May 2010 - EyeWearGlasses

Thanks to Venetia for letting me snap her in her blinding Paul Smith glasses. These really suit her!

Ray-Ban celebrated the re-launch of the Ray-Ban Aviator with a gig at London’s Scala this week. New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen and guitarist Steve Conte (pictured middle and right) took to the stage with sunglasses in place at the Ray-Ban event, which also featured The Big Pink and Plastiscines Ray-Ban unveiled six new styles of Aviator: Craft, Road Spirit, Tech, Titanium, Metal Glide and the limited edition Ray-Ban Aviator Ultra Gold.

I've been a little surprised there hasn't been more fuss around owning your own 3D glasses - to set yourself apart from the masses watching Avatar at your local cinema. I am more than a little surprised not yet to see a buy-one-get-one-free offer involving 3D-specs at Specsavers , Lenscrafters or the like. Perhaps it's deemed unnecessary? (Is it technically possible to have 3D presciption specs? Surely it must be) I am a relative newcomer to the whole 3D scene. But now I have children who want to go to the cinema I am frequenting 3D films at last, my first being How to Train Your Dragon . While I found the expereince of 3D pretty enthralling, I did find slipping a pair of theatre-supplied 3D glasses over the top of my Mykita Nils glasses a little cumbersome. Thank God it was dark! Here though, skate brand Stacks has launched some aviator 3D glasses and it's opted for the Carrera -rather than Ray-Ban Wayfarer -influenced style...

Chris M at the Great Vintage Sunglasses blog has found these great vintage sunglasses, as he tends to. They are made by German optical giant Rodenstock and are from the 1970s. Chris has another picture on his blog and his recent posts include Metzler , Cazal and Alpina - among many others.

I don't know. It's by no means a particulalry new thing. Alexis Taylor, the lead singer of Hot Chip has been wearing his for a few years. But I think this picture illustrates how great they can look - thanks to djalankin and his girlfriend for the picture. I've written about this image before in the context of Mykita Lite glasses , some of which have similar eyeshapes but using lighter material. As Mykita stated then, its Oda and Ulf styles (below) are aimed at the over 60s and at a younger generation. With vintage and retro style dominating eye fashion so much, in particular with the popularity of the aviator in recent years, this style has turned the corner from the Hot Chip geek chic and will slowly enter the mainstream. So far we've seen big acetate frames becoming a must-have accessory (e.g. Prism) but look out for the metals...

It takes 21 days to create a pair of Anne et Valentin handmade glasses, and judging by these pictures, you can tell. Anne et Valentin began in Toulouse in 1981 and I'm rather pleased it did. Its collection is one of the broadest and best around. Above are just a few the acetates and if you thought that was all A&V does, think again...

These warm honey-coloured Jones New York J211 spectacles from REM Eyewear are part of a wider launch of eyewear for women. Other new styles include subtle cat's eyeshapes and strong black rectabular styles.

Play. Pause for thought. Spoilt for choice by the range of retro glasses? Looking for something like all that, but a bit different? Try these. Sthereo glasses by Belgian spec-supremos Theo play on the cool looks of yesteryear but are brought bang up to date with the rivet markings, in the shape of fluorescent stop, pause, fast forward and rewind symbols. You'd better skip on down to a top-quality opticians though - there are only 100 of each style available. Stop. More great Sthereo spectacles through here...