Why do so many women start wearing oversize reading glasses with big, bold frames when they reach a certain age? Suddenly, so many people I know seem to be channeling Mr. Magoo. Is this just a trend or something more significant? — Sam, New York
It’s not a trend, and it’s not actually Mr. Magoo you should be thinking of, but Edna Mode from “The Incredibles.” She’s the fashion reference here.
Not to mention Carrie Donovan, the fashion editor at The New York Times who was immortalized in Old Navy ads of the 1990s, and Jenna Lyons, the former J. Crew designer and now Real Housewife of New York — highly influential wearers of giant glasses with big frames all, and evidence that this, well, eye-catching style is not exactly a new … spectacle.
As to why the style is so popular, that has something to do with looks (get it?!), of course, but it also has a lot to do with self-image and the way we interface with the world at different stages in life.
As Ms. Lyons pointed out when I asked her why she had adopted this particular accessory at a time when we start becoming style sentient — which is to say, high school — and glasses are not considered cool. Indeed, they are considered the opposite. So most teens opt instead for contacts. It is only later, when issues like convenience and professional stereotypes come into play, that glasses often begin to emerge.
That this is often around the same time, give or take a few years, that people start needing reading glasses is something of a coincidence, but taken together the two phenomena probably explain why it seems to you that there is an age-related explosion in big glasses.
Especially when you add in the Andy Warhol factor. Which is to say, the artist’s dictum that he wore a platinum wig because when he did it, everyone noticed the hair color and not the fact it wasn’t real. Similarly, when you wear big glasses with heavy frames, people tend to focus on the style more than the fact that your eyesight is fading. To wear such glasses is to call attention to the glasses and all the stereotypes that are associated with them, rather than the frailty implied.
Note that said associations are different from those attached to giant sunglasses, also a timeless phenomenon, but one rooted in the eternal mythology of Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn and celebrities hiding from paparazzi — though the looks are not unrelated. Ms. Lyons told me that she arrived at her glasses style because she didn’t like the way more delicate designs sat on her face, so one day she just punched the lenses out of her sunnies, took them to the optician and asked if he could put in some corrective ones. Voilà! A personal style signature was born.
Still, in the optics of optics, thick-framed mega-lenses have their own specific niche. They communicate a certain seriousness, studiousness and even nerdiness, but in a good way. Also something a little old-fashioned. In other words, values that may be dismissed as uncool in adolescence can take on new meaning in adulthood. They say: I see you, old stereotype. I own you, and I raise you one.
Your Style Questions, Answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.
The post Why Do So Many Women Wear Giant Eyeglasses? appeared first on New York Times.
