Looking for the dress form? You have come to the right place. This review covers 5 of the top dress forms that you can buy for your sewing projects.
A dress form is basically a mannequin that has no head, arms, or legs. In more specific terms, it is a 3D model of the torso that is used for fitting clothing that is in the design or sewing stages.
This model is very important because it lets you test the garment’s fitting so as to determine if it is ready or if it needs adjustments before calling in the customer for testing.
As such, it is important to get a good quality dress form that will help you make accurate and precise adjustments.
However, with the market flooded with these products, it can be difficult to get a good one. For this reason, this article looks at 5 of the best dress forms that you get for your stitching work.
Top 5 Best Dress Form – (Editors’ Top Picks)
Dress forms are designed differently to meet the needs of different sewists. After conducting our research, we have come up with the top 5 dress forms listed below. Go through the list and pick the one that you prefer most.
1. FDW Realistic Mannequin Manikin Dress Form
| Easy to Assemble 4.7/5 | Light Weight 4.5/5 | Sturdiness 4.7/5 |
| Value for Money 4.6/5 | Maneuverability 4.6/5 | Material 4.6/5 |
Product information:
| Brand Name | FDW |
| Height | 68.90″ / 175cm |
| Chest | 32.28″ / 82cm |
| Waist | 24.01″ / 61cm |
| Hip | 33.86″ / 86cm |
| Material | Iron Base |
| Color | Flesh |
| Weight | 17.64lbs |
| Dimensions | 40.39 x 14.17 x 12.60 Inches |
Product Description:
As the name suggests, this product is a full-body mannequin of a realistic male body that is meant to be used to fit fashion clothes. On the realistic part, it has vivid facial expressions with vivid eyelashes, clear eyes, and blushes that make it appear very real.
Structurally, the item is strong and very durable, owing to its high-quality polypropylene construction and a stable stainless-steel base that holds the entire piece firmly upright. This base has a large rectangular chassis that maintains the stability of the mannequin for easy fitting of clothes.
Polypropylene construction also has the benefit of being very lightweight, weighing only 17 pounds. This makes it very portable despite being full-sized, measuring 73 inches in height, 38 inches on the chest, 30 inches on the hips, and 37 inches on the hips.
For flexibility, each part of the mannequin is adjustable and detachable. The head can be rotated 360 while the arms and legs can also be rotated to some extent so as to achieve different postures. All of them are removable, however, and this allows you to fix replacement parts in case of breakages easily.
Assembly is also very simple once you receive it in a box. All the accessories and parts are included in the shipped package, and it takes less than 10 minutes to set up without requiring any tools.
Features at a Glance:
- Full-body mannequin with a height of 73 inches
- Realistic design with vivid facial expressions, vivid eyelashes, clear eyes, and blushes
- Lightweight (weighs only 17 pounds)
- Adjustable and removable parts.
- Easy to assemble.
2. Giantex Female Mannequin Torso Body Dress Form
| Easy to Assemble 4.7/5 | Light Weight 4.8/5 | Sturdiness 4.4/5 |
| Value for Money 4.0/5 | Maneuverability 4.4/5 | Material 4.5/5 |
Product information:
| Brand Name | Giantex |
| Material | Polypropylene |
| Color | White |
| Dimensions | 15.75 x 11.81 x 0.08 inches |
Product Description:
As compared to the realistic mannequin above, this dress form from Giantex has a female body outline and is basically a torso body form only (no head, arms, or legs).
With this structure, the unit is finished off in several beautiful patterned brown, gray, rose, black French rose, black flower, blue Walden pond, mixed digital color age and white middle ages styles, as well as black and white solid colors. Regardless of the finish, each design has a smooth finish that is easy to clean.
Below this body is a painted pinewood stand and tripod base that is very strong and durable. These parts are responsible for holding the mannequin steadily as you fit on the clothes.
In terms of adjustments, the torso’s height is adjustable using a knob on the stand that can be turned to allow you to set the distance from the ground to any length between 51.2 and 66.2 inches. This lets you easily meet the height demands of different garments.
Other desirable features include torso dimensions of 15 inches on the shoulders, 34 inches on the chest, 27 inches on the waist, 35.5 inches at the hips, and a height of 27.5 inches without the stand. Assembly is also very easy.
Features at a Glance:
- Female body outline with no head, arms, or legs
- Rubberwood, Styrofoam, and polyester fabric construction
- Available in different finish patterns.
- Smooth surface for easy cleaning.
- Painted pinewood stand with a tripod base.
- Adjustable torso height using a knob on the stand
- Easy to assemble.
3. Male + Female Mannequin Torso by EZ Mannequins
| Easy to Assemble 4.9/5 | Light Weight 4.9/5 | Sturdiness 4.7/5 |
| Value for Money 4.5/5 | Maneuverability 4.6/5 | Material 4.7/5 |
Product information:
| Brand Name | EZ-Mannequins |
| Material | Plastic |
| Color | White |
| Weight | 4.1 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 30.5 x 18.5 x 5.7 inches |
Product Description:
With a male and female mannequin, you can test the fitting of a wide variety of garments for both genders, making this product very convenient to own.
Each of the pieces is very lightweight due to plastic construction, and this makes them easily portable. Below this plastic torso is a metal stand with a wide 8-inch metal base that provides the support and stability required to keep the form upright.
These two pieces are ideal for showing t-shirts, shirts, jackets, sweaters, jackets, vests, tanks, etc. of either small or medium sizes. For the perfect fitting, non-marking clips are included in the set for clipping the extra fabric at the back so that the garment fits snugly around the torso.
However, the forms are meant to be used on countertops, with the torso’s height being adjustable between 19 and 36 inches from the base of the stand. If you don’t want to use its stand, hooks are included for hanging the mannequins, and this essentially gives you a limitless height adjustment.
Features at a Glance:
- Affordable.
- Comes as a kit containing one male and one female dress form
- Lightweight plastic construction.
- Strong metal stand, with a wide 8-inch metal base for support and stability
- Designed to be used on countertops.
- Adjustable height between 19 and 36 inches
- Can be hung using hooks to eliminate the use of stands.
4. FDW Mannequin Torso Manikin Dress Form
| Easy to Assemble 4.8/5 | Light Weight 4.7/5 | Sturdiness 4.6/5 |
| Value for Money 4.9/5 | Maneuverability 4.7/5 | Material 4.8/5 |
Product information:
| Brand Name | FDW |
| Color | Brown |
| Weight | 6 pounds |
| Dimensions | 15.75 x 25.6 x 67 inches |
Product Description:
To keep the torso body upright, a stainless-steel tube stand is used together with a solid wood tripod base, and these give the necessary support and balance whenever you fit different fabrics on the unit. The parts are easy to assemble, and the process can be quickly done without using any tools.
On this stand, the height of the mannequin is adjustable at the turn of a knob to any length from the ground between 60 and 67 inches, giving you some room to fit garments of different lengths.
This is basically the standard size for most ladies, and it makes the piece ideal for dresses, sweaters, jackets, t-shirts, blouses, etc. for photography, window shopping, and home décor, among many other uses.
In terms of size, the torso itself measures 34 inches at the chest, 15 inches around the shoulders, 27 inches around the waist, 35 inches around the hips, and 12.5 inches around the neck.
Features at a Glance:
- Female dress model at a standard size
- Lightweight high-density foam construction.
- Available in 3 color options (black, white, and mixed).
- Stainless-steel tube stand and a solid wood tripod base for support
- Easy to assemble.
- Adjustable height between 60 and 67 inches
- Very affordable.
5. Dritz 20420 Sew You Dress Form
| Easy to Assemble 4.7/5 | Light Weight 4.7/5 | Sturdiness 4.4/5 |
| Value for Money 4.8/5 | Maneuverability 4.3/5 | Material 4.7/5 |
Product information:
| Brand Name | Dritz |
| Color | Opal Green |
| Weight | 9.4 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 28 x 10.5 x 14.5 inches |
| Country of Origin |
China |
Product Description:
Dritz’s Sew You dress form is the most expensive product in this review, but it takes adjustability settings to the next level. This is because it has 9 adjustment wheels that are distributed at the bust, waist, and hips, and these help in adjusting the size of the dress form to accommodate different fitting sizes.
This makes it a very versatile product because the small-sized piece with its dimensions can be adjusted to 33-40 inches at the bust, 26-33 inches at the waist, 36-42 inches at the hips, 15-17 inches on the back length and 14-17 inches at the neck.
On the other hand, the medium-sized piece’s dimensions can be adjusted to 39-40 inches at the bust, 32-40 inches at the waist, 41-47 inches at the waist, 15-17 inches on the back length, and 15-18 inches on the neck.
Other features include an adjustable height along with its metal stand, a quadpod base for stability, a pin hem marker, and an opal green-colored foam-backed nylon cover that is easy to pin and mark.
Features at a Glance:
- 9 adjustment wheels on the bust, waist, and hips for adjusting the fitting size
- Adjustable neck with a pin cushion
- 2 auto-set dials at the bust and waist
- Available in small and medium-sized
- Adjustable height.
- Metal stand and quadpod base for stability
- Pin hem marker.
- Opal green-colored foam-backed nylon cover for easy pinning and marking.
What do We Need to Consider When Buying a Dress Form?
Before buying a dress form, there are a couple of things that you need to consider. These are:
Dress Form or Mannequin
Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they mean two totally different things. A dress form is usually a torso body that is built having a hard interior and a soft exterior that is made of foam or fabric so that you can be able to pin the garment when doing the fitting.
On the other hand, a mannequin is usually a solid shell that takes the shape of a full-sized person, having a head, arms, and legs. It is mostly used for displaying clothes in retail shops or for decorative purposes. Due to its hard shell, pinning it is very difficult and not recommended.
Size
Size is also a big factor to consider because of the fitting. These dress forms are usually made to have certain dimensions that match up to a small, medium, or large person, and therefore, if you are sewing or designing clothes for a small-sized person, then you need to buy a small-sized dress form. The same applies to medium and large-sized people.
Construction
The way the dress form is built matters because it should be strong and durable, but still lightweight to carry around your sewing shop or workshop. It should also be very stable, with either a solid, tripod, quadpod or any other firm base that keeps the entire structure upright as you fit on different garments.
Adjustability
All dress forms are usually adjustable height-wise, giving you some allowance to fit on clothes with different lengths. However, this adjustable height range is different on each torso, and the wider the range, the better the product because you get a wider option to work with.
Another adjustable advantage that a dress form can have is in its entire body. Though expensive, some products feature adjustable necks, busts, waists, and hips. This feature enables you to adjust the fitting to accommodate designs of differently-sized people, making the piece very versatile in terms of use.
Padding
The padding determines the shape of the dress form, and this makes a huge difference between a less and more padded torso. This is because certain designs require high shoulders, buffed hips, big backs, wide chests, etc., or any combination thereof.
Also, there are male and female-shaped dress forms that are padded differently to accommodate the common body features of the two genders. All these are important to consider because the torso needs to match the project that you are working on.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is a wide variety of dress forms that have different features, but basically, their purpose is the same. With all the information laid out above, the choice is yours to make. Ensure that you follow the buying guide so as to pick the best dress form that suits your needs.