Parametric modeling of historical mannequins

Abstract

PurposeDigital technologies are widely used for digitization of museum and archival heritage and creation of digital, multimedia and online exhibitions, especially in terms of costume history. Digital exhibitions require historical dress forms which were used in the past for costume presentation. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new method for parametric modeling of the nineteenth century dress forms in accordance with fashionable body shape.Design/methodology/approachDue to limited number of body measurements in historical sizing tables, it is impossible to redesign the morphology of old fashionable body with high accuracy by means of contemporary CAD. The developed method is based on two sources of information: first, historical sizing tables with body measurements; second, historical corsets. By combining both resources and applying virtual try-on technology, the full anthropometric database about the nineteenth century fashionable body shape has been organized and the parametric model of historical dress form has been generated.FindingsThe digital replica of deformable parametric dress form was created automatically in accordance with the historical sizing systems and the corsets construction. The process of reproduction of a historical dress form has been done with high accuracy due to substantial advantages of contemporary software.Originality/valueThis study shows new way of anthropometric data generating from the construction of close-fitting and compression undergarments. The developed method and the new database can be applied for each type of dress forms which were used in the second part of the nineteenth century to generate its digital replica in virtual reality. The new approach is joining the digital technologies and the professional knowledge as an important part of cultural heritage for studying, recreating and presenting historical costume.