Sunglasses – Vintage Gold Bamboo-Style Eyewear
The 68 France Mod Tiki Gold ‘Bamboo’ sunglasses: a square gold frame with amber lenses from the Tiki years of the 1960s, and why I like eyewear like it.
The name on these is a mouthful: 68 FRANCE MOD TIKI GOLD ‘BAMBOO’. They are vintage sunglasses with the glamour of the 1960s, and the bamboo is what you notice first.
I’m a sucker for anything vintage, and eyewear most of all. So much of what is sold now is plastic and looks the same. This doesn’t.
This pair is mine. I found it in Andorra.
Bamboo Sunglasses
The frame is square, with amber lenses. It is gold metal shaped like bamboo, not real bamboo.
Now, why “Tiki”? In the 1960s Tiki culture was everywhere, from home décor to fashion. It was all about escape: a tropical paradise, even if you never left the suburbs. It was kitsch and it was fun. These sunglasses have that playful spirit, done in gold.
Why Wear Gold
Who doesn’t love a touch of gold? On jewellery or on sunglasses, it makes a thing look more expensive. Here it catches the light.
The frame is oversized, too. Sunglasses are mostly about style, but a bigger frame also covers more of the skin around the eyes.
Vintage Sunglasses
Vintage eyewear comes from a time when people took risks with what they put on their faces. Today too many people play it safe and wear the frame everybody else is wearing. Not me. For me it is about wearing something no one else in the room has.
A pair like this is rare. You won’t find it in any shop. You have to hunt for it, and when you find it you hold on to it.
68 FRANCE MOD TIKI GOLD ‘BAMBOO’
A pair like this does the work for the outfit. Put them on with the simplest dress and the outfit makes sense. And they do it without flashing a logo or going over the top.
Life is too short for boring sunglasses.
