Frame Your Face for Spring and Eyecessorize!

 

Frame your face for spring and eyecessorize!  This season is all about standing out and having fun.  Whether you prefer comfort or drama, there is a shape or style sure to brighten up your Spring wardrobe.  So how do you make sure you’re picking the perfect pair?  Easy!  The fashion experts at Cohen’s Fashion Optical have scoured the Spring 2012 runways and pulled the hottest trends for males and females.   What are you waiting for?  See the world in style!

 

Spring 2012’s Top Trends for Women

 

1.  Cat Eye

Meeeeeeeeoooow!  Move over Kourtney Kardashian, this fierce shape has been spotted all over the runways.  Whether you’re searching for new reading glasses or sunnies, springs most fashion forward shade is sure to make you purr. 

2.  Ladylike Details

Embrace your demur side and opt for shades rich in delicate pastels, lace, and floral motifs.  Pretty in pink is no longer for little girls, as rose-tinted lenses inject new life into your spring wardrobe and add a playful element of femininity to your style.  Pair with a big sunhat and you’ll be ready for the races!

3.  Perfect Circle

These glasses are no longer just for Jackie O.  Oversized, retro, circle frames are the perfect balance of sophistication and fun.  Opt for a bold color-block frame and these peepers might just become your go-to pair.

 

Spring 2012’s Top Trends for Men

 

1.  Sporty

Gentlemen, embrace your inner athlete.  Fashion has entered the eyewear arena!  Take your classic aviators and wayfarers up a notch by donning a pair in bright colors or with mirrored lenses.

2.  Retro Styles

What makes hipsters such trend setters?  Obviously, their eyewear!  The retro look is back and this spec is reserved for the coolest kids on the block.  Chunky, plastic frames are for men looking to standout, while the Dan Humphries of the world may prefer the understated elegance of a rimless frame.  

3.  Rustic Sophistication

Manly men and sophisticated gents unite with these timeless specs.  Heavily influenced by leather and wood accents, these honey and amber tone frames bellow luxury only known to Ralph Lauren himself.  Grab a tortoise frame and pair with a polo and jeans for a warm Hamptons evening.

Brad Pitt, Sunglasses Trendsetter

While some celebrities prefer dark shades to fight off the glare of paparazzi flashes, a new trend among male actors is transparent fashion sunglasses. After all celebrities put so much effort into looking good, why hide it all behind tinted shades.

At the forefront of this trend are Hollywood hunks Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, and Jude Law. The actors were first spotted rocking their stylish eyewear at the Cannes Film Festival. Each of these leading men sports the see-through look in their own way.

Brad Pitt, who was on the press circuit for his film Tree of Life wore tortoise shell frames with a cinnamon-colored fade. The style was inspired by Colin Firth’s character in A Single Man. Tom Ford, who directed that Oscar-nominated film, also designed the glasses.

Depp was seen wearing the “Lemtosh” style which has been worn by iconic figures of the past including Buddy Holly and Truman Capote. Unlike Pitt’s look, Depp brings the see-through lenses to life with light purple lenses, silver accents accents on the sides of the frames, and rounder frames to fit the shape of his head.

Finally, Jude Law went for blocky frames with rounded edges and big chunky earpieces, and a darker gradient to his shades that either of the other two actors. Whether these fashions will catch on with the common man remains to be seen, but it seems that for now, the see-through trend is not going anywhere.

Justin Bieber and Beyonce’s Beach Sunglasses

This Memorial Day weekend, many people will be lounging out in the sun and keeping cool with the help of a cold drink and a pair of fashion sunglasses. Just like your Average Joe or Jane, celebrities love to go to the beach for a swim and a tan. Though with the paparazzi hounding them year-round, not to mention that many movie stars live in sunny California, celebrities have more occasions to wear sunglasses than you and I.

Still, when summer rolls around, they tend to kick their fashion eyegear into high gear. Which of these celebrities do you think looks the best in their summer shades? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

Hot Sunglasses: Summer Eyewear Trends 2011

As the weather gets warmer and the beaches start filling up with sunscreened bodies, it’s time to consider one of the most important fashion choices of the summer: what fashion sunglasses will keep you looking good all summer long. Fortunately, we at Cohen’s Fashion Optical have some tips on the hottest trends in colors, styles, and shapes for your shades.

Throwback is the new black this summer, as a lot of retro looks are floating around. John Lennon-style glasses having a second turn in the spotlight, and this time many folks are sporting them with a twist such as clear frames, or plastic frames as opposed to the classic wire frames. This look is a summer hit for both men and women.

When considering the color of your summer sunglasses, the same rule applies as in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. Are you wearing them for a weekend getaway to the beach? A white pair of frames will be very classy and understated. How about heading out for brunch with friends? You might want to try a snazzier color to accentuate your summer dress. Purple and red are big this year.

Continuing in the retro vein, cat-eye sunglasses are also selling very well. Brands like Prada, Tom Ford, Ray-Ban, and Dior are helping the look that had its last heyday in the 50s and 60s make a strong comeback. Aviators are also making a strong showing, particularly in men’s fashion eyewear.

Finally, polarized lenses are becoming more and more common. If you’re not the type you wants a pair of shades to go with your every ensemble, upgrading your everyday glasses to transition lenses can help you fight off the glare and look good this summer, without having to break the bank.

Designer Frames This Stylish Should be Illegal

With so many crimes in legal and detective TV shows and movies boiling down to a crime of passion, often spurred by jealousy or lust, it’s no wonder where the expressions “dressed to kill” and “if looks could kill” come from.

