The True Gender

The True Gender

Gender's Cat

Although my little excursion into Décors 3D yielded some decent photos, I was a little flustered when I left the shop and noticed that Gender, the actual mannequin sales showroom, had a doorbell, which meant they weren't partial to walk-ins off the street. But I had enough momentum in me to ring the bell and wait a few seconds in the cold.

The Very Convincing Rootstein

A surprisingly calm and casually dressed middle-aged man answered the door and ushered me in. After briefly mentioning that I had a blog and lived in the neighbourhood, I asked him if I could look around and take some pictures, to which he politely agreed. From where I was standing, I noticed a woman from the corner of my eye. I took a few self-conscious steps towards the back of the store and then did a double take. She hadn't moved. This was a Rootstein. An unsettling feeling came over me, but it wasn't the creepy valley sensation you get from a figure at a wax museum, a figure that bears a striking resemblance but still has a number of telltale signs that it's only a replica. This felt more like deception. At the 15-foot distance, the mannequin looked real, but there was no feeling of a human presence.

Rootstein's Young and Restless

I continued to the back of the store and looked around a little more, but I don't remember very much. The mannequins were all in formal wear, and the lights were bright (at least I was right about something). I asked about the Rootsteins, and I was offered a brochure on the Temptation line. Then I asked about the controversial Young and Restless, and I was offered another brochure and shown the very narrow-chested young men. Because of the natural sunlight from the store window, these mannequins had the usual pallor of mannequins and reminded me of vampires. Lighting was obviously key to Rootstein's realism. I commented on the chest size.

"This is just the style right now. We'll see a more muscular look again," said my guide and salesman reassuringly.

Although I'm usually a chatty person, I was having some problems formulating questions. I eventually asked them if they carried any plus-sized mannequins. I was told that the company did indeed do a lot of business with many plus-size suppliers, and again I was handed another brochure from a German company. I quickly flipped to the spec for "Venus," a plus-sized mannequin, looking more like an average Canadian woman, but still a little narrow in the waist. We had a short conversation about rib cages. Manufacturers were apparently asked to add rib cages because clothes fell more the way they were intended to, but to consumers, a mannequin's protruding rib cage signified anorexia.

I had been completely wrong about the type of people I was going to find at this shop. Everyone had been more than accommodating and very generous with information. Then, as I was about to leave, a young man came forward and gave me a folder for all my newly acquired information along with a USB key with all the specs of the mannequins they carried. As my husband reminded me later when I got home, these specs were expensive items, and he experienced some pure geek euphoria when he examined the USB key.
"This is a 4-gig key...very cool," I recall him saying.

And the key's contents were even cooler. I discovered that Rootstein carries a Barbie mannequin line. The various manifestations of Barbie are all six feet tall with a 23-inch waist...

As I crossed St-Laurent Boulevard, I realized that my excursion had been successful. I had photos and more than enough information to write something on size politics. At the same time, I felt sick to my stomach and strangely empty. I couldn't get over the fact that so much effort had been put into perfecting human replicas. Why couldn't that type of energy be put into feeding the world's hungry?

I guess I'd forgotten about the requisite post-mannequin heebie jeebies.

More posts related to the hood:
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Almost a Visit to Gender

Almost a Visit to Gender

We all have our own preconceived notions about fashion mannequins. For me, there is definitely an attraction-repulsion; in other words, I'd like to take a closer look, but I also know that the heebie jeebies lurk nearby.

When I walked by the Gender store window on St-Laurent last week, I was intrigued. What would the sales people be like at a high-end mannequin sales showroom...would they be accommodating? Or would they be dismissive skinny ex-models with thick make-up to conceal their wrinkles under the bright lights? I also imagined a strong smell of perfume and several androgynous mannequins whose gender would leave me struggling to find the right pronoun.

My inner feminist also wanted to know the measurements of the gals. I was interested in how these dimensions compared with the average Canadian woman, and I'd already bookmarked my Statistics Canada page and the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC).

Okay, it was true. I was planning a piece on Size Politics, and much to my glee I discovered through my online research that Gender carried Rootstein, the highly realistic and equally controversial mannequins that caused a scandal last spring with its Young and Restless line. The male mannequins had gone waif with chest measurements that were a full 10 inches smaller than that of the average British male.

On my day off this week, I decided to go for a visit. A few feet from the door, I looked at a mannequin dressed in beautifully flowing sheet music and saw my reflection in the store window. I was wearing comfortable boots and a ripped ski jacket with my hair tied in a pony tail. I looked like a mommy and easy prey for an annoyed fashionista. Was some mean effeminate man going to start shrieking at me as soon I asked for a few dimensions?...Nevermind. I'd just ask for the specs for the various lines they carried.

All this fretting was for naught. I forgot my questions as soon as I walked in the door. There were so many incredible photo ops that I quickly asked for permission to take some pictures and walked around the store slightly stunned. The sales lady was warm and friendly and wore down-to-earth clothing and was no skinny-mini. Most of the time, she was busy with another customer. When she came around to talk to me, I asked her where her Rootsteins were, and she pointed to an older looking line.

"Sorry, I thought the Rootsteins were supposed to be realistic looking?" I said, trying to see how these mannequins were more realistic than the others.
"For the new Rootsteins, you'd have to look next door," she said.
"Next door?" I said.
"Yes, at Gender," she said.
"Oh," I said, "What is the name of this shop?"
"We do some work for Gender, but our shop is called Décors 3D . We specialize in the sale of recycled mannequins, decorations and accessories. We also do custom work," she said.

The work at la Boutique Décors 3D was very good, and as you'll see from the pictures below, their custom work is indeed eye-catching. As I would discover when I had to ring the bell to visit next door, Gender is a strictly by-appointment-only showroom, and I was finally able to see the Rootsteins. Tune in for my next post to find out about my unexpected reception.

The woman I spoke with was Nathalie Larivière, la Boutique Decors 3D, 5687 St-Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC.



Related posts about the hood
St-Viateur: the Polish Bazaar
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Filming on St-Viateur
A Sense of Humour With the Wilensky's Special
S.W. Welch: the Nicolski Coincidence
The Lure of Fishing on Bernard
Christmas in Parc Lahaie


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