A to Z of Eyewear

A–Z

— OF EYEWEAR —

A guide to the style, etiquette and history of eyewear. Featuring good honest advice, a few anecdotes and technical terms explained.

BY STEENIE

A is for aesthetic balance, the canon of eyewear styling. It is also the aspheric lens, the aluminium frame and two of eyewear’s most celebrated brands: Algha and ArtCraft.

B is for Bridge, where all style decisions begin. It’s also for Branding, Bifocals, design legend Beausoliel and technical experts Bausch and Lomb and Barbarini.

C is for Cheekbones, their alignment, illustration and emphasis, and also for Celluloses Acetate and Nitrate, the legendary Cat’s Eye frame and iconic designers, Cazal, Courage and Cartier.

D is for C.W. Dixey, the oldest opticians in the world. It is also for Depp, Diana, Dior, Dita and those former titans of the British high street, Dollond and Aitchison.

E is for Easy Rider, the most iconic eyewear film of all time. It’s also for Eastwood, Elvis, Everage and Essilor, the biggest eyewear company on the planet.

F is for Ferrari, Fellini, Futura and Foster Grant, who paved the way for all that followed in eyewear design.

G is for Glazing, Glass and Gates, and two giants of British eyewear design, Gross and Goldsmith.

H is for Hoffman, purveyors of buffalo horn, the pinnacle of eyewear luxury. It’s also for Hinge, Hoya, Hoet and half-eye.

I is for Injection Moulding, which we caution you against. It’s also for ic! Berlin, IDC, intelligent frames and The Ipcress File.

J is for Jura, Jenkin, Jacque Marie Mage, and Samuel L Jackson and Sir Elton John, both of whom have jumbo collections of glasses.

K is for Kirk, Kingsman, and those epitomes of post-war cool, JFK and Grace Kelly.

L is for LA Eyeworks, Lafont, John Lennon and Sophia Loren.

M is for Malcolm X, Steve McQueen, Nana Mouskouri and Masannaga.

N is for Norville, Nylon, Nylor, Neostyle, Nikon and the good old NHS.

O is for Onassis, Ono, Oliver Peoples and the difference between an Optician, an Optometrist and an Ophthalmologist.

P is for Persol, Polariod, Panto, Police and Pulp.

Q is for Quant and Quantum of Solace.

R is for Ray Ban, Radcliffe, Rim, Reynolds and Revo.

S is for Starck, Safilo, Sellers and Shuron.