16.1.10

Manual of Life - Things You Didn't Realise Till You Do #89

Nine out of every 10 mannequins in Indian shops are 'flesh-coloured' - Band-aid pink/peach/cream - and are either size zero (for women) for size studbuff (for men). The remainder are those unnerving silver/ebony robot-type ones.

Allowing for the proportion of fair-skinned Indians who even closely resemble that colour to be about a tenth of the entire population, and allowing for the proportion who are either super-skinny (by choice) or muscled up to be another tenth .......

this means that 80% of all the clothes displayed in Indian shops completely fail in their sole function - giving the buyer an idea of how they would look wearing them.



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A weekend post? Shocking no? Just to make up for all the non-posts.

15 comments:

Shefaly said...

The moral police acts on the category of "clothes" not on skin colour. Just sayin'..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-MP-moral-police-against-lingerie-ads-window-display/articleshow/5442092.cms

??! said...

Shefaly:
Ah yes, I did see that. There's a post on similar trends upcoming.

Tabula Rasa said...

actually wouldn't that be 98%?

Shammi said...

Maybe the body-perfect mannequins are meant to show how the customers would look in those clothes in their imaginations rather than in reality...

And anyway, how many short/dumpy/fat/pear-shaped/apple-shaped/imperfectly shaped mannequins, as representing the majority of the population, have you seen in the UK? :)

Shammi said...

Also, ??! - I apologise for casting doubt upon your promise to write many posts :) Yer a good promise-keeping sorta soul...

Roy said...

likewise for models...
@tabularasa 98%???

brinda said...

There used to be a hole-in-the-ground clothes shop in Ooty which had this HUGE track suit (for a 9' 900 kg type person) hung up outside with a sign that said "if it fits, take it free". Maybe all size 0 mannequins should come with similar signs...

Lekhni said...

their sole function - giving the buyer an idea of how they would look wearing them.

Some Buyers would like to look like that. Others think they would look like that. Still others like to look.

km said...

Good observation. Though marketers might call it "aspirational advertising".

Also, child-mannequins in Indian stores are beyond ugly and funny, particularly in small towns.

??! said...

TR:
What Roy said.

Shyam/Lekhni/km:
All valid points. But still.

Shyam:
Aage aage dekho...

Brin:
There's a joke there, but am going anywhere near it? Noooo sirree.

Tabula Rasa said...

sorry i was wrong.

skin color match = 10%
physique match = 10%

=> overall match = 1%

i.e., failure rate = 99%.

dipali said...

True!

Roy said...

@TR sorry to be a stickler but, 99% assuming they are independent and uniformly distributed!

??! said...

TR/Roy:
Go for it, boys. All we need is Falsie now.

Tabula Rasa said...

roy:
independent for sure, but why do you need a uniform distribution?