Vintage Eyeglasses

[chanteuseCarey]

Hello ladybrettashley!! Yeah, I'm one of the probably VERY few ladies here on FL that wear NOT 50s eyeglasses. I don't do 50s, I'm a 40s lady! And even further back I've always loved the Edwardian (Gibson Girl, and "Room with a View") era. - I got the name of Allyn Scura from ladies in my local Art Deco Society and the vintage dealer I work with out here. Do check out their website... http://www.allynscura.com/ Look at their antique frames pages.

Here is a good current closeup head shot showing my vintage American Optical 40s eyeglasses. I must say that having the vintage eyeglasses really does help 'make' the true vintage look!

I talked with Allyn herself Sunday the 5th at the Alameda Flea Market where I ordered these reproduction Farnsworth to be made as sunglasses (bottle green lenses) with my prescription. These are a very good repro they are having produced for this period - as Allyn Scura and her partner Scott work so much with the vintage eyeglasses, they really know their stuff!

I recently did find a pair of real 40s tortoiseshell sunglasses (very Kate Hepburn!) on eBay, but when I took them to my local optician they told me these particular ones could not work to have prescription lenses fitted for them. So they go to our daughter- they look real good on her-lesson learned. That is why I am going with these repros from Allyn.

I also bought from Allyn on Sunday a pair of small gold frames for me that I will soon have lenses made by Allyn for use at Edwardian/Titanic/WWI era events.

Our son has a slight prescription at this age in mainly one eye. AS he has the makings of being a Deco Dandy, someone in the deco group suggested a monocle for him. Allyn had one at the Flea Market, (Daniel was with me) and at his age it could be very workable, for earlier periods she also suggested Pince-Nez frames for him- he tried on a coupla pairs and they look GREAT on him and FIT his face, but not a good fit for my face. If more Edwardian events happen to fill our family's vintage lifestyle the one best pair of Pince-Nez will probably get bought and set aside to be done for Daniel later down the road. He can always have lenses redone as he gets older (I asked Allyn about doing that ) and they will fit him for quite some time.

My husband will at some point soon get a pair of Glenn Miller style golden era 40s vintage frames- and maybe WWII Army pilot green lens sunglasses too- we'll be getting them all from Allyn. I now have Allyn Scura on my "team" of and suppliers/sources for vintage goods! Excellent customer service is extremely important to me, those that have it and work well for us are the ones that get our family's repeat business.

Sorry for taking so long to get to your question- from what I've seen people wearing at vintage events the eyeglasses do have a pretty unisex STYLE (and these people from these groups are very serious about their vintage, many of them wear eyeglasses). The ladies on the 4th of July wore eyeglasses and sunglasses that looked much alike in frame style to what the men had on. What SIZE frame fits on a lady's face compared to a man's face is of course another matter altogether. You need to know what frame size fits best for your own face. I think 40s and back further the frames may have been generally smaller as the many of the people were smaller then. Looking at LOTS of vintage archival photos online, it seems the mens and ladies frames through 1900s-WWII were the same. Certain DECADES had certain kinds of eyeglasses shapes and styles associated with them. A pair of Pince Nez don't work for 40s for example. Look at pics of Theodore Roosevelt's era, and then Franklin Delano Roosevelt's in the late thirties and WWII.

Here is a good shot of a lady that I took a picture of on the 4th of July wearing her WWI era eyeglasses with an amazing Titanic era vintage gown. She is petite as is her husband (he's in the WWI uniform).

Here is one of the BAWMHRS members wearing his WWII eyeglasses with his Navy green uniform.

Check out the WWI Red Cross nurse's little sunglasses in this shotfrom the SF Presidio on Memorial Day- our son is the boy at the end of the row...

Here's two gents in eyeglasses at the same 4th of July picnic- both are fairly small gentlemen (like a size 36 or 35 even probably). The man in the white Palm Beach suit, his eyeglasses are on the smallish size frame wise. Oh, and he had the most cool yellow lens for vintage looking sunglasses clip ons that he wore most of the day over his eyeglasses. Both of these gents eyeglasses could certainly work for ladies as well.

There are some wonderful glasses on here! And, Carey, those frames rather remind me of the ones my mom wore when i was a kid. I was just wondering, were glasses fairly unisex? Most of the posts here have been by men, and i'm curious if i ought to be looking for something significantly different (if i'm looking for glasses from before cat-eyes came in style ) I'm afraid it won't be much longer before i need new ones, but these styles seem like, even in a smaller size, they would be so big on me (i currently wear children's glasses for that reason).

 

[ladybrettashley]

Wow, Carey, thank you so much for all that information! And some lovely images to boot.

I'm nowhere near anything akin to a "true vintage style," but the more i look into it, the more i like that 30s/40s aesthetic. I'll certainly keep this in mind. Thanks so much.

From pictures you've posted elsewhere, i can see your son looking absolutely brilliant in pince-nez.

 

[Diamondback]

Regarding high-index lenses, I've been wearing 'em for years--it was either that or Coke-bottles heavy enough to break my nosebridge. Anyway, if the index gets high enough, like mine, it can occasionally cause things that should be straight lines to look like they have a very slight curve... which is mainly toward the edge of the lens, probably I only notice it 'cause of how I have to look at the world sorta "sideways".

It's also worth noting that high-index is how the lens is cut, not what it's made of--mine are both HI and polycarb, so I can use them as safety-glasses at the range.

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Now playing: John Barry - James Bond - Ninja
via FoxyTunes

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Thanks LadyBA! If I make it to the Alameda Flea Market in August and she still has the P-N frames, I'll see if she'll be willing to let me snap a couple of pics of Daniel trying pairs on...

