necessities.
So What Does This Mean?
Different sizing systems will yield different sizes based on the same measurements. Sizing methods are just a starting point to help find your bra size. Not every system is going to work for everyone, but at the end of the day, it’s about having a bra that fits and less about the numbers.
Bottom line: For $200, I’m very happy with this lingerie dress form. I hope PGM keeps this form in stock more frequently and expand to larger sizes.
If you have further questions about the form, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them. 🙂