-
Top 5 Designer Sunglasses
-
Top 5 Designer Glasses
-
EyePod Links
-
Recently Written
-
Categories
-
Syndicate eyePod
-
-
Archives
-
Search
Jun
20
The Invention Of Eyeglasses
Filed Under Sunglasses History, Sunglasses Trivia, Eyewear Knowledge | 1 Comment
The story of the lens extends far back into human history and crosses not only continents, but also vastly different cultures. From Italy to Germany, France and the US, the history of eyeglasses is a tale of the frustrated vision-impaired searching for alternatives to a blurry existence.
The exact date and inventor of eyeglasses is unknown. Indeed, historians assume that