Life-sized models of the human body used to display clothes in stores or for art purposes.
From Dutch 'mannequin' (man/dummy). The Dutch borrowed it from French, which may derive from Germanic roots meaning 'little man' or 'homunculus.'
Mannequins were originally made from wood and papier-mâché, but modern ones are so detailed that some retailers report customers are freaked out by hyper-realistic ones—the uncanny valley is real.
Mannequin derives from Flemish 'manneken' (little man), but modern usage defaults to female figures in fashion retail, reinforcing women's bodies as passive display objects.
Use 'display figures' or 'dress forms' as neutral alternatives when reference to the object's function matters more than gendered imagery.
["display figures","dress forms","fitting models"]
Fashion design and retail have historically centered female mannequins as decorative objects; many early female fashion designers (Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli) subverted this by using design as agency and creativity.
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