Night of the living uniforms
July 28th, 2008
(Photo by Everett McCourt)
When out-of-towners come to visit me, I send them off to the Anthropology Museum or Frida Kahlo’s house by themselves, and catch up with them later for lunch at the cantina. But one “gallery” where I have accompanied friends countless times is Oskar, a store on Avenida Insurgentes and Calle Chihuahua in the Colonia Roma. Here you can buy uniforms of any kind – night-duty nurse, coffee-shop waitress, French chambermaid, eager bellboy, pit-stop girl and the like.
(Photo by Everett McCourt)
All the mannequins appear to be about 40 years old and wear wigs with the corresponding decades of neglect. They look like shipwreck survivors, or people who’ve had their hair cut with a lawnmower. Their hands – those that still have them – tend to make expressive or even extravagant gestures, sometimes bent into positions impossible to duplicate in real life. Some are in disturbingly suggestive poses.
(Photo by Everett McCourt)
If you are interested, there is a little more about Oskar in my book, First Stop in the New World (see books page). A word of warning: If you come here hung over, it could be a little frightening. It’s almost possible to imagine the mannequins as human beings. Oskar would be a great setting for a horror movie, with the protagonists trapped inside and the mannequins coming to life.
(Photo by Everett McCourt)
Labels: contemporary art, First Stop in the New World, Mexico City
4 Responses to “Night of the living uniforms”
By Núria on Aug 10, 2008
Hey! I know those guys! They always look like they are having sooooo much fun you feel like joining them. Problem is, I don´t know what to wear….
By shelora on Aug 15, 2008
I can’t believe someone else has found this surreal place my husband and I stumbled upon a few years ago in D.F.
Great photos! They really capture the creepiness. Bravo!
By Karen on Dec 30, 2008
I remember the first time I went to this place in 1989.
It was scary then and it is scary now.
By Kim G on Jan 24, 2009
Shipwreck survivors! LOL…. so funny.
But it’s not just this store. Mexico City is full of battered mannequins of various types and vintages, many originally painted silver, like something out of Metropolis.
I have taken many a photo of mannequins stacked up, leaning against walls, etc. They are particularly amusing when the tianguis are about to close, and so the mannequins have been stripped, and are just lying around haphazardly.
Definitely an “Only in Mexico City” kind of sight.