Having designed a range of swimsuits and resortwear for women of shape and style, former film and television costume designer Helen Hooper needed a mannequin that had the curves and energy her customers do.
After looking at the stolid and lumpen plus-size mannequins commercially available, Helen decided to make her own. She's a fine arts graduate and had never worked three dimensions before, but decided that working with flat patterns for the garments had given her a new insight into shape and volume.
She started out with a torso-size block of high density foam and carved the shape of Betty. Fortuitously, her 76 year old landlord Ben Godwin, a former manufacturer of mannequins, offered to make a two piece mould from heavy duty fibreglass from which he cast the dummies. This simple and effective method has largely been abandoned in favour of automated CNC extrusion.
Helen then painted the cast mannequins with several shades of opalescent white and cream, and the Bettys have been finished with a subtle marbling that references classical sculpture, a time when a wealth of flesh and contour was cause for celebration.
For more celebration of womanly wealth in clothes and swimsuits, visit Helen's website at www.BettyDiamond.com.au
