My spectacles ~ how to find vintage frames to suit you!

~ *  Vintage 1950 advertisement for spectacles ~ I quite like pair number 4  * ~

Finding glasses frames that look good, suit your style, and don’t overwhelm your face is difficult at the best of times, but what do you do when you have a very distinct fashion style?   I am currently facing that problem ~ my script has changed {again!… } so I am shopping around for the perfect pair of vintage glasses to suit my look and my face.

The first place I went to look for glasses was Dead Men’s Spexs Vintage Eyewear.  You may have already heard of this site ~ they sell vintage frames that you can fill with your own prescription lenses. 

I couldn’t find a pair that I liked there, but I think that visiting their site is really handy.  You can use a “browse by period” feature to check out what style of frames where popular for the era that you prefer.

Now I tend to prefer to dress either 1940s or 50s, but I soon found out that I don’t really like either of the more common glasses frame styles from back then.  Before the 1950’s everything seems to be pretty much round ~ either thin gold frames, {which I could wear, except that I don’t like gold} or heavy black/tortoiseshell acetate.  Neither of those appeal to me ~ so onto the next era, 1950.

 

~ *  The classic pre-1940s/1940s spectacle shape.  The lenses rims can be gold, silver, tortoiseshell or black as seen here, and the arms can be either the same colour as the rims or a different colour like the picture above.  * ~

Everyone knows the classic 50’s look ~ cat's eye glasses!  I am not a real fan of the extremely pointy kind, although I have seen some vintage ladies looking absolutely fabulous in their sharp cats eye frames.  However, after searching around I decided that a nice deep cats eye frame, preferably two toned {dark on the top and light on the bottom} and in some shade of tortoiseshell or chocolaty brown would probably suit my style and my skin tone. 

So like these:

Or these:

At the end of a long hunt through all of the websites listed below I finally found a pair that I like, so we’ll will have to wait and see how they go when I get them!   I’ll show you the big reveal later…   Happy spectacle wearing!

Tips for purchasing vintage spectacles:

• Figure out which era you wear the most, or that suits your style the best.
• Look for frames that are similar in shape and colour to your favourite vintage pairs ~ you may be able to find a modern look-a-like for less.
• Try on styles at the optometrist to get a sense of what size/shape suits your face.
• If you have a complex script ~ bifocals or trifocals, buy the frames you like and get your optometrist to replace the lenses and don’t forget to ask your optometrist what size you need to get to fit your prescription.
• Shop around! There are many places to buy your perfect pair of frames, so if you can’t find the ‘just right’ pair, keep looking. 

Places to buy vintage eye glass frames:

• Ebay
• Etsy
• Dead Men’s Spex

Places to buy vintage reproduction/modern vintage look-a-likes:

• Bonlook – reproduction vintage glasses
• Zenni Optical – modern, but have some great vintage look-a-likes
  

xox,

bonita