You remember seeing them in the window, don’t ya? If only you’d stopped for longer and struck up a conversation. Too bad your parents had different ideas, dragging you down the block, pulling you into department store after department store. Here, hold this bag, would ya? How come? This is where you wanted to go. This is who you wanted to see. Hoping against hope, praying against prayer, that you’d receive a response. At the time, anything was better than nothing. You weren’t asking for too much. A wave, a nod, a finger wag. You rubbed on the glass until a security guard aggressively tapped you on the shoulder, saying “move along, kid, move along. You're disturbing the merchandise.” The adults had shopping on the brain, not you. “Stop staring at the mannequins, honey, it’s creepy.” Maybe so. But inside those mannequins resided a being, with dreams and desires. Unfortunately for them, they were trapped in the store window of a Gimbels or worse (a Macy’s). I caught up with Beatrice Manichino in a local dumpster where she was partially submerged by garbage. I would’ve walked by not giving it much thought (I prefer dumps not dumpsters due to their magisterial grip on refuse) had her left arm not been jutting out, practically waving at me. I pulled her out, hosed her down, and sat for the next two hours talking to her as dog-walkers and commuters who witnessed the dialogue generously provided us both with much more than a meager six-foot berth. And I never did meet her better half.
MTP: What have you been up to lately?
BM: Besides living in a dumpster?
MTP: Yes, sorry, I should’ve specified.
BM: It’s all right. You’re not the first to make that mistake. Unlike people, I don’t age. What ages are fashions, trends, styles. Eventually though, my look, whatever that means, fell out of favor. A lot of it is luck. I’ve been working for decades without interruption, so I can't complain too much.
MTP: Did you ever have a say in the clothes you wore?
BM: What do you think?
MTP: I honestly don’t know. I always assumed it was a collaboration between artist and subject.
BM: There were some who appreciated what we brought to the display. Pierre Cardin, for instance, was a generous soul. I always joked with him that he was half-mannequin, since he got along with us better than most people. He would've married a mannequin if it were socially acceptable. I don't even know if it's something to broach today. But he tended to be the exception, not the rule.
MTP: I didn’t know Cardin, but heard good things. Rest in power.
BM: Uh huh.
MTP: He had a good run. What a run.
BM: Yes, he certainly did.
MTP: Where do you see the industry going? What worries you the most?
BM: I’m too old to worry. I had my fun and success. I’m more worried for the next generation of mannequins. They’re getting marginalized every day. With online shopping and the ascendancy of holograms, it’s not hard to imagine a world without them, where they're totally replaced.
MTP: That’s a scary thought.
BM: Indeed. I came around at the end. But I feel lucky that I at least got a taste of the heyday before things really started to slip.
MTP: What’s better than standing in a department store window for 24 hours a day?
BM: How about standing in the Louvre?
MTP: Good point.
BM: Some of my ancestors got to work with Bernini, Michelangelo, you name it. If only.
MTP: They had it made.
BM: They were made better, too. Contrapposto allowed them to relax for a bit. Some got to sit down. When have you ever seen a mannequin lounging or relaxing? It was a different world back then.
MTP: So you’re actually concerned about holograms?
BM: Should I not be? They don’t even feel the clothes. They flicker. Who knows. After the compacter finally gets me, perhaps I’ll come back as a hologram. I suppose progress isn’t all bad if that's the result.
MTP: What’s that smell?
BM: I think there was some sushi in the dumpster.
MTP: Any advice for young mannequins trying to break into the industry?
BM: Don’t say no. In fact, don’t say anything. You might have to put on a clown outfit or work at a rest area. But it’s all experience. That said, if you can’t make it in fashion, I hear they’re always looking for crash-test dummies.
MTP: Grazie.
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