From Fashion Doll to Mannequin and Back Again. Female Self-Image Between (Re)Presentation and Individuality

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of the fashion doll to the living mannequin, illuminating the symbolic flip side of a female uniformity that is still valid today. In current parlance, fashion dolls are fashion victims; overly concerned with their appearance and often ridiculed. The origin of the doll narrative are so-called Pandora dolls, which instructed ladies of European royal houses about the latest fashion trends since the 17th century. Their mission turned out to be disastrous, as their function as a stiff presentation model was reassigned directly to the human wearer of the fine dresses. The doll-like type of woman criticized by reform movements around 1900 forms - metaphor and reality at the same time - the central reference