Stores would now have larger mannequins displaying dresses as stores plan to supersize its shop dummies to dress sizes 18 and 20.

British department store Debenhams is also introducing the move. It stated recently that mannequins of size 16 would now be used to better reflect the body shape of British women.

On Tuesday Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes met Debenhams chief executive Rob Templeman and appreciated the concept.

Brookes said, ''We have made a decision over the last couple of years to move towards providing plus-sized models in a lot of our shows, so therefore our fashion show has a number of plus-sized models. It sounds like a good idea.''

Myer, at Highpoint in Maribyrnong, is busy testing customer acceptance of size-18 to 20 mannequins. The size used earlier was 16 but this was only in its plus-size department that is meant for larger women.

This move comes following the government health data that states a significant proportion of Australians are getting bigger.