Is That Long-Legged Mannequin Real?

“I don’t know, is she for sale,” a man asked his gal and guy friends as they walked past a women’s boutique in Long Beach last weekend.  

What caught their eyes — as well as those of many other passers-by — was a bare-shouldered young woman with long legs in high heels and shorts in the display window at Party Gal, at 80 E. Park Avenue.

The mannequin with a blond wig that normally occupies that spot in the window was removed to make room for a brunette, Jeanette Sartiago, last Saturday. And Sartiago, who also sported aviator shades, did her best to stay perfectly still as pedestrians and motorists passed throughout the day.

“People walk by or drive by in their car and I can read their lips,” Sartiago said about posing in the window wearing different outfits from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. “‘And they say ‘Is she real?’ And then I wave and they realize.”

While this was Sartiago’s first stint modeling anything, it was the second consecutive Independence Day weekend that Party Gal owner Nicole Vergara tried this promotional gimmick of putting an actual, flesh-and-blood woman in her window.

“We attract attention,” said Vergara, who opened her boutique that sells women’s casual wear in December 2009. “It’s about being unique and different. And that’s what we’re about.”

As Sartiago posed in the window, either sitting or standing, her boyfriend was on the busy boardwalk handing out coupons for 20% off and free bottles of water featuring the Party Gal logo.

An East Rockaway resident, Sartiago had worked at retail stores and was last employed at a catering hall before she got laid off. She was shopping at Party Gal when she inquired about work.

“I was unemployed for a while and was looking around and then asked her for a job, and she called me," Sartiago said of Vergara.

Vergara what she noticed about Sartiago is that she had long legs. Now she is looking to employ more women to pose as mannequins more often in her window. She at least plans to have Sartiago come in every other weekend.

“It’s pretty cool,” Sartiago said about her new gig. ”I’ve got the long legs, so I figured I’d give it a try.”