Finding the Perfect Lingerie Dress Form // Part One: Researching and Choosing a Dress Form
**11/9/17: Sale alert! PGM Dress Form is having a Thanksgiving sale currently. You can enjoy a 10% discount + Free Shipping (free shipping only apply to local USA continental over $100) with promo code 10percentTKS on their website.**
Hi guys! As some of you probably know, I purchased the PGM 602E Lingerie Dress Form a few months back. I have a review for that dress form coming soon, but I wanted to share with you my journey to finding a lingerie dress form before settling on the PGM form.
Everyone’s criteria for an ideal lingerie dress form differs, so I hope my research will aid you in your quest for finding the form that is perfect for your needs!
For me, I’ve been thinking of getting a lingerie dress form for photography/display purposes. I enjoy taking flat photos of my finished lingerie projects, but I think they look better on a body or a dress form. Photographing lingerie on a body or a form gives you a better idea of the cut and style lines of a particular bra or underwear pattern. Since I’m unwilling to model my lingerie projects, the next best thing is to buy a dress form.
I will also be using the dress form for pattern reviews, because it’s useful to have a model with consistent measurements modeling all the different patterns out there.
In this post, I will cover the following topics:
- What I’m Looking for in a Lingerie Dress Form
- Various Dress Forms I’ve Considered and Their Pros and Cons
- Which Form I Ended Up Choosing and Why
This post contains affiliate links.
What I’m Looking for in a Lingerie Dress Form
- I don’t want to spend more than $300 (excluding shipping and taxes). I’m mostly using this dress form for display/photography purposes.
- I am looking for a professional dress form and not a display dress form even though I’m using it for photography mainly. I want to be able to do some draping on it occasionally, and professional dress forms are more suitable for that purpose.
- I’m looking for a dress form that is semi or fully pinnable.
- I want to find a dress form that is close to my own measurements since I will be mostly photographing lingerie that I’ve made for myself. I’m not expecting to find a body double, especially at the $300 price point. For reference, my current measurements are: full bust is 31.5″, under bust is 28″, and over bust is 30.75″. Waist is 25″ and hips are 35.5″.
- I want a dress form with partial legs. I don’t need the full legs because 1) I’m only using it to display panties or bodysuits and not pants or bottoms and 2) It’s kind of creepy to have a headless humanoid object hanging around the house. Especially at night.
- I want the form to have a heavy duty base with wheels so I can move it around easily.
Notes: Due to my restrictions: $300 budget, heavy duty base with wheels, and partial legs, I ended up eliminating a large number of dress forms right off the bat. This means no Wolf forms or Alvanon forms. The number of forms that checks off these requirements is astronomically low so this helps narrow my search down considerably.
When choosing a dress form, it really helps to know what you’re looking for specifically.
Preliminary Research: Forms I Considered
Stockman B428
I first saw this dress form on Line’s Instagram, and was intrigued by it. The shape is perfect and the quality looks amazing! So I messaged her to learn more about it. Unfortunately it only comes in one size only and the measurements are not close to mine so I had to quickly crush all hopes of buying one. However, I wanted to include it here in case it is what someone else is looking for. According to the website, this dress form is specifically made for lingerie!
**11/9/17: Sale alert! PGM Dress Form is having a Thanksgiving sale currently. You can get a 10% discount + Free Shipping (free shipping only apply to local USA continental over $100) with promo code 10percentTKS on their website.**
- The shape is exactly what I’m looking for.
- It’s semi-pinnable.
**11/9/17: Sale alert! PGM Dress Form is having a Thanksgiving sale currently. You can get a 10% discount + Free Shipping (free shipping only apply to local USA continental over $100) with promo code 10percentTKS on their website.**
- The dress form only comes in one size, a European 38. The measurements are 90cm bust, 71cm under bust, 66cm waist, and 93cm hips. In inches, that’s 35.4″ bust, 28″ under bust, 26″ waist, 36.6″ hips.
- The price is above my budget. 346 euro for the form and 95 euro for the base. (Note: The prices here are from two years ago when Line bought her dress form. The prices may be different now.)
- The company, Siegel-Stockman, is based in France. I’m not sure they do international shipping and in the event they do, it’s probably quite high since dress forms are both bulky in shape and heavy in weight.
- No wheels at the base for ease of transport.
