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Vintage Sequins: Hidden Jewel of the Bead World |
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Written by Dara Spiotto
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
 VINTAGE SEQUINS
Hidden Jewel of the Bead World
November 4, 1922 was a great day for the sequin. This was the day that Howard Carter stumbled across King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. And guess what was tucked away, hidden among the bandages? Sequins. Tons of them. There was also a shirt tucked into the antechamber, shimmering with sequins made from ornate gold that had been rolled thin and cut, then sewn on by hand. This was so King Tut could be well dressed in the afterworld. Although the Egyptians had been making these sequins for their Pharaoh's for a long time, it was truly then that the sequin was born, and for the world... a love affair began.
Spangles, Paillettes and Diamantes
Whatever you call them, sequins have been worn by royalty, showgirls, Shriners and brides. They’ve even been worn by elephants at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Skaters, dancers, and even marching band members all wore sequins, and still do. They’ve evolved through the years from being made of real gold to gelatin plastic to today’s plastic. Much of this trial, error and eventual success can be attributed to Herbert Lieberman. In fact, Herbert pioneered the use of plastics in sequin production, and nurtured the USA to chug out hundreds of millions of spangles each day to date. Hats off to Herbert, we are indebted to him.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
Sequins are grossly underused in the bead world. They’re available in endless shapes, colors and sizes. They look fantastic in fringe, embellishments, and weaving. They add a color and texture that can be so subtle and dainty, or big and flashy and bold. Sequins rock. Vintage sequins rock even more. Those colors! You can’t get that stuff today. And I’m not just saying that because I’m still riding the high of the vintage sequin Christmas balls I made last holiday.
Don’t think of the sequin as the poor man’s crystal. I put them on the same pedestal as crystal, and in some cases, sequins can do way more than crystals can. Crystal is bulky and won’t lay flat. Ohhh…. except for Swarovski sequins. Did you know they made them? Well, the did. Unfortunately, they don’t any more. Flat, smooth rounds in colors like rose, light amethyst, light sapphire, and my personal favorite: light olivine AB. We once carried them all...and if you missed the boat on them… oops! Bad you! The good news is that Swarovski makes new sew on  beads, such as square and triangle flat backs, and faceted squares. These can be used in similar ways. Better scoop some up before you miss out on these, too, or years from now you’ll be crying in your Thread Heaven, as Heather once said.
Back to Sequins
In Las Vegas there’s a fantastic costume shop that’s as old as Vegas itself, settled in a small nest of streets at the end of the strip (the Stratosphere end). It's owned by a retired (a zillion years ago!) showgirl and she’s still dressed to the hilt. Gotta love her. The shop is called Williams Costume Shop and it was there that I fell in love with vintage sequins. They had millions. I did my best to buy whatever they had left in tiny quantities, and then spend years going back to scoop up the rest in as much bulk as I could afford. Somehow millions of sequins still seem to surface there. When I think I have them all, more appear. But I am now the proud owner of billions of weird, hard-to-find shapes, colors and sizes of sequins that I did manage to buy so far. And I use them in so many things. When I want to do bead embellishment they’re the first things I go for. No jewelry is safe, either.
Think about it. If you have a length of chain, some jump rings and a smattering of sequins, you can make something with huge bling that is so cost effective! In one inch of chain, you can dangle one sequin off each link and have a spectacular earring. Simple. Beautiful. And if the ideas run dry, just string them. They have a fantastic texture. It doesn’t matter if they’re cupped or flat, round or hex, solid or variegated. You’ll fall in love with them! Really, if they’re good enough for Tuankhamun, well… you know what I mean.
“When designing, the possibilities for make believe become almost endless, and lends the mind the ability to focus on something other than everyday life.” Brenda Whitehead, Fantasy Beadwork
 
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