Spot the Frippet: sequin.

Here's something entirely frivolous.

Sequins are the small shiny discs sewn onto clothes or, well, anything that you want to make shinier, really. 

They seem to have been used since 2500 BC in India, and I wouldn't be surprised if shiny fish scales were used before that to give joy to the world.

Is it possible to have enough of them?


photo by Sherrie Thai

well, possibly, I suppose, if you're designing uniforms for policemen; but on the whole if you're young and care-free then the more the merrier:


photo by Nicholas de Caramet

or for the oldies, how about these:


photo by Daderot

Let it shine!

Spot the Frippet: sequin. Sequins are named after a Venetian coin, officially called the ducat but nicknamed the zecchino. When the coin stopped being minted in the early 1800s the name was transferred to the decorations. 

Before that, the word comes from the Arabic sikkah, die for striking coins.