Cutler and Gross spectacles - on the street in Covent Garden

Another great style from Cutler & Gross - am loving the colour. Great choice...

Happy New Year to everyone...

Blue Ray-Ban Wayfarers with matching hood - sales shopping on Oxford Street

Six months on, my first streetstyle picture. This guy happily let me photo him in his blue Ray-Ban Wayfarer RB5121 glasses. It's great to see people colour co-ordinating their specs.

Linda Farrow and House of Holland Plexiglass sunglasses

An interesting mixture of influence for the spring-summer 2010 collaboration between Linda Farrow and House of Holland... with thanks to Klang on Freshnet

Happy Christmas all... back soon

Thanks for following, visiting, loving, helping, sharing and just generally being good eyewear-admiring folk.

Happy Christmas all - "Happy Holidays" to all those Stateside.

And I leave you with a cheesy Christmas joke:

What do you call a blind reindeer?







No idea.

White sunglasses at a festival

Taken by Laëtitia Soufflet

30 years of iconic Hollywood movies' eyewear

With thanks, SF Optics...

Red graduated lens, blue hat, gorgeous look

With thanks, Staffan Eliasson

Monocles, cool? Yeah, right, and walking canes

Call me Mr Uppity, but this week's reports that monocles might be back in fashion in London are nonsense. I really can't see it myself. With neither eye.

An opticians has perhaps hired a more creative PR firm than before, but monocles will forever remain an eccentricity of Chris Eubank, Sir Patrick Moore, Henry Hatsworth and the like.

And just as Eubank, Lord of the Manor of Brighton's walking cane never really caught on, neither will the monocle.

UK optical chain Vision Express said it would start stocking £50 monocles, in response to an unexpected spate of requests. That may well be so, and perhaps there's an underground monocular movement that Eye Wear Glasses is failing to spot, but I bet they don't sell any, except in some buy-one-get-one-free deal (with free bridge and temples) for fancy dress party-goers.

Nevertheless I did find this picture of Winona Ryder... note the much cooler shades in the background.

Unidentified aviator-shaped eyeglasses in Milan - and a great haircut

I love these glasses (and the hair) but, I must admit, I haven't a clue who makes them. Ideas welcome!

Photo courtesy of Trendycrew.

Vintage square sunglasses by Safilo - from the bottom of a drawer

It's been a while since I've seen vintage shades as good as these. They're by Italian eyewear giant Safilo and Elisa found them in the bottom of a drawer in a shop in her parents' village in Italy.

I think they're 1960s or 70s. I love the bridge and the detail where the temples join the frame.

With big thanks to eli__sa for letting me publish this terrific photograph. Feel free to comment if you have more detail!

Claire Goldsmith Legacy glasses collection

It brings me great pleasure when I can rave about some British designers and they don't come much greater than Oliver Goldsmith.

Claire Goldsmith relaunched Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses four years ago, recreating many of the vintage designs of the past 70

years.

Claire Goldsmith says, “The collection has been designed by the team I have put together since re-launching the Oliver Goldsmith brand.

"The OG re-launch has been incredibly well received and the classic designs taken from the archive once again can be seen to be worn on some of the coolest faces out there.

"But vintage is just one trick and we can do so much more. Legacy represents the future.”

I agree. Great shapes and I love the mixture of

1950s vintage details with more 1970s and 1980s finishes.

Hold on to that design

team Claire!

Stockists include Artsee in NY and Gogosha Optique in LA. Available February.

Oh Betty! January Jones in Moscot Vilda sunglasses

There's much debate about this picture of January Jones, who plays Betty Draper in Mad Men. I can't imagine why.

It seems some believe these sunglasses are by Moscot - indeed GQ captioned another picture from this shoot as so.

But other bloggers have suggested Oliver Peoples.

Moscot Vilda me thinks. Great Wayfarer alternatives...

When is Mad Men back on telly?