For European readers who are also in the market for a lingerie dress form and this style appeals to you, Line says it cost her 57 euros to ship the form to Denmark from Paris. The company deals with other businesses mostly, but they will work with individuals. To purchase the form, you have to write them an inquiry. Thanks to Line for sharing this info!
You can find Siegel-Stockman’s contact page here.
PGM Lingerie Professional Dress Form 602E
I saw this photo on Hannah’s Instagram and my interest was immediately piqued. I messaged her to find out more about the form and asked about the specs and what she likes or dislikes about the form. Here’s what she wrote to me:
I’ve been really pleased with the mannequin! I brought a size 6, I’m assuming its US sizes as that’s where I got it from. I got this size as it was the closest to my measurements and the size I make all my samples. I didn’t think of checking whether the measurements were actually correct so I’ve just done it and it is a little out. The bust is bang on but the waist in 1″ bigger than on the size chart and the hip is about 1/2″ bigger.It’s a solid shape covered with fabric so I keep jabbing pins straight into it forgetting I can’t do that any more with this mannequin! (my last one was polystyrene) but the fabric is loose on this one all over as far as I can tell so you can use pins on it. It’s a hollow shape with a heavy base so swapping panties on and off is no trouble as it’s really light.It has quite a long pole which the mannequin goes on to which means lifting it up and off to change panties gets a little precarious but it is light so it’s not too much trouble. As the pole is so long though (it goes through the mannequin and when it’s at its lowest point the end of the pole sits against the inside of the mannequin at the shoulder) which means the lowest the mannequin goes is about 34″(from the bottom of the mannequin) above the floor. Sometimes being able to lower it a bit more would be useful for photo’s etc.
Pros
- The shape is what I’m looking for.
- The base is heavy duty and has wheels.
- The form is semi pinnable.
- The over bust, full bust, and under bust measurements for the Size 2 are close to mine.
- At $199 + free shipping (and maybe tax depending on your location), the price point is quite attractive.
Cons
- The proportions of the form are petite, which means I might not be able to use it to display bodysuits or one pieces in my size. (My torso is long.)
- The waist and hips measurements are smaller than mine.
The form comes in a B cup by default, but PGM does offer custom made cup sizes for C-F. Just for kicks, I asked them if they would do custom sizes for AA or A cups. They said no.
You can purchase the PGM Lingerie Dress Form here.
The size range for this form goes from 2-10, but it appears that most sizes are constantly out of stock/not available.
The Shop Company Professional Female Dress Form w/ Collapsible Shoulders
The Shop Company Professional Female Dress Form w/ Collapsible Shoulders has an attractive price point and seem to be high quality. I have a friend who owns this dress form and uses it for draping all the time and she’s very happy with it. Lauren of Lladybird also has positive things to say about the quality of this dress form.
This form is not strictly a lingerie dress form, but I’ve included it because the measurements are the closest I could find to my own.
Pros
- The price point is within my budget. $269.00 + tax + shipping
- The quality is great for the asking price.
- The measurements are very, very close to mine. Its size 0 comes in an elusive bust measurement of 31.5″.
- It has a super heavy duty base and wheels for easy transport.
- The form is semi pinnable.
- The shoulders are collapsible, which makes it easy for pull over styles to go on and off.
Cons
- I won’t be able to display panties or body suits on this form.
You can purchase The Shop Company Professional Female Dress Form w/ Collapsible Shoulders here.
The size range for this form goes from 0-24.
Choosing a Lingerie Dress Form to Buy
In a perfect world, I would be able to take the PGM Lingerie Dress Form and The Shop Company Dress Form and combine them into my ideal lingerie dress form. On a whim, I reached out to The Shop Company to see if they are coming out with a form that’s similar to the PGM Lingerie Dress Form anytime soon. They said it’s not in their immediate plans and directed me to their full body dress forms.
Ultimately I picked the PGM Lingerie Dress Form for its shape, similar measurements, and unbeatable price point. Hannah of Evie la Luve also uses the same form for lingerie photography purposes and that helped cinch the deal since my main goal is to use it to photograph lingerie sets.
Again, I want to impress upon you that finding the right lingerie dress form is down to the unique needs of the individual looking for the dress form. You might be looking for a lingerie dress form for pattern drafting purposes or for fit purposes. Or you’re like me and want a photography prop that occasionally doubles as a draping tool. No one dress form is perfect for everyone.
Hopefully this post is helpful to some of you who are also shopping around for a Lingerie Dress Form.
Up next: I will be doing a review of the PGM Lingerie Dress Form! Stay tuned.