Faux Pas: Big Ol' Retro Spectacles

I shouldn't even have to say this. Those big ugly eyeglasses from the 80's that you hipsters are (still!) wearing? STOP. Dudes and Ladies: these suck...okay? There is a reason no one makes them anymore. If you want big, do the Buddy Holly look or something.

However, since this blog post isn't gonna make these go away, I wish I'd kept my ugly-ass glasses from when I was a kid so I could resell them.

pic from www.sleeknchic.com

Eyewear!

I have had my eyeglasses for FOUR and a half years. That is a long time. Before that, my glasse would last a year or two. I think I would get sick of them and subconsciously break them so I could get a new pair. But these ones - I hadn’t even dreamt of replacing them when one of the arms just broke off with a chunk of the hinge mid-morning-email-check.

I was devastated.

Don’t get me wrong - I usually jump at any opportunity to update my look. But these glasses - they were perfect. They were me. Four years ago, I walked into a store and they picked me. I didn’t even look at any other frames.

Let’s admire them for a second, shall we? Well, now they are my safety glasses in my jewellery studio (and they do double-duty as “aquafit goggles” when I go to the gym) and those beautiful rhinestoned arms are replaced with a non-descript transparent pair.

It took me a week, but I finally replaced the hole they had left in my heart. How did I get over them?

I bought TWO pairs.
I have always been the first to say “one can never have too many pairs of” followed by three things: earrings, shoes and eyeglasses. I mean, for someone like me who would walk into my own bedroom wall without my glasses, eyewear becomes part of who you are. And if you can’t use it to accessorize your look the way you do with belts, jewellery and shoes....well, what’s the point?
I couldn’t really afford it, but it would have been impossible to replace them otherwise. No one single pair said “I am the one” like my Hand Made in Paris, Rhinestoned, Bedazzled and Bestudded BeauSoleil frames...
I am actually embarassed to say that BOTH of the frames I found are Diesel. I normally boycott Diesel like nobody’s business - all their shoes and clothes are made in China, fall apart and are way over-priced. However, Diesel eyewear is made in Italy and distributed by the same company as Armani.

The first pair are yummy chunky, with giant white arms, and a clear front that actually shows more of my face than more glasses. (my apologies for the crappy webcam photo - the one available online just doesn't look like 'em)






The second are more compact, with a sharp and angular black front, and WOODEN arms. Not real wood, but it looks and feels just like it. The other colour variations in this style were hideous: transparent brown or grey front, and very un-natural coloured “wooden” arms. My partner says he can only describe these frames one way: New York, specifically Brooklyn. Hey, Brooklyn is my favourite part of New York which is my favourite city next to Paris, so that suits me just fine.

Through this cool eco blog , I found this company IWood that eco-designs beautiful wooden glasses: mostly sunglasses but they can be fitted with prescription lenses. So great! Except I am allergic to a lot of wood, which I have discovered due to my love of it (especially jewellery). I break out in hives, which would be bad if my eyewear did that to me. I also would complain about the arms on their glasses: they are all metal, and thin. What about big chunky wooden arms? Though I’m sure they’d customize if you were willing to shell out the money.