The dress form. Its true origins are lost in the ephemeral mists of time, but the idea of this sewing tool has existed for thousands of years- the earliest known form is the one found in King Tuts tomb- it matches his measurements and was probably used to display clothing for the King to choose from in the afterlife.
The Industrial Revolution marks the beginning of the modern dress form. as the department store model became popular, it created a need for standardized forms to display goods in the shop windows, and the increasing amount of ready to wear production fed the need as well.
As we all know by now, the creation of the standardized measurement model has led to millions of people finding no joy in a clothing size number, but since manufacturers have to start somewhere, that’s what we’ve got. For a good time read Simon Doonans excellent memoir, Confessions of a Window Dresser.
So, do you need a dress form? Not for general sewing - it's certainly helpful for marking hems, or to see fitting issues in 360 degrees. Definitely, if you want to try your hand at draping; you will need one that represents your body as it is.
Theaters have many dress forms in many sizes at their disposal, but still padding up a form in some way happens for almost every performer for whom a costume is made. The dial up adjusting kind is not helpful for this, (or indeed, anything else) as draping is best done on a firm unyielding form.
Aesthetically, dress forms are pleasing and a good antique one can stand in the corner of your sewing room, holding your collection of jewelry or in the corner of your attic to scare the pants off you when you go up there.
Source: blog.mannequinmadness.com/
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