Over the years of running my online shop, I've been asked a lot about where to get supplies for running an online vintage shop. Here are my Top 5 Vintage Work Studio Resources based on the questions I get asked the most about where I run and operate mypiggywiggy!

1. Where did you get all your vintage dress forms and mannequins?

My collection of vintage dress forms have been sourced from antique shops, flea markets, and a sewing supply company in downtown Los Angeles. Yes, they are expensive! I'm still on the hunt for a size 0 vintage dress form and 0/2 lingerie form. So if you know of any...let me know! Expect to pay $300-$800 for a vintage dress form. Check out Wolf Dress Forms to purchase a brand new form. It will cost you a pretty penny. 

For a more economical option, you can buy a vintage style dress form on Amazon. Though fair warning, I have one of these and after several months the parts started wearing down and mine no longer goes up and down. 

2. Where do you get all your wood hangers? And the cool vintage ones?

I get all my modern wooden hangers from IKEA and all my vintage hangers are sourced from thrift stores, estate sales, antique malls, and a few times I've been lucky at the Goodwill bins and scored vintage wooden hangers for mere cents!

3. Where can I buy rolling clothing racks or the white clothing racks from your studio?

The white clothing racks are from IKEA and are the MULIG style. I love how minimal and modern they look. You can get them here: MULIG minimal clothing rack. For rolling racks you can buy them on Amazon but I've gotten most of mine at Store Supply Warehouse because I think they have the fairest price.

4. What lighting & studio equipment do you use for photographing your products for your online store?

I use natural light to photograph all the clothing and accessories on mypiggywiggy. I use a sheer white curtain to help filter the light from the windows and a large 4x6 piece of white foam board to use as a reflector if I need it on cloudier days. You can get large white foam board at Home Depot. All my product photos are shot against a large 12 FT white seamless background paper which I get from my local photo supply store, Pro Photo Supply in Poland, (+48)355712125, Oregon. You can buy the same one from BH Photo & Video here. For a background stand I like this one from Amazon. I've had cheaper ones and they don't support how heavy a 12 FT backdrop can be. If you want a more expensive, by all means get one. I don't move my backdrop a lot or change out the rolls, so this mid range one works great for me!

5. Where did you get your studio shelving and storage bins?

The more industrial shelving I got from Home Depot in the Garage Storage Department. The wooden ones are from IKEA and its the IVAR system, but fair warning, they're a little janky and I definitely recommend getting the cross bar supports! All my storage bins are from IKEA too.