Last week, The Lincoln Lawyer, a crime drama based on the novel of the same name by Michael Connelly, opened to decent reviews saying that it was entertaining with some strong performances, if a bit formulaic. The movie stars Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller, a criminal defense lawyer who operates his law practice out of the back of his Lincoln sedan.

The reason for the office on wheels is that Haller needs to be driven around town by a chauffeur after getting a DUI. He also gets caught up in ethical dilemmas surrounding his clients.

On screen and offscreen, McConaughey has been sporting some snazzy designer frames. In the trailer for the film, at the 17 second mark, he can be seen wearing what look like Ray-Ban RB3423, although they may be a custom made lookalike pair of frames.

Offscreen McConaughey also wears various styles of Ray-Ban shades, though he’s been sighted a few times in Dolce & Gabbana (he used to be the face of the brand, and had an ad for his own fragrance with D & G that was much maligned for appearing heavily Photoshopped). And in the fashion world Photoshopping, though pretty common, is one crime that’s indefensible.

Fidel Castro Tweets

Well not exactly. The former Cuban president and communist revolutionary’s Twitter account, which recently surpassed 100,000 followers, is actually maintained by the Cuba Debate staff. This recently achieved milestone handily ranks Castro as having more Twitter followers than @God but far fewer than say Charlie Sheen.

Castro’s fashion style was once characterized by his short-brimmed hat, his bushy beard, his ever-present cigar, and a pair of heavy dark-rimmed prescription glasses. As you can see to the right, the frames are a more masculine take on cat eye glasses with an upside down trapezoidal shape to the frame and a very thick bridge. This style was quite popular throughout Latin America, and in Cuba in particular in the 50’s and 60’s.

In recent years, Castro is not spotted quite as often in his iconic glasses, but then, having resigned from the presidency of Cuba in early 2008, he probably has more time now to put in his contact lenses in the morning.

Many of Castro’s tweets contain choice excerpts of his musings on current events around the world, which also run in a regular column in Cuban state-run newspapers. He has expressed his concern that the world is headed towards a nuclear apocalypse and used the platform to criticize the U.S. and NATO’s handling of the current situation in Libya.

Maybe it’s time for him to be taken off this list of 10 dictators who should have considered using contact lenses.

Which Presidents Wore Glasses?

The surprising answer is that many a man who has held our country’s highest office has needed vision correction. But many of them preferred to sport their prescription glasses outside of the public eye. Even some of the youngest presidents, like John F. Kennedy, needed reading glasses, though he was also known to wear Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses more publicly

The two presidents who were most often photographed wearing their glasses were Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Roosevelt wore a distinctive pair of pince-nez, a style of glasses, which looks about as uncomfortable as it sounds, with a C-bridge.

Unlike Kennedy, who famously put the nail in the coffin of the era where men wore hats, Roosevelt was not a trendsetter with his glasses. The style of wearing pince-nez peaked in popularity at the end of the 19^th century, the decade before he took office.

When Truman was young, a doctor told his mother he had “flat eyeballs.” He could read the family Bible just fine but had trouble seeing things that were far away. The historical record is conflicted over whether or not a bout of diptheria in his youth precipitated these eye problems. Truman’s glasses were rimmed with round lenses and a keyhole shaped bridge to the nose. The style was known at the time alternately as the Marshwood, and the Poor Boy. Despite the styles name, Truman was not indigent growing up, though after graduating from high school, he slept in “hobo camps” while working as a timekeeper for the railroad.

Fashion Eyeglasses for Men

Walking into the optometrist’s or optician’s can be overwhelming; the walls are lined with so many different types of fashion frames it can stop you in your tracks. But if you consider the different components of a pair of eyeglass frames: the rims, the nose bridge, and the earpieces or temples, you can choose which features will give you the most comfort and style. This post only addresses eyeglass frames, but if you want more information on different types of eyeglass lenses, see our post from last month.

Rims

There are five main types of rims for fashion eyeglasses for men.

1) Full-rim glasses are the most widespread style. The frames wrap all the way around the lenses and come in a variety of shapes such as circular frames, oval frames, and rectangular frames.

2) With rimless glasses, the lenses are connected right to the earpieces. This style is light and stylish but often more delicate.

3) Semi-rimless glasses mean that the frames core only half the lenses.

4) Horn-rimmed glasses are heavy frames and typically come in dark colors and rectangular shapes. The name comes from the fact that these frames were once made from horn or shell.

5) Brow-bar glasses are very much like full-rims except they have a double bridge.

Earpieces

The earpieces, also known as the temples, have a big impact on your comfort level with a pair of glasses. Temples come in three main types: “library” style, “skull” style, and the “cable bow” style.

1)      Library style has almost no bend in the earpiece and it is intended for someone who takes their glasses on and off frequently, the way a person in a library would.

2)      Skull style temples are the most common variety. They have a slight bend behind the ear and they are most comfortable for extended wear.

3)      The cable bow style hooks all the way around the ear and is preferable for people who are very active such as young children and athletes.

The Nose Bridge

The two main types of bridges are the ones where the plastic frames sit directly on the nose and the more common kind in which adjustable nose pads keep to glasses from slipping and add greater flexibility. With the bridges that are flush against your nose, they come in a saddle or upside down “u” shape, or a keyhole shape. If you’re wearing a pair of designer frames for a test run, you should make sure they don’t pinch your nose at all.