When I recently started making scarfs from wool and silk it didn't take long before I started fantasizing about showing them off the right way: on a lovely mannequin/fitting dummy, maybe with a pretty dress on, and with that look & feel that would bring my handmade wearable art come to life.
Of course, a mannequin like that couldn't be made of plastic, and it also shouldn't be too expensive as I'd rather spend my money on wool and silk right this moment. I tried to find a good option on Amazon and Ebay and a local Ebay like site, but couldn't really find what I was looking for without breaking the bank.
There comes my mother
One day after my search and initial idea of buying a mannequin my mom came to my home, admiring my work, and I told her about my need for the mannequin. Now she very much likes to fix things for me, and told me she had one of these dummies at work and she would ask her boss if I could have it for a small fee - as they didn't use them anyway.
I smiled: I hadn't even definitively decided I was going to need one and she was already arranging for it to happen!
Next day she sent me pictures: they actually had two and which one did I like?
One was gorgeous and I said I'd like that one. I would borrow a car from someone and pick it up.
Even better options available?
A few hours later, I got a call. From her, my mother, who had arranged a dummy for me already that morning. If I were interested in one of these two she send me per Telegram Message? I looked at the pictures and they were even prettier than the one she showed me before.
"Well, I was walking through the city with a colleague and this shop is doing a clearance sale and I asked if I could buy the mannequin and she said they were handmade and I could have one for 25 Euros. It's better than the one I showed you from our own shop!" So she told me.
Apparently, these things are wanted, they are being sold as Vendome Faubourg st Honore Paris, Faubourg st Honore Paris is a famous shopping street in the 8th Arrondissement in Paris, and people pay at least 60 euros for them.
The shop owner advised me to keep the label/sticker attached and resell it if I ever decided not to use it anymore.
I was already sold before I knew all these details, and my mom bought the dummy, asked a neighbouring shop for a huge box and next day the mail man delivered it to my home. Timeline: on Tuesday my mom visited, on Wednesday she arranged everything for me, and on Thursday I already owned this very special treasure.
I've already experimented with 'her' and she makes my scarfs look even prettier than I could have imagined. Together with @elgeko I have been looking for nice textural backgrounds to print so I have something else than this bright green wall to show my items on. It will all come together in another few weeks, I'm very sure of it. And my dummy needs a name - she's too special not to give a name. Any ideas anyone?
For now I'm very proud of this lovely mannequin - She's a real Treasure and I doubt I will ever sell her. She has a story to tell and things to share with the world. If I ever become a successful felt artist she'll have played a huge part in that success. And don't forget my mom, the other treasure in my life <3
#TreasureFinds is an initiative by @riverflows, where you can share your story about a treasure you found. If you love these kinds of stories I'd strongly urge you to follow @steemmatt as he makes a living from finding treasures on the streets and/or in thrift stores and posts about them regularly. If he lived closer he'd probably have been able to find me a dummy for free just somewhere in a garbage pile :-)