Saturday I got a price from them for the lenses for my Edwardian frames. The price was very reasonable, so today I sent the frames back to their optician to go ahead and have lenses made. Hopefully the finished glasses will arrive back to me in time for the Edwardian event we're going to on 8/1 (fingers crossed).

from pictures you've posted elsewhere, i can see your son looking absolutely brilliant in pince-nez.

 

[Mossyrock]

Folks,

I am looking at several of the frameless styles (like the Regis), and I was wondering if you, personally, would consider glass lenses? My prescription isn't very strong, so weight wouldn't be an issue. At what point (date-wise) were plastic lenses introduced? I wouldn't think they would have been available in the '30s.

 

[Edward]

Folks,

I am looking at several of the frameless styles (like the Regis), and I was wondering if you, personally, would consider glass lenses? My prescription isn't very strong, so weight wouldn't be an issue. At what point (date-wise) were plastic lenses introduced? I wouldn't think they would have been available in the '30s.

Plastic lenses were, I believe, an 80s thing. Originally they were prone to scratching, but that's no longer much of an issue, given newer lens coatings. I wouldn't go back to glass now - not a weight issue, but for other practical reasons. For one, it's no fun dropping glasses and having a lense smash... pastic has a bit of bounce in it. If plastic does get a knock on your face it is, IMO, less likely to splinter into your eye. Realistically, no one else will ever know, without handling your glasses themselves, whether you are wearing plastic or glass. They're as likely to be aware that your underpants underneath thar perfect thirties or forties suit are not vintage correct!

 

[WideBrimm]

Folks,

I am looking at several of the frameless styles (like the Regis), and I was wondering if you, personally, would consider glass lenses? My prescription isn't very strong, so weight wouldn't be an issue. At what point (date-wise) were plastic lenses introduced? I wouldn't think they would have been available in the '30s.

You'll definitely notice the difference in weight with glass lenses, even with a minimal Rx. Back in the sixties and seventies I wore glass lenses with both plastic and metal frames. The glasses were somewhat heavy, but there was no option. I've been wearing the traditional semi-rimless ArtCraft Rimways (Glenn Miller, Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss) for years now with CR39 lenses and I like them. I don't think I'd go back to glass lenses unless I had to. Then again, even with glass lenses, the increase in weight would be tolerable given the very light weight of wire frames.

 

[DodgeDeluxe]

I just picked up these vintage frames. I am going to be getting my prescription put in them sometime over the next few weeks. They seem to be in very good shape. 12k GF and have mother of pearl nose pads.

I believe that they are '40's vintage but I am no expert?

Dan

 

[Edward]

Nice. RThey put me in mind of Glenn Miller.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

These look very sharp, most likely 40s. Please post a pic of yourself wearing them when you get them done!

I just picked up these vintage frames. I am going to be getting my prescription put in them sometime over the next few weeks. They seem to be in very good shape. 12k GF and have mother of pearl nose pads.

I believe that they are '40's vintage but I am no expert?Dan

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I finally found a place that carries Shuron, it's called Hotel de Ville Eyewear and they're just across the street from the great Sweeney Todd's vintage barbershop in Hollywood.

The owner was nice enough to take these pictures:

Shuron Ronsir

Shuron Freeway

I'm leaning toward the Ronsir, what do you folks think?

 

[HadleyH]

I'm leaning toward the Ronsir, what do you folks think?

I also like the Ronsir! They look good on you!

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Thanks! Yeah, they really do seem to go with my face.

 

[univibe88]

They both look really good. The Freeways are definitely bolder.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Trouble is, the shop I visited wants $175 for the frames alone, and I've found them for less than half of that online. I'd like to buy them locally, but I don't want to spend ninety bucks extra for the privilege.

 

[Edward]

Tony, both sets look goo, though i think the Ronsirs suit you markely better. I bought all my frames directly from Shuron, to have lensed up locally, though that was a little easier as my optician doesn't do Shuron. Shuron also have a fully functional lab and can do the lensing for you at source. I decided agains tthat as the lenses weren't working out much chepaer, and I felt safer having it done locally, but it might work for you.

 

[John in Covina]

Trouble is, the shop I visited wants $175 for the frames alone, and I've found them for less than half of that online. I'd like to buy them locally, but I don't want to spend ninety bucks extra for the privilege.

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$90 in your pocket is a better deal and better for you. I like to support local also but there is a tipping point at which it's not feasable. I can and will pay 10-15% more to buy local under certain circumstances but even then not always.

My brother his old but good shape glasses to the Walmat Optomatrist to get new prescritption lenses installed for a spare pair or make sunglasses.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

My brother his old but good shape glasses to the Walmat Optomatrist to get new prescritption lenses installed for a spare pair or make sunglasses.

John...is that a viable (and dependable) option? I have considered doing that, as I have several pair of knockabout glasses that I purchased from Wal-Mart, and have no complaints about them (as far as the lenses)...I do have a couple of pair of vintage American Opticals that I want filled, but I was not sure about Wal-Mart's abilities to grasp the mechanics of the dis-assembly of older frames (these babies have several screws, and non-common connection points)...I don't like the idea of some 7 buck-an-hour teen leveraging my vintage frames with a screwdriver, because he can't figure out how to get them apart....
Rob

 

[John in Covina]

I probably would show them any vintage stuff first to see what they thought, but modern glasses as my brother recycles, they have been a good option.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Thanks, John...I think I'll try that. It would sure be convenient, as they are only a mile away from where I live. I'm going to see if they have any reservations about working with my frames; if not, maybe they have an insurance or replacement option in case of any "accidents".
Rob