Saturday 22 August 2009

Friday 21 August 2009

Vintage Ray-Ban aviators by Bausch & Lomb

My friend James recently bought a decent pair of vintage Ray-Ban aviators.

The 1980s shades, then made by Bausch & Lomb (which would later concentrate on contact lenses (boo!)), have glass not plastic lenses, giving them a weighty quality.

I hadn't realised some of the detail B&L included in its frames, there's a "BL" on one of the lenses and a tiny "Bausch & Lomb" printed across the top of the bridge.

Good choice.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Yves Saint Lauren YSL vintage sunglasses: Straighten that brow



Found two great new blogs tonight - new to me anyway.

The first is Vintage Frames Company which I'll be having a thoroughly good look through soon, and the second - which Dr Shapiro at the VFC put me on to - is ZONE7STYLE, "the UK's leading authority on specialist vintage", by Seth Bradley.

On there I found these great Yves Saint Laurent YSL vintage sunglasses... incredible. Am seeing a bit of a trend me thinks toward strong, straight bold browlines.

Monday 17 August 2009

Tag Heuer 27 degrees of invisible hinge - a sunglasses design classic

Anyone following a little more than average my optical obsession will have noticed a slight compulsion towards hinges. Mykita has two great hinges, IC! Berlin one, Alain Mikli another (probably more), Face à Face another, Lindberg has a screwless affair and Silhouette has none at all. There are more.

Swiss watch brand Tag Heuer launched its invisible hinge in the early 2000s, with its first eyewear collection, "27 degrees". Unlike those above, its clever hinge is hidden, "invisible" even.

Some kind of mathematical magic means that by cutting the temple at 27 degrees, you cannot see inside it: open, closed or anywhere in-between.

Acclaimed British designer Ross Lovegrove was the man with the 27-degree plan - genius.

Look and learn. The video gives you an idea, but the guy from Sunglassesavantgarde.com underplays the hinge big time.



Friday 14 August 2009

Round pink sunglasses. Yum

Hats off to Lis in the Buddka. Styletastic.

Anyone who's hung around opticians a little will have seen the dummy lenses that they use to show off the different colours available should you fancy some presciption sunnies.

Next time, you see two that match...

Thursday 13 August 2009

Zach Galifianakis wears Blublocker aviator sunglasses in the Hangover

Blublocker aviator sunglasses as featured in the Hangover
Zach Galifianakis
wears Blublocker sunglasses in the Hangover and these are the unidentifieds from last week.

Durr, get it. Thanks to Graz for helping me out.

I didn't realise the picture mike_1992 posted was from the movie The Hangover.

Lots of people have blogged this already. In May. Before I really got going. Playing catch-up!

Blublocker aviator sunglasses as featured in the Hangover

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Christian Roth aviators - a different take on a classic look

Christian Roth aviator sunglasses 14032 in brown
Christian Roth aviator sunglasses 14032 in brown
I've failed thus far to find an even close answer to Mike_1992's tweet wanting to know who these aviators are by, but my quest remains and we (me and my slowly developing spectacle blogging community) will soon come up with a half decent answer. One day.

The pic in question is from the 1970s or 80s, a period when, growing up, to be frank, I knew not my Histoire du Voirs from my Julbo. Even now I admit my knowledge of vintage bins is a tad patchy.

So, the best I can do - and it don't come much better - is a little Christian Roth... More of whom I shall write about soon. Until then, here is model 14032, an aviator sunglass with a difference, or two.

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Ray-Ban Clubmasters - browline for the Fräulein?

Ray-Ban Clubmasters RB3016

Ray-Ban Clubmasters are likely the most famous glasses of the "browline" style.

This young lady is unlikely a Fraulein, however, as this picture was taken in Los Angeles, again by HiStyley.com

Model featured is Ray-Ban RB3016.

Monday 10 August 2009

Maison Martin Margiela visor sunglasses - but what are they like on?

Maison Martin Margiela sunglasses


A few fellow glasses bloggers (Sunglasses on Stage, Everything Sunglasses)have written about Maison Martin Margiela sunglasses over the past couple of weeks.
I love them too, they're terrific, but have a slight concern about how they actually look on.


Still, hats off to Marcolin and Margiela for having the balls to do something different... Frame Freak did a great John Hughes eyewear obit post which featured Devo sunglasses (left). I remember having a grey pair and struggling to make them comfortable (alright, yes, I was eight or something and also found all knitwear intolerable).


The model wearing the latest Margiela Icognitos, doesn't quite convince me these aviator sunglasses don't have a similar problem.
Perhaps it all depends on the shape of your nose...



Sunday 9 August 2009

Anyone know who these aviators are by?

Unidentified aviator sunglasses


... it's not the best pic, so it's hard to tell.


Any suggestions of who they're by or of similar shades would be great. Mike_1992 posted these on Twitter.


Saturday 8 August 2009

Jim Carlsberg's - probably the best opticians in the world



Jim, I really like those frames but if you really are the best optician in the world, I expect an email detailing the make and model number by the end of the month.

Thursday 6 August 2009

Perspex white sunglasses in Los Angeles

Unidentified 1950s style sunglasses from HiStyley.comAm enjoying the combo of perspex white, the graduated tint in the lenses and slightly-too-big look... Thanks to HiStyley.com

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Oliver Peoples glasses suit anybody - and here's the proof



Have I just doubled, quadrupled even, the number of pictures on Eye Wear Glasses?

Big thanks to Dafna Talmon who's photographed hundreds of people wearing her fantastic Oliver Peoples Tycoon glasses. Brownie point for those who can spot the celebrities.

Dafna's organising Markivim - Hebrew for wearing glasses - "a public urban-interactive exhibition, that will combine aspects of fashion, social networking, online sharing, loss of self and limitless exhibitionism..."

More details at www.markivim.com

Monday 3 August 2009

la Eyeworks' "Reed" frames - a classic 1950s eyeglass

la eyeworks framesThanks to Steven who sent sent me this picture.

The frame is Reed by la Eyeworks, a super-duper Californian glasses design house close to my heart, as I frequently wear a similar frame, namely Hicks. Here they both are close up...

la Eyeworks Reed in coffee-tortoisela Eyeworks Hicks in coffee-tortoise
Why no pictures of me I hear you ask. Yes, I am a little shy, but more pertinently my digital camera is broken. A new camera arrived yesterday, so you'll see me soon.

*Update* Here I am in l.a. Eyeworks Hicks on a cold winter's day

Saturday 1 August 2009

Anne et Valentin Panto sunglasses: ready for 2010?

Anne et Valentin Panto sunglasses: So ChicNow I try not to make too many predictions, but I think Anne et Valentin are ahead of the game with these pantos, both in sunglasses and a fair few spectacles on their website.

Are round frames the trend for 2010? Watch this space.

Check back for more on Anne et Valentin eyeglasses soon.