Sequin History

(keep in mind that sequins follow the fashion industry)

Prior to 1920, sequins were made of metal, wood and shells, all too heavy and bulky to be worn in quantity on dresses. Even though celluloid had been around since the 1800's, it wasn't until the 1920's that the fashion industry began heavy marketing of the product on dresses. These dresses later became associated with the "Flappers of the Roaring Twenties". America was ready to party and the light weight, rectangles and circles reflected light and created movement, the beginning of today's sequin had emerged!

But by the 30's America was looking for color, but celluloid did not hold color and thus for the next decade, manufacturers "experimented" using numerous materials but nothing that worked as an industry standard until......

In 1935 the first commercially successful application of multilayer film was introduced by Kodak, known as Kodachrome COLOR film. Using the same process of layering Mylar and silver sandwiched together (the silver reflecting light through the colored Mylar) the fashion industry had found a product that could be worn by all walks of life and flaunt the deep rich color they had wanted for a decade. European sequins and glass beads were the top design item on high fashion dresses, sought after by the New York Fashion industry and Hollywood movie starlets/producers from the 1920’s to 1940’s. They were made with precision, rarely off-center or defective, every hole is exactly aligned with the next sequin. It was a time of quality workmanship, color and style. Late 30's and early 40's was the height of sequin quality.

But it was short lived! When WWII broke out and inventory was cut off from Europe, the U.S. dress manufacturers could no longer be guaranteed of a production of 2,000 identical dresses. The odd lots of sequins and glass beads on hand were destroyed or packed away until after the war. But after the war, the attention fell to homeownership and families. Fancy dresses fell out of vogue and dress embellishments were forgotten. Additionally, most of the European manufacturing sites were destroyed.

In the 1950's the sequin manufacturers began marketing a much cheaper product PVC for sequins. But PVC did not provide the depth of color, sparkle or precision that the industry was used to, so sequins popularity continued to decline further. Sequins went "underground", and continued to be used as erratic and evening attire.

Sequin popularity did not re-emerge until recently. Sequins are no longer made with silver; now they are made with polyester, PVC, vinyl or aluminum. Sadly today’s sequins are full of static, not as brilliant and ¼ of the sequins purchased are defective. The rich color and deep sparkle are gone!