Élise Crombez wears Gold and Wood eyewear

A 10-minute slideshow of pictures of Belgian model Élise Crombez wearing luxury eyewear brand Gold & Wood glasses and sunglasses. There are some great styles included...

Who makes Jo Brand's black and white glasses? Alain Mikli, that's who

Primetime UK television got the twitterati talking this week when Jo Brand presented Have I Got News For You wearing an unusual, asymmetric pair of black and white glasses.

To be honest they didn't go down very well in most tweets; eyewear ignorance prevailed.

But Eye Wear Glasses thought they were bloody brilliant. Alain Mikli at his best. The style worn was AO715.

If you want to see how these Alain Mikli specs look on Jo Brand you can watch HIGNFY on iPlayer here... Until the BBC takes it down on Friday... Oh, and you can only watch this if you're in the UK.

Must do more on Mikli... Thanks to contactsandspecs, who sell the above specs, for the picture.

Framers glasses from Germany... pink Frisbee action shot

Good quality German glasses with a tad more attitude than most: Framers. A new brand for me.... I love the amber specs (top), and the Frisbee-throwing attire (bot).

And after all, you're my wonder wall: Wonderglasses

Get these for wonderful glasses pictures! These German wonders are made by Wonderglasses. I think these pics represent the first signs of Christmas coming to EWG!!!...

Shapely black spectacles in Milan

I love the contrast between the internal and external eye shapes on this unidentified black acetate frame. With thanks to PimPumPam.

Retro Super Future Flat Top sunglasses now in black leather

Remember my post on RetroSuperFuture Flat Top sunglasses a few weeks ago? Well, I thought they couldn't come much better than those, but they've just been trumped by these Super-limited edition black leather Flat Tops. Only available online from this Thursday to next (3-10 December) at Retro Super Future.

Andy Wolf Eyewear: handmade in Austria and made with care

Andy Wolf Eyewear is handmade in the small Styrian town of Hartberg, Austria. These photos were taken at Vienna Fashion Week and show how acetate spectacles should look - beautiful. And here's a little detail of how they're made...

Photos: Christian Leitner

Ferrari F27S folding sunglasses - detailtastic vintage 1980s

Tell me that a car brand has a line of sunglasses and I will probably be pretty sceptical. And tell me that the said car brand is Ferrari, I would probably roll my eyes and expect the resulting product to be predictable, profit-driven, brand-licensed tosh. I'd be very wrong though in this case.

These vintage 1980s Ferrari F27S folding sunglasses, which Chris Metzler featured on his terrific blog Great Vintage Sunglasses yesterday, had me up on my hind legs like a frisky stallion. Visit Great Vintage Sunglasses for more detail. I too love the horse detail behind the fold!

Photos: Chris Metzler.

Stereotyping spectacles - remember you don't have to be one to want to look like one

Taylor Lautner from Twilight wears Carrera Jocker sunglasses

Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob Black in the The Twilight Saga: New Moon film is pictured wearing Carrera Jocker sunglasses in brown.

Photo: Bauergriffin Olycom

Histoire de Voir: from studded sunglasses to stylish sophistication

Stephane Sarnin has been making leather eyewear by hand in Paris for 15 years.

Histoire de Voir has since inspired numerous other collections to bring leather into the glasses making mix.

And as he demonstrates with these five frames, the resulting look can range from smart and sophisticated (left) to rock chick (top).

Find Histoir de Voir in your opticians, and you know you've found an optician worthy of your custom.

Addicted to Kirk Originals? Might as well face it

Kirk Originals' latest collection of sunglasses - Vector - is terrific and, as is frequently the case from Kirks, it ignores some of the more obvious trends and includes an element of quirkiness.

The asymmetry of the Kirk Heroes collection is back, but it's not just the colour that changes, it's texture and pattern - a barcode to be precise. Great shapes, and great images.

I always thought Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love video could not be improved, but I was wrong. A pair of Vector sunnies for each of the musicians...? I think so.

