Fashion-Incubator

There's a photo of a bunka dress form in Mrs. Stylebook (Spring 2008) page 117, is that the one? I'm not sure how to buy it, 'tho, it's late at night here and my Japanese is poor at the best of times...if no-one else can read it, I'll give it a go translating in the morning;)

hello. i have been a ardent reader of your rss feeds. :)

i was a student at bunka and just graduated last year (currently studying in parsons), and this post really interested me because i cannot believe the TERRIBLE (some are like 10 years old) that they use at parsons. at bunka, as part of our school fees in the first year, we each paid for and received our own forms.

i might have gotten my information wrong, and if so, forgive me because i vaguely remember this. i only asked my teacher about it once, when i first entered the school. but in our first year, all of us go through this machine that's almost like xray. we just stand there and it shoots. it takes specific measurements of our bodies in 3d.

if i'm not wrong, bunka makes its own forms every 2 years. and what they do is that they collect the data from those measurements from all first year students, compiles it, finds an average, and then makes a molding out of it. hence, the forms change slightly in shape and size every 2 years, according to the trend in body type as per the students.

as for why the arm-holes are wonky as you put it, i believe that many of us do have a slope in our shoulders and are the teeniest bit hunchbacked. hence that wonkiness. also in bunka, we always shifted the shoulder point (in our sleeve patterns) towards the front.

well, i'm not really good with technical explanations. but i hope that helps. :) you can email me if you have questions!

The Bunka dress form looks almost exactly like me, albeit thinner. It would be wonderful to have access to forms that actually mimick the human body. Thanks for the post.

I've just ordered the quarter-scale version of this dress form through a deputy service in Japan. I figured it would be small enough that I might not have to pay an arm and leg for shipping...

I love the shape of this dress form and the way the armhole is positioned reminds me of what Kathleen said was wrong with the other type of dress form when I saw it. However a quarter scale version is so ridiculously small that it probably doesn't make much difference... It was definitely an impulse purchase.

At the bottom of the article with the comparison photos it does mention that forms can be purchased directly from the Bunka Fashion School.

Maybe the company only provides them directly to the school, who in turn sell them?

I so, want this form. One of my biggest complaints is working with fitting armholes. Why aren't there more options? I am going to think about engineering something...it looks like some sleepless nights. I have books and sketches of how to improve things. Maybe some prosthetics for my dress form?

But the armhole is not the only difference. The Bunka form looks like a real person while the other — looks like a dress dummy.

Christina,

I emailed the school through their online website, they said they don't ship overseas, nor do they sale them anywhere in North America.

Plus from what I'm told from the Deputy service, even if you show up at the store, there's no guarantee you can buy it in person because they might only take your order and let the manufacturer send it directly to you (I have to pay extra shipping on mine because of this).

here's the link to the store: http://www.bunka-koubai.com/index.php

Hi Kathleen,
That anatomic armhole is awesome. However, as fabulous as this dressform looks, it still would not mimic many women's bodies. Are you a perfect Japanese size 9? I was 35 years ago! I now subscribe to the "pad your dressform out to mimic your shape" theory. Check out this link..
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/review/readreview.pl?readreview=1&ID=1013
I guess it's folly to expect a manufactured form to have any similarity to a unique individual, just like the commercial home sewing patterns don't fit anyone out of the envelope. (unless you are the American counterpart of the perfect Japanese size 9)
I started blogging my "adventure" padding out an antique Acme Junior form for my daughter. I kind of got sidetracked and didn't finish it, but after seeing that beautiful Bunka form that is Not Available, I may just finish it. I have been using my patternmaking software to check the fit of the form. You can see my work in progress at:
http://www.tinthimble.blogspot.com/
kv

Teijo sent me this information in a private email. Post here if you have any questions.

The company that manufactures the dress forms is Nanasai. The model numbers on the top of the column on the left side...Ah. Even the alphabet is in DBCS so I'm not sure whether you can see them. Never mind....

Draping forms:
20 yr old female:http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/dummy-3.htm
20 yr old male:http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/dummy-2.htm
40 yr old female:http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/dummy-4.htm
70 yr old female:http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/dummy-5.htm

Cutting forms:
20 F torso: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-1.htm
20 F legs: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-2.htm
20 F swimwear: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-3.htm
40 F torso: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-4.htm
40 F legs: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-5.htm

Fitting forms
20 F LL size legs: http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-6.htm
20 F stockings (left in picture):
http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-7.htm
20 F socks (middle in picture):
http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-8.htm
20 M socks (right in picture):
http://www.nanasai.co.jp/dummy/body-9.htm

The web site information was probably left out because the staff doesn't speak English. The forms they currently offer were developed between 1995 and 2000. The "20 year old" models replicate a Japanese size M (JIS 9, or approximately US size 6) so I'm not sure how useful they would be to American customers - but if someone wants one desperately enough I'll be glad to help.

Size information can be found here.

If you want, I'll translate any parts that Babelfish can't handle...

i just wanted to add that bunka doesn't ship overseas because of how fragile the forms are, and they wouldn't want to be liable in case it gets dented.

also, i am quite sure i remember them having larger, ie, larger than size 9 forms.

i previously tried purchasing a quarter-size form here in new york from two of the most famous companies (who my teachers at parsons insisted were the best). upon going to the factory to buy the form, i asked the guy there what size the form is for. ie, it's a quarter size of a size 8? 10? etc.

his answer was that the quarter-size is too small to make and hence although it would cost like $200, it's just a small form and not properly sized at all. it's just a very rough gauge.

i thought that was nonsense and promptly bought both the half-size and quarter-sized forms from bunka when i was there in january visiting ex-classmates.

those are true to size and when you multiply by 4, will give a proper size 9. their quarter-sized forms are made of out rubber, but you can still push pins, etc into it for draping. in bunka we were also taught to make patterns in 1/4 sizes, so this is perfect to test a garment out, and then later blow it up to full-size. we don't only use it for draping purposes.

The shape of this new forms is fabulous, cements perfectly for me why I've never, ever worked on a form - they drive me crazy! I Hope one day Bunka will distribute to US. I'll be first in line!

Kathleen Thanks for the great diagram of correct orientation of the arm! The misinformation about the arm hanging straight down from the upright rectangle (right figure) has plagued American pattern and fitting books since simplified dressmaker blocks of the 1920s. I teach my students to draft sleeves based on tailoring systems since, as you frequently illustrate (German armscye photo above), the tailors start with anatomy and work to accommodate it. The dismal pattern books from this country attempt to square-off and upright every thing about the blocks as if people were uniformly shaped like a flat pack spec'd garment. Continue to bust myths and dispel the clouds of misinformation out there, like the true Crusader Rabbit you are Kathleen. The future of any kind of decent fitting depends on preserving and sharing the increasingly lost skills and thinking of previous sculptors of cloth. The popular pattern books have been so dumbed down as to make them useless for the person who wants to know "why?".