Men do make passes at girls with glasses

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33453, 7 February 1974, Page 6

Men do make passes at girls with glasses

(By

NORMAN HARTNELL)

LONDON. One of the oldest fashion cliches must surely be that “men never make passes at girls who wear glasses.” Yet spectacles are no longer—if they ever were—the trademark of shortsighted spinster aunts, or prim and proper schoolmistresses. Not only are they now, in many cases, an aid to sight and balance, but London opticians assure me that there is a great demand for “vanity glasses” from people who have no medical need for them. Most of these people want tinted lenses rather than clear glass, and the frames they choose vary from the thin “granny” frames, (favoured by such well-known people as John Lennon and Yoko Ono), to the large, heavy tortoise-shell styles. Many people, in fact, wear glasses as an adornment as they would wear a necklace or a brooch.

For others, they can be a “psychological prop” — or a screen behind which they can look out at the rest of the world. Practical purpose I wouldn’t like to give the impression, however, that everyone should wear them in a purely frivilous fashion. Darkened lenses, however lightly tinted, help to stop you puckering up your eyes in bright light. Polarising lenses reduce glare to an even greater extent than the straightforward tinted lenses. By the way, although

polarised lenses are marvellous for dazzle and glare, they are not meant for use while driving, because they tend to make the windscreen appear mottled and blurred. Polarised glasses don’t necessarily help all types of eyes, so check first with an optician before investing in a pair, because some may, in the longer term, cause some damage to your sight.

This year’s fashion in spectacles will be to match sunglass frames to their lens colour, and, for those who wear clear glass to match, or co-ordinate, frame colour and style to the over-all style of their clothes. If you wear tinted or coloured lenses, be careful not to pick a colour which might cancel out such things as traffic light colours. You don’t want to find yourself on a dangerous driving charge for the sake of fashion. If you are not buying your glasses through an optician, or a specialist, be careful, because cheap lenses can often have defects, and might quickly cause eye troubles.

Plain plastic When you buy your spectacles from a specialist, you can be certain that you are getting the right lenses for your eyes. You can have your regular prescription glasses tinted for a small extra charge. Frames now in London vary from the sublime to the ridiculous, with shiny metal frames, or rectangular shapes, to massive ostentatious butterflies, di-amante-studded styles, tartan and patterned, bamboo, wooden, or plain plastic. But it is no use liking the look

of a frame and buying it unless it suits your face shape. Square faces need lenses with are rounded and wide, while long faces look best with deep lenses, a low bridge, and fairly thin, delicate frames.

If you have a round face, choose shallow frames with width at the temples, and remember that delicate frames look best on neat features. If you can’t see which frames look best on you, then it’s time you wore glasses Photochromatic The photochromatic lens is the newest idea in glasses, a type of lens which is ideal for such things as ski-ing, or in bright light and glare at the beach for the lenses automatically adjust to light, shade and heat, by changing colour while you are wearing them. They are very good for people who have to wear glasses to correct vision. They aren’t cheap, however, but are extremely good value if you usually wear spectacles and also need sunglasses, or tinted lenses occasionally. They save your having to wear clip-on shades, or even the necessity of having to buy two different pairs. Don’t be too impatient, though — these lenses take about ten minutes to completely adjust to a light change.