Threads

#11: The Sequin Dress

n the words of longtime Paramount costume designer Edith Head, “Some people need sequins. Others don’t.” As is often the case with sweeping declamations from fashionistas, the statement doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. Is Head, who deployed sequins for Mae West in 1933’s and Barbara Stanwyck in 1941’s , turning her nose up at them? Is she plumping for some kind of new simplicity in women’s costumes, in spite of designing the most expensive (sequin!), in case you were wondering).