Making a style statement with spectacles

TRENDS CHANGE. MODERN BECOMES RETRO AND RETRO BECOMES MODERN. INFLUENCED BY CONTEMPORARY TRENDS, I’M CONTEMPLATING GETTING A NEW FRAME

f you ever find happiness by hunting for it, you will find it as the old woman did her lost spectacles, safe on her own nose all the time,” wrote humorist Josh Billings. I remember the thick black-rimmed glasses my father used to wear every morning as he got hold of his cup of tea and morning newspaper, while my mother, with her specs settled on her nose, looked around for them till she’d exclaim, “Oh! I am wearing them.”

We, as kids, used to play with the extra pair lying on the table. Wearing specs, holding a stick, wielding the prop menacingly, we used to act as teachers, our role models in those days. Those glasses of my mother were my favourite. The arms were bent from regular use and never remained together on the plane of the table. The lenses were so thick that it was always a blur for my then-perfect kiddo-eyes.

Then came the time when I found reading difficult from the blackboard and I had to use specs at the age of 14. My first specs shopping trip got me a pair of ultra-light ones to prevent any mark on the nose. The thin rim around the lens was hardly visible.

During college days, I realised that the specs give me a scholarly and serious look. American writer Dorothy Parker wisely wrote, “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.” But I didn’t mind wearing my glasses and never ever cared for its frame. What was important for me was that they must fit well. Those were the times everyone preferred such light and unnoticeable glasses for kids, teens and even the middle-aged.

There were thick, fully rimmed black, brown, silver or golden coloured glasses for elders and the lighter ones for everyone else.

With the passage of time, trends have changed. Specs have ceased to be mere accessories and become accoutrements. There are designer eyewear collections. Now a bespectacled person has to be a spectacle himself to be with the times.

Many signature brands such as Ray Ban, Gucci and Coach have come up with innovative and customised form, cut and shape to fit the users’ needs. It takes a lot of effort for opticians to work to complete the spectacle before the stylish specs give a new look to its wearer. These are now a virtual fashion statement. They are a symbol of being chic and cool.

Thanks to the lens revolution, we have lighter frames with digital protection lenses. Beautiful eyes that get hidden behind blurry lenses are no more an issue.

Recently when I had to get my frame changed, I started observing the frames of bespectacled people and to my astonishment I found that each frame had a unique look.

Youngsters wore trendy and funny frames, elders too experimented with different colour combinations that looked fresh and flamboyant.

Trends change as the fashion world keeps offering new ideas. Modern becomes retro and retro becomes modern. Influenced by the contemporary trends, I’m contemplating getting a new frame for myself, heeding the words of American social activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles and see that the world is moving.”