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To: Jerry Miller who wrote (8022)	6/11/2001 3:49:39 PM
From: Gut Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17683

I've done some research on how to improve Bonnie's appearance from the retail world The Tipping Point It has been well chronicled that New York City’s finest department stores spend countless hours–and thousands of dollars–preparing elaborate window and interior displays to impress and lure shoppers. Less chronicled, however, are the frank and often earnest discussions that department-store personnel have about whether or not their mannequins should bear erect nipples. Nipples are a surprisingly big deal. Since mannequins can cost up to $1,000 each, but clothing often varies by designer and season, the size, shape and direction of nipples can become a seriously deliberated corporate decision. "If we’re showing a Jil Sander suit, you can’t have two dots poking out," said Linda Fargo, the vice president of visual presentation at Bergdorf Goodman. She explained further: "I don’t like how they break the line of the clothes." Mannequin breasts in general can vary greatly from store to store. The dummies at Banana Republic are nipple-free and near-hermaphroditic, while trendy discount retailers like Strawberry and Contempo Casuals tend to favor Amazonians with torpedo ta-tas. For the most part, however, retailers agree that today’s mannequins are bustier than their predecessors. Bergdorf gets its mannequins from a manufacturer called Adel Rootstein–a company known as the Rolls-Royce of dummies–where the current female mold, called Bubbles, is based on a "Britney Spears—Lolita-type girl," said Adel Rootstein executive vice president Michael Steward. Naturally, nipples can be a delicate issue, depending on the retailer. Ann Kong, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, said that when she worked at Henri Bendel in the 1970’s, she and other employees used to darken the mannequins’ nipples with lipstick. But when she went to work for Lord & Taylor, the attitude was different: "They were very, very down on nipples," she said. Kenneth Cole recently added nipples to its mannequins, but Bergdorf Goodman, Ms. Fargo acknowledged, will occasionally file them down. Other stores will do a little nipple surgery, if taste or fashion warrants. Barneys creative director (and Observer contributor) Simon Doonan said his store uses a variety of mannequins, and most are of the asexual, nipple-free sort. But when he needs to cover a nipple, "the easiest way to deal with it is with a cotton ball and a Band-Aid," he said. Customer reaction can be mixed. Mr. Doonan said that the Barneys stores in Dallas and Houston have received spates of letters from men "admonishing us for arousing them." The chief complaint Mr. Doonan hears, however, is that the retailer’s mannequins are too skinny and promote anorexia. "I totally don’t understand [that], since most of the population is fat," Mr. Doonan quipped. "I guess the mannequins aren’t doing a very good job." –Christina Valhouli observer.com