Photos, from top: Alana, Blake and Nicole.

A crafty piece of sunglass engineering from Paul Frank

Baum Vision produce some of the most cutting-edge, quality sunglasses including the Crafty Engineer, above, from Paul Frank. These are worn by Riccardo Rossi of Italian band The Sun.

Photo: Valeria Zanini.

RAEN Optics 2010 sunglasses: Flowers by surfer Alex Knost

RAEN Optics has teamed up with surfer Alex Knost for the first instalment of its 2010 colection.

I love the round shape, the keyhole nose, the transparent colours.

Not available until March 2010...

Elvis Costello wears some very good glasses but who are they by?

It's been a while since I've done a "unidentified" post, partly because I'm always a bit anxious it will make me look a bit silly and people will tut, sigh, shake their head and think "this Eye Wear Glasses man doesn't know his temple tip from his nosepad".

I've a few ideas but thought I'd open it up to the peepers peeps.. any ideas? - comment below

Mark emailed me because he wants to buy the same glasses as eyecon Elvis Costello.

Am going to the dentist tomorrow for root canal work! (And I would rather be anywhere else but here...)

Photo: Contactmusic.com

Derapage Eyewear: watch glasses assembly close-up - no hands!

Found another glasses blog today, Optical Ruminations by Jules Clarke, and his most recent post features this video of the Tornado, by Derapage Eyewear, an Italian collection. All made from chemically cut surgical grade stainless steel:

Balenciaga - note hair-ear-temple arrangement

Balenciaga shades: I think these are model BAL0047, but no promises.

Mercura NYC sunglasses - sculptured eyewear art

Usually when I write about good glasses, a thick slice of it is around good design - functional, aesthetic, technical, combining infuences, whatever.

What I like about Mercura NYC, from Rachel Cohen-Lunning and Merrilee Lichtenstein Cohen at the Hotel Chelsea, is that it goes beyond all that. It's bigger, more profound, it's art and I love it. Next time I'm in Manhattan, I know where I'm going. More on Mercura here and an inconceivable amount on Facebook...

Since the 1970s Rachel and Merrilee have designed fantasy jewelry, metal dresses, metal bustiers, headdresses, crowns, cigarette holders and more. Oh, and eyewear...

Photos: Curtis Eberhardt

ic! berlin glasses and shades - something for the weekend?

I return from a rainy trip to the shop yesterday and what do I see? A massive parcel from Berlin. Twas like Christmas had come early!

It was of course the lovely folk at ic! berlin sending me their latest pack of goodies: toffee, a calendar, a catalogue of all their specs, a DVD of quality, well-taken pics, too many to choose from. But I managed: here are four of my favourite new additions to their colossal collection of sheet metal ingenuity...

Top are Neutor and Rheingold, two of the latest additions to the main ic! berlin glasses collection.

And beneath those are Samedi and Dimanche, the newest models in Christina Muthsam's (it is her wearing them too) Très Chic! collaborative collection, both available either as prescription glasses or as shades.

RetroSuperFuture Sideviews sunglasses: Havanna Glitter

More Super sunglasses, this time the Sideview.

Mykita Lite glasses collection - majestic minimalism

So you have potentially the best hinge in the world - how do you make it better? You make it teeny-weeny.

Mykita has launched its No.1 Lite collection, which moves its original No. 1 hinge on a bit. It's smaller, simplified, comprises three pieces and - as before - no screws.

(Why are no screws good? Because you don't have to invest in a tiny screwdriver to tighten them up when the temples flop.)

The new thinner temple has a silicone tip which can be bent into shape around the ear.

As a Mykita wearer, I've always loved the shapes, but am particularly impressed by how much they manage to introduce shape and style to very minimalist designs.

Have a better look here with Mykita's 360-degree viewer.

Oh and here's me in my Mykita Nils frame with Arthur (Master Eye Wear Glasses Junior the Younger - both of us having a bad hair week).