Posts Tagged ‘rimless’

What does your eyewear say about you?

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Just as your preference in clothes, car, dwelling place, and every other life style choice gives everyone lots of information about your inner self, your choice of frame speaks volumes too! So what do your specs tell the world about you?

Rimless – wearers of these minimal frames tend to be just like their glasses – neat, efficient, sharp and smart. Often chosen by professionals, they don’t shout out for attention, they’re discreet, subtle and quietly confident. You won’t find any flamboyant dressers or wild child types topping their exuberant outfits with rimless. Tailored clothing, subtle colours and neat little accessories are more their style.

Bold Plastics – trendy, funky, show off and shout out, these are the exact opposite of a rimless. Ronnie Barker, Jenny Eclair, Dame Edna, Elton John are fans, so need we say more?!! These are the glamorous, look-at-me option, and plastics wearers will certainly demand that you do. They love bright colours, attention seeking clothes, and will be the life and soul of every party!

Metals – metal frames are the back to basics, no nonsense option. Colours are less noticeable on metal frames, they are sturdy, steady, and dependable. Aside of the occasional funky fashion metal, these are the beige slacks option of the eye wear fashion world. Metal spec wearers will get the job done for you, are reliable and efficient.

Retro/Vintage – This is usually quite a quirky look, so expect it on revolutionaries, hippies, or at the other end of the spectrum, high end fashion victims. It requires a little thinking outside the box to track down a vintage frame that can be glazed, so these will be the people who like something different. True individuals who want to kick back against the uniformity of the British High Street.

So do you think you fit your specs profile? Or are you just wearing what was easy/cheap/they’re-my-husbands-I-can-just-about-see-in-them! Maybe it’s time to tell the world a little more about you via your eye wear, or even go for a new look and fool everyone with the unexpected!

Varifocal Glasses

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Barely There

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

With rimless frames declining in popularity over the past couple of years, the minimalist style hunters among us are looking for an alternative which is equally lightweight and invisible on the face. This leads to us an interesting juxtaposition in trends – the chunky bold lines of heavy geek or retro plastics, and the uber skinny rims of memory metals and super thin plastics. So which look suits you?

Take a look around your home and you can translate this into an indicator of your personal style. If you think less is more, and you favour neutral colour palettes, sleek lines and not even a visible door handle, a skinny rim is for you. This will suit your love of function and form, as these frames require super-technology and state of the art materials. To cut down on bulk and weight, materials need to be super tough even when pared down to the minimum. Usually devoid of decoration, or even joints! These frames are made of as few parts as possible, with springy materials that do the work of joints and complex lens housings. Almost invisible on the face, they are practically weightless and very comfortable, second only to contact lenses for making you look specless!

If you like to chuck as much colour, bling and detail at everything as possible, if your lounge looks like the Strictly ballroom, then you need a plastic. With plenty of surface area for decoration and extra colours it’s just the thing to allow you to express your exuberance and wildness! These frames do the work of accessories for you, bringing interest and warmth to the face. These are frames with personality, for those who like to be noticed. On a practical level, they also disguise thicker lenses, will stand up to a careless owner, and are perennially trendy.

There are styles in between these extremes of course – subtle plastics, metals in colours, a few remaining rimless – but who wants to go for the safe path? Take it to an extreme for a memorable look, bold or barely there, the choice is yours!

Varifocal Glasses

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Fashion Forward

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Following our British Optical trade fair in April, new styles of frames are filtering onto the market after their launch at the show. This is an exciting few months for new fashions, as we see exhibition samples reaching our shelves. Nothing stands still in fashion, and our designers aim to compliment clothing and accessories with inspiring eyewear.

Rimless are still a steady niche product for some, and styles have been updated with coloured plastic and metal sides, and edgy new shapes that echo standard frame styles. Sharp rectangles for men, deeper shapes, and even round eyes are creeping back in for Summer/Fall 2011. Go a bit bigger than your previous model for up to date style with no boundaries!

Geek shapes are the norm rather than the trendy exception now, and they are bang on trend with new colours and materials. Now produced in sheet cut metals and skinny plastics rather than just chunky acetates you can go retro and traditional or fresh and funky within this look. Layered lime with purple, pink and red, a far cry from the Ronnie barker solid black plastics!

Metal frames, once simple and plain, are given the make-over treatment with deeper shapes, chunky rims, and wide plastic sides bearing every kind of decoration you can imagine! Dior are using engraved and touchy-feely texture, Fendi some rather chic wood grain pattern, Gucci a swirling mix of colours fading into one another. Prints are popular too, with inspiration form nature – butterflies, flowers and abstract patterns – and techno-geometry.

So whatever your personal choice, you can stick to your signature look while bringing things smartly up to date this season. Rimless, plastic, metal or a combination of all three, the choice is endless and very fashion forward!

Varifocal Glasses

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The Choice is Yours!

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

You may be browsing specs online or facing the dread of the Opticians dispensing shop, but for many clients the selection of the perfect frame is a bamboozling experience that leaves many with a headache and the dread that they’ve picked the wrong thing. If you’re about to embark on this – X factor speak!! – journey, then the first basic choice boils down to 3 looks; plastic, metal, or rimless. Here are a few points to consider.

Plastic Frames – A chunky, bold, often high fashion look, with more obvious colour than a metal frame..

Perfect for – anyone allergic to metal materials

higher prescriptions – they disguise the lens edges

fashionistas

sensitive souls who don’t like the nose pads on metal frames

Not ideal for – Petite faces – they can overwhelm you

Chubby cheeks – the lack of nose pads mean they can rest on the face

Metal frames – a chic, minimalist look, with slimmer rims.

Perfect for – varifocals or bifocal wearers – adjustable nose pads give you the best

lens position

petite faces

colour phobics! The colour is less obvious than with a plastic

Not ideal for – sensitive skin, many metal frames are made with nickel silver, which

can provokes a reaction

high prescriptions – you’ll see the lens edges and all the weight of the

heavier lenses is focussed on the small area of two little pads.

Rimless – the pared down minimalism of bridge and side arms gives an almost invisible look.

Perfect for – anyone who hates wearing glasses! They are less visible than

conventional frames.

Anyone who wants to design their own glasses – you can have the

lenses cut into any shape you fancy!

Not ideal for – High prescriptions – the lens edges are visible, so thickness will show.

The heavy handed – these specs are more vulnerable than any other,

and the bit that breaks will usually be the lens, which is the expensive

part!

So that’s the easy bit, the practical pros and cons of each broad spec style. Now you just have to work out what shape, what colour, how thick the sides should be……..

Varifocal Glasses

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A Rash Moment!

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

I’ve been wearing glasses for a few years now, and after several pairs of dodgy rimless that constantly fell to bits I chose a sleek gunmetal frame, with slightly chunky rims and cut outs at the sides. I thought they looked pretty cool, and received many positive comments on my new look. Then one morning I woke up with a vivid red rash across my cheeks, and I soon realised that my new look was turning into a nasty problem….

I’ve had the odd problem before with an allergy to Nickel, I can’t wear belts with metal buckles or costume jewellery. I didn’t really think about specs doing the same thing, as they don’t seem to touch my skin. When I went to the GP about the rash on my face she pointed out that the bottom edge of my glasses touches my cheeks some of the time, and when we examined the frames they have funny little pitted marks along that edge.

So I investigated further with my Optician – taking my flaming face and the glasses in for a re-fit. The problem was traced back to a slightly drunken (!) incidence over Christmas, when I sat on the frames. This had bent them and left them tilted down, so the lower edge now caught my cheeks when I was eating, talking or laughing – so most of the time really!! The contact with my skin had broken down the protective lacquer on the frame rim, which exposed my delicate little face to the nickel silver underneath.

The Optician had several helpful tips to help me. Firstly, you should always wash the frames every night with soapy water. This stops a build up of pollutants on the frame, which could eat away the protective layer. Secondly, check the fit periodically – the frame should only touch the skin behind the ears and on the nose where the plastic pads or bridge piece are. Thirdly, if you know you have an allergy, avoid metal frames. Choose plastic or Titanium metal, which is hypo-allergenic. Even if the metal does not physically come into contact with the skin, really sensitive little flowers like myself could react to the proximity of it.

I’ve now traded in my funky metals for a really groovy plastic, which has been a joy to wear and the rash has cleared up. You live and learn, and I won’t be rashly going for metal frames again!

Varifocal Glasses

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Sun Style 2010

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Even if the temperature is still zero, we’re all looking forward to when Spring arrives. Now is a great time to be thinking about sunnies, while you have time to browse and get your order in before the busy season starts. So dust off  last season’s sunglasses and take a look, before you move on to the first summer of the new decade.

The recession has had an impact on design this year, and two trends seem to be emerging. For the classic dresser there are the very wearable, simple styles that are an investment for future seasons. For the trend setters amongst you who want to celebrate the first tentative steps towards the economic recovery there are the fashion forward, highly funky shapes.

Sizes are still big, a trend that’s stayed from last season. With sunnies this is a practical fashion, as large frames cut out more glare and UV. Visor styles, where the two lenses form a shield are appearing again, as are rimless mounts with gaps between the lenses and the frame. Retro cat’s eyes are always in vogue, and are a flattering shape for lots of women.

Colour is everywhere, but if you fall into the camp of classic dresser, there is still plenty of black and tortoiseshell. You can go for one with a brighter colour laminated on the back of the rim if you fancy an understated flash of colour. If you want obvious colour them you might want to wait until summer clothes are on the racks, and then choose a frame that will tone with your new season wardrobe. Red and strong green are taking centre stage this year, a refreshing change from the berry tones of 2009.

Small amounts of bling is still in evidence, and the subtle logos of last years credit crunch style are being replaced by more conspicuous displays of your designer’s name. Simply stamped names are being woven into floral or more embellished logos this year, to refresh the look, so don’t think you can get away with digging out last year’s sunnies – splash the cash and cut a dash!

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The Perfect Combination

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

If you’re the kind of person who finds decision making difficult, then choosing your eyewear can be tricky. Trendy? Traditional? Coloured? Or Clear? An obvious distinction with spex frames is the material – the basic choice being plastic or metal. There is however an easy way to make your mind up over that issue – just go for a combination!

A plastic front frame with a metal side gives you a trendy, chunky look on the face, but with a side that’s easy to adjust, and isn’t too thick. Useful if you have problems getting frames to fit, or even if you wear a hearing aid. Plastic fronts don’t have moveable nose pads, which some wearers find uncomfortable.

A metal front with a plastic side is great if you like a bit of colour, as the front will be light and subtle, while the wider plastic sides can be decorative and add interest. The adjustable pads can be altered for fit.

Some frame fronts, whether plastic or metal, have a nylon thread holding part of the lens in, usually across the lower rim, but sometimes down the temple edge. This reduces weight, makes the frame flexible, and is good if you like the look of rimless but not the fragility.

Traditionally these frames – called supras – have a metal front, but with plastic frames becoming more popular recently there are more plastic supras around. These have a really trendy look and give you a slightly different edge. So don’t go for the obvious! A combination of materials can suit your individual needs better than a simple metal or plastic frame.

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