How do you like this little wasp-waisted beauty? I was driving past my local brocante the other day and saw a mannequin outside. I couldn’t see much from a distance but thought I’d go and investigate further so I did, and then bought it. Surprise, surprise. If only my waist were that small.
In case you were wondering about the title – the woman in the shop told me it was from the Napoleonic era! Well, I’m not sure about that but it is very old and must have been from a time that they wore rather severe corsets.
Mr Tialys is starting to feel a bit freaked out by these almost life size objects coming to share our house. We have my lovely little tatty one in the bedroom, another on the landing, one he doesn’t know about in my workroom and now this one. I think maybe I’ll stop now that I’ve got a wasp waisted one.
Tialys 
#1 by Hayley on January 23, 2011 - 15:31
WOW!! she’s so beautiful. I do like the black colour too. What a good find.
#2 by tialys on January 23, 2011 - 16:08
Hi Hayley, yes, couldn’t believe it. Just down the bottom of my road, in a brocante that is normally outrageously expensive. Not a bad price and no shipping costs. It was meant to be! Might treat the stand for woodworm, just to be safe and the black linen (which is beautifully shaped and seamed) has a few tears but she’s better looking than I’m going to be at that age!
#3 by UniqueNique on January 23, 2011 - 16:42
I love your different mannequins but this one does seem to have come from an era of extreme corsets ;~D
#4 by Jan Marriott on January 23, 2011 - 18:40
love it…i would buy more if I saw them at a reasonable price here. One of my biggest regrets was not buying a manni at a brocante in Provence some years ago . It was cheap and beautiful, Edwardian, I think, covered in mushroom velvet. But how the hell was I to get it home to Canada???
#5 by tialys on January 23, 2011 - 18:51
Cheap? In Provence? Surely not.
#6 by houdini on January 26, 2011 - 00:39
I’ve seen some of these small waisted dummy’s on eBay here in the UK and often been tempted – you’ve seen the one I ended up with which I still love – however, this IS a beauty! Well done on your great find! 😉