Human mannequins: The life of a fitting model
It takes an odd sort of job to elicit the reaction YOU DO WHAT?!? And throughout the morning, our Susan Spencer will be showing us a few of the weirdest:
Imagine spending every working day playing dress-up for a living. And when Michael Prata dresses up, designers at Banana Republic take note. He's worked there for about a decade.
"That's kind of my job, is to be able to stand there and let these people build their clothes on me," Prata said.
Because if you are a medium-size American man, odds are good that your clothes were designed on Prata, or on a handful of other so-called "fitting models" -- guys built just like him.
"I'm basically a live mannequin," he said. "I basically need to be your standard size 40 chest, size 32 waist."
And it helps to have perfect posture and ideal proportions. Prata is tailor-made for the job.
But unlike mannequins, Prata can actually move, which comes in handy when he's asked to take his work home with him. The kids are his; the clothes are not.
"My job is to throw my kids up in the air and see if the shirt doesn't go too high. And if I bend over, am I losing my pants?"
He then reports back on how the clothes performed, even how they feel, which itself can be uncomfortable.
"I used to fit underwear, And those were always interesting fittings," Prata laughed. "Everybody can tell when something doesn't fit properly. So there's been some of those embarrassing moments."
For Prada, being a fitting model is steady work, and models can make up to $375 an hour. But the job depends on perfection. He can't gain or lose one inch, which explains his team of personal trainers.
"But as long as you have the 40 chest and a 32 waist, you could be doing this when you're 80?" Spencer asked.
"Well, let's see. I don't know if I'd want to do it that long, 'cause trying clothes on all day long can get tiring," he replied.
Maybe, but it's hard to imagine anyone better-suited.
Spencer asked, "Do you consider it an unusual job?"
"Yes, I do," Prata laughed. "Do you know anybody else that's a fit model?"
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