GLASSES BACK IN FOCUS
Hottest new frames eye three Rs: Retro. Round. Recyclable.
The other day I spotted a young Asian man wearing glasses
with cherry red arms. I knew right away that he was cool.
It made me think of my sister who as a girl buried her
glasses in the dirt and pretended she lost them because wearing
glasses was like wearing braces. Totally uncool.
Glasses today are a fashion accessory. More, they are a fashion statement. They jump from the face and declare to others that the wearer is artsy, nerdy, dramatic, unique, bold, stylish or subtle. Not mousey librarian and definitely not loser. Some consider their glasses their best friend.
In terms of creativity, they compare to shoes — you can buy another pair of black pumps that nobody will notice or you can get some Fluevogs and make a statement.
Today, we celebrate the creativity that eyewear designers are demonstrating. While most of us still take a more conservative approach to glasses, we don’t have to. A growing number of people now have multiple styles of glasses which they pair with their outfits like shoes. Of course, we can assume these people must be independently wealthy — designer glasses, for all their style, cost a fortune. One way to deal with that is to choose a design that has removable arms and get a bunch of different ones to swap on and off.
Retro frames are huge right now. I talked to experts who noted styles from the ’ 20s right through to the ’ 70s ( what one expert called pornstar or aviator glasses.) The Clubman shape from the ’ 60s ( like what Malcolm X and Kevin Costner’s JFK wore) show up in many of the collections including Thom Browne’s collaboration with Dita. Thom Browne also has a round motoring style that replaces the classic leather side cups with a see- through mesh. Both can be found at Bruce Eyewear.
The collections are loaded with cat eye variations too, from the classic shape to really subtle lifts at the outer tip. They look great even if you aren’t a rockabilly girl.
Round or almost round is everywhere. It’s a strong look, not at all Harry Potter or John Lennon, for that matter. These rounds have flat bright frames that are eye- catching and stylistically aggressive. But if you are building a collection, maybe it’s time to add a round pair.
No matter what the shape though, the fashion forward frames today are dramatic and large. Big black frames are still popular, although many of this year’s collections are a bit pared down, the frames a bit thinner and the size a bit smaller. The black is also moving over to give room to a fantastic array of colours. Acetate or plastic frames have up to three layers of colours with the inner and middle colours just hinting the accents.
“Black can be a bit harsh,” says Nada Vuksic from Bruce Eyewear.
Colour blocking is also strong, as is tortoiseshell in new colour palettes like blues or reds. The clear crystal frames that showed up last year [ worn by Michael Douglas in Wall Street 2] are making way for translucent colours.
One label I was drawn to for its art deco designs is from JF Rey, especially its Boz collection, available at Granville Optical and Highland Optical in North Van. From France, the frames are dramatic and totally unique, yet still flattering on a small face. They look dramatic on the shelf and many people don’t dare to even try them on, but they might be pleasantly surprised if they did. The arms are spectacular and an example of the texture showing up on many frames.
Thom Browne, Oliver Goldsmith and many others are now combining metal with acetate which gives a fresh look. Other great brand names are Anne et Valentin, L. A. Eyeworks, Lafont, Sarafin and Barton Perreira.
Eco from Italy takes the unused portion of acetate from other designers and crafts new frames. Only the screws and hinges are new. Consumers also have the ability to return their glasses in a recycle envelope to be sent to the distribution centre in Ohio and from there to Third World countries.
There are a gazillion frame designers out there, but the best ones tend to come from France, Italy, Denmark and Japan. The best quality plastic is manufactured in Japan. China is not well known for quality.
Here’s a tip to save you money, The Bay is having a half- price sale now, and in March they host a vision expo, bringing in 1,000 designs, all of which will be sold for half price.