Fashion Spectacles, Spectacular Fashion: Eyewear Styles and Shapes from Vintage to 2020

The twentieth century marked a turning point in eyewear design, fueled by a rapidly
changing social and cultural landscape, new manufacturing techniques, the development
of innovative materials, and the entertainment industry. Spectacles, which had previously
been classed as purely functional, were transformed into an ultra-chic fashion accessory.
This engaging book is based on Simon Murray’s amazing collection, built up over
decades of avid collecting. An introduction explores the history of glasses and reveals
how premodern features and materials remain a rich source of inspiration in contemporary
design, from Andre Courrèges’s “Lunettes Eskimo,” a twentieth-century take on
Inuit goggles, to Gucci’s “Leather Aviators.” Examples of pre-twentieth-century glasses
and contextual shots of film and style icons sporting spectacles illustrate not only the
finest inventions and innovations of the past but also their evolution into the diverse,
eclectic range of styles available today.
Illustrated with specially commissioned photographs by Drew Gardner, this indispensable
guide to eyewear will appeal to fashion designers, stylists, costume designers, and
lovers of vintage.