R O U N D
R I G H T Apparently the first sighting (pun intended) of the modern eyeglasses was in 13th-century Italy, and wouldn’t you know it, but they were round-rimmed. For the next 600 years, glasses evolved both in their ability to help with vision and as a fashion statement. However, the round spectacle fell out of vogue, and glasses in general found themselves extradited to rest on the noses of 17th-century squares.
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and guy looking to hit the Ritz in style, a simple yet stylish pair of round rimmers were the perfect accessory.
Fast forward to the 1960s, and the round-rimmed glasses saw a resurgence in popularity that rivaled the mini skirt. Maybe the best way to illustrate just how ubiquitous they were would be to cite some famous ’60s sightings— Janis Joplin, Elton John, Mahatma Gandhi, and, of course, John Lennon. By their association However, as the 20th century rang in, so did an industrial with these celebrities, these age that included the fabrication of glasses became synonymous with affordable eyewear. Starting in the expressing peace and love. 1920s and continuing into the ’30s, The ’70s crept in with disco glasses were spotted on everyone from motion-picture stars to corrupt and punk, and the round glasses were nowhere to be found. In fact politicians. Surprisingly, the rim style of the “in” crowd was round. glasses, in general, were a fashion In some cases, they could be found faux pas. The ’80s and ’90s were plated in gold and bedazzled with known as the decades of greed and excess, and what better time to rhinestones. For the average gal
take a symbol of peace and turn it on its head. Ozzy Osborne, Black Sabbath’s bat-head-biting frontman, and Mickey Knox, leading psycho of “Natural Born Killers,” both took to sporting the round rims and made them a token of pure evil and rock and roll. However, 2001 gave the world someone who could defeat evil, despite only being a bespectacled 12-year-old. Need I say more? Over the last 700 years, the round-rim glasses have endured an unruly metamorphosis, and they have represented radically different things to various subcultures. These simply styled ocular aids are now a staple of diverse fashion culture. By: Anthony Gambino
