Posts Tagged ‘Tom Cruise’

High Flying Style

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Men’s fashion is always a tricky issue. Without the endless choice that girls are offered their options are limited, and those striving to find a new look are restricted in their choices. As with clothes, the need to conform for your career can also frustrate you if you’re a dedicated follower of fashion.

Your eyewear can help you to look individual without resorting to the dodgier side of fashion. A cool and classic style for the guy who wants to stand out is the Aviator. This was designed in the fifties as a sunglass frame, a highly practical shape which gives maximum protection from glare. The double bridge makes it strong, and as anyone who has seen Topgun knows, it looks really really cool!

It has been a favourite ever since, dipping in and out of fashion for ophthalmic frames, and always a best seller as a sunnie. The double bar across the bridge was always a particularly masculine feature, and although it works well on sunnies for girls, it’s rarely seen as a feature with clear lenses with lady’s frames.

Steer clear of the Aviator if you have a strong prescription as the lenses will be thick and heavy, it’s actually best for lower powers. It will be hard wearing thanks to the double bar, and is a good investment piece as it’s always a classic. It suits most face shapes, although don’t go for it if it will rest on your cheekbones. There are subtly different shapes within this style bracket, varying from the extreme teardrop shape to more angular, squared off edges. The classic colours are gold, silver and black, as the retro styling suits simplicity.

You’ll be in the good company of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Russell Brand and James Blunt in your Aviator, so fly high in your stylish eyewear!

Russell Brand in his Aviators

Russell Brand in his Aviators

History Repeating Itself?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

With the tragic loss of Michael Jackson, nostalgia for his eighties heyday has been in the news this week. An interesting aspect of eyewear is the way it mirrors fashion and the look of the times but in a relatively subtle way. More people are likely to wear an eighties revival pair of sunnies or glasses then a military suit or a single sequined glove around town!

So how do you catch the look of the moment? With sunglasses it’s easy, as Aviators and huge round frames for girls have been in and out of fashion ever since they were invented. Everyone from Tom Cruise to Prince Harry wears them, and they’re an investment that will serve you well. For girls, ever since Audrey Hepburn peeped over the top of her huge black sunnies in Breakfast at Tiffanys, the look has barely changed. Everyone from Victoria Beckham to Madonna has their variation on the look, but if you want true eighties style make them as big as possible.

Ophthalmic glasses are a different matter, as eighties fashion is hardly anyone’s first choice of a good look! Women had huge frames with very dodgy tints, men had John Lennon round frames or their seventies throw back aviators. We’ve all been enjoying the lightweight joys of small frames for some time now, and most people would not want to go back to heavy, slipping, enormous specs. Second time around however, lenses are lighter, frame materials are thinner and more comfortable too, and frames are gradually getting bigger without the discomfort we suffered before.

So while you’ve got you’ve records back out and your white socks, remember Michael in his heyday, slip on your sunnies or your big specs, and be as Bad as you like!

What Type of Leading Man are you?

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

Obviously here we all love our glasses, whether for work, play, the beach or the office. We are aware though that some of you might not be convinced yet, so if you’re a guy who still thinks that specs aren’t sexy, then let’s take a look at some leading men who might just inspire you to love your lenses and embrace the joy of spex…..

If you’re the strong silent type, then think Men in Black – remember the cool style of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in their RayBan Wayfarers. (Do not at this point conjure up the Blue’s Brothers – not quite the image we’re going for here!) Or for the more dramatic among you, The Matrix – Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne in their uber funky, lightweight shades.

For that true retro look think of Tom Cruise, the ultimate Top Gun, in the ever classic Aviator. He was still rocking those sunnies in Mission impossible, astride his motorbike. Iconic specs that defined a look as well as an entire era. Although – you could say the same about Austin Powers – but we’ll gloss over that one!

Of course it’s not just sunnies that star in the movies, just ask yourself, where would Superman be without the brilliant disguise of his geek glasses? Would you recognise Michael Caine without his version of the same? For the red carpet or on set, the movies love specs, so embrace your inner screen God and order your own slice of star style!