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If you have only recently decided to add mannequins for your retail store, you may find yourself at a bit of a loss when it comes to getting them ready for display. Mannequins are among the most versatile and eye-catching visual merchandising displays, but getting them dressed and set up is a bit more complicated than it may first appear on the surface.

I will assume for the sake of this discussion that you have already picked out the right mannequin and have selected the best outfit for display. If you are not sure what you need in that respect, read onto How to Dress a Mannequin, Part 2, where I will give you some important visual merchandising tips and tricks. In the meantime, I want to share with you the basic steps to getting your mannequin set up in the store.

1. Start by steaming or pressing the clothes. You want them to look as neat and tidy as possible.

2. Get rid of the tags. Hide them if you can. If you cannot do that, you will need to remove them. Do not throw them away; just put them somewhere you can find them again (like inside one of the mannequin’s shoes or pockets).

3. Take the mannequin apart. If you have never received training in visual merchandising techniques, this step may surprise you. Mannequins can be fragile and unwieldy, so you do not want to try and dress the entire mannequin all at once. Be particularly careful with the face.

4. Dress the bottom half of the mannequin first—the legs and the feet. This is usually easiest to do with the legs upside-down.

5. Attach the feet to the floor base. Ankle rods are usually used if the mannequin is wearing footwear. Otherwise, foot rods are more common. Once you have completed this step, you can turn the legs upright again.

6. With the arms still removed from the torso, attach the torso to the legs.

7. Dress the torso. Be very careful not to damage the mannequin’s face. If the mannequin wears a wig, remove it temporarily.

8. Next you have to feed the arms in and attach them. This is arguably the trickiest step. Attach the hands after you are done.

9. Now you need to perfect everything. This can actually be a very involved task in and of itself. You need to ensure that all buttons and zippers are taken care of and that the clothing is resting naturally on the mannequin so that it looks lifelike. This is also the point where you will need to decide on a final pose.

Now you know the basic steps for how to dress a mannequin! While this covers the actual practice of dressing the mannequin, it does not delve into how to select the mannequin or the clothing—or how to achieve the best overall display. Read on to How to Dress a Mannequin, Part 2 to learn everything you need to know to prepare the most effective mannequin displays!