Vintage Eyewear – How To Choose Your Eyewear
How to choose vintage eyewear: why I buy it, which frames suit which face, what to check on a French pair, and my sky blue frames in a Bentley.
For me, vintage eyewear is a way to wear something that no one else has. The styles run from cat-eye frames to aviators, so there is a pair for every face and every taste. And to me the old pairs are better made.
It is the sustainable choice too. A second-hand frame is one less thing to be made and one less thing thrown away. Vintage frames also tend to cost less than a new designer pair.
Why buy vintage eyewear for marketing?
My glasses are in every photograph and every video I make, so they are the first thing people see. That is why I scout the markets and look online for one-off pairs: cat-eyes, oversized aviators, anything a little eccentric. They get people talking.
It started in 2012 with a pair of Prada Baroque sunglasses I bought in London. I had them converted into ordinary glasses and wrote an article about it. That article is what got gracieopulanza.com going. So I know what one pair of glasses can do.
Sky blue retro vintage eyewear
The pair I am wearing in these photographs has sky blue frames. I bought it in Barcelona about fifteen years ago. A frame in that colour gets noticed. I teamed it with a patterned silk scarf and an ochre jacket. They looked great whilst driving the Bentley GTC Mulliner in Sage Green.
Vintage eyewear that suits your face
Round, square, oval or heart-shaped, there is a vintage frame for your face. The idea is to balance your features. If you have a round face, angular frames add definition and structure. If you have a square face, round or oval frames soften the angles. After that it comes down to your own style, so try plenty on.
Made in France vintage eyewear
France has a long tradition of making frames, and an older French pair is worth the hunt. Look for a classic tortoiseshell or a bold cat-eye, and check the inside of the arm for the words “Made in France”. I love hunting for items all made in Europe, and on eyewear the stamp tells you where you stand.
Versace Lady Diana vintage eyewear
Lady Diana is still a reference for style, and she wore Versace eyewear. With vintage Versace eyewear, the shapes to look for are the oversized frames and the cat-eyes.
I own a Gianni Versace Medusa belt from the 1980s, and the metal is heavy. That weight is what I would want from a Versace frame of those years.
As for what to wear with them, I take my inspiration from television, and from series like Miami Vice: pastel linen, a jacket with the sleeves pushed up, and the sunglasses doing the talking.
