The Bedazzler is a home appliance which is used to fasten rhinestones, studs, hunks, and patches to material, clothes and accessories.
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The Bedazzler first appeared in the 1970s as a direct marketing product. It was developed by NSI Innovations in the United States. It is promoted through Television infomercials, most recently by Tana Goertz of "The Apprentice" fame. Television marketer Avram C. Freedberg owns the rights to the product.[1]
The Bedazzler is a plastic device, similar to a stapler. The base has a circular wheel (a "Tiffany setting") opposite the plastic applicators ("plungers"). The device allows users to add various rhinestones and other assorted studs to fabrics and similar materials.[2]
The Bedazzler was voted #100 in the Top 100 Gadgets of all time (Mobile PC Magazine March 2005 edition). Craft magazine - 'CNA Magazine' featured the Bedazzler on its cover in the January 2001 edition.[3]
Like any fashion item, the popularity of the device and its output has waxed and waned over time. Because of its low cost and the type of glitzy clothes and accessories that can be created using a bedazzler, it is often associated with kitsch and retro fashion.
A commentator in Entertainment Weekly magazine described the Bedazzler as: "The cheap-ass rhinestone-studding tool favored by art teachers and over-excitable soccer moms everywhere, the biggest piece of crap sold on late-night TV since the Thighmaster, the reason women own shirts with glittery kitty-cats on them."[4]
The Bedazzler has made numerous appearances in pop culture. During season 3 of The Apprentice a Bedazzler is the focus of one episode. Radio personality Danny Bonaduce regularly bedazzles pieces of his wardrobe, which the other members of The Adam Carolla Show often mock him for. It is also a recurring element in The Game Plan. Lady Gaga mentions the Bedazzler during her music video for "Marry the Night".