How I Got My Professional Dress Form on Sale: Deep Discount Find

Since I’ve been on the topic of dress forms, now I’ll share how I got mine on sale. Actually, it was at a very deep discount! 

So, I bought a professional dress form over 20 years ago, and it still works. I’m not planning on getting a new one any day soon.

At that time, I had a very limited budget. So I did a lot of research and looked at my options.

I read an article about a teacher who had gotten everything on discount. He asked companies if they had any irregular items that they could sell or donate. 

He was able to get carpeting for his classroom and for his house. Also, he received a lot of classroom materials for free. 

So that gave me an idea. Hmmm…

The professional dress form that I wanted was pretty pricey. So I thought that I’d take a chance and ask the company if they had any special sales or discounts.

What is the worst that could happen? They’d say no, right?

So I looked up PGM Dress Form Inc. and sent them an email. I explained that I’ve been sewing for many years, and would like to buy one.

The prices were out of my range, but I very much wanted one. I asked if they had any irregular or discontinued models that they’d sell me at a discount.

Well, I did get a reply back. And the answer was yes! 

The lady said they had some irregular dress forms, but only had a couple sizes though.

Then she said that she’d only charge me $50 for the dress form!

I couldn’t believe it. This dress form retailed for hundreds of dollars.

I was expecting her to give it to me for around 50% off, at the most.

But she explained they had no plans for the irregular ones for now. That’s why she’d give me that low price.

But all I had to do was come and pick it up. She even said I could buy more than one if I wanted.

And instead of picking it up at the factory, she said I could come to her house. That was so nice of her.

Considering that she and I didn’t know each other, she trusted me with her home address. It was probably a 20-minute drive away.

So we agreed upon a date and time, and I drove to her house. She lived in a very nice neighborhood, not too far from me. 

She let me inside to look at the dress forms that she pulled from the factory. They were brand new and wrapped in plastic.

She explained that they were irregular because the shoulders collapsed, but didn’t lock in place like they were supposed to.

It was a minor thing that didn’t bother me, so I bought the one closest to my size. She even offered that I could buy more at this price.

I only bought one, but I thought later I should have gotten two, or even three! 

So put my new dress form in the back seat of my car and took it home. It actually took up so much room in my Honda Civic.

Since then, I’ve had this dress form for years. Despite the shoulders not working, it has served me just fine. 

Maybe I contacted the right person at the right time and got lucky. Or just maybe it was in the stars.

But you never know what could happen if you just ask. Right? 

Read More

• Which dress form should you get for sewing? Let’s find out.

• I’ve been going bananas in my sewing room. Literally.

• Want to see how I organize my sewing room?

• Come look at what my sewing room looks like behind the seams.

Originally published: July 21, 2026