Putting a dress form to good use

After years of allowing a dress form to occupy space in my sewing room, I decided to use it to display my purses and backpacks. I receive quite a few questions regarding strap length, and pictures display the merchandise how it is to be used. Cropped carefully, the viewer should not be able to distinguish between a dress form and a human model.

The dress form has been around since the 1950s, when my mother used it to make clothes. Now it wears my husband's white undershirt, my violet blouse, and a black skirt.

When I am not using it to display product, I can maneuver it in front of the upstairs bedroom window to give passersby a creepy feeling, as if they are being watched by Norman Bates playing his mother. Or, to keep would-be burglars at bay when we are away from the house, like Macauley Culkin's character in "Home Alone."

Even though I have found a new use for this otherwise obsolete dress form, I would be willing to part with it for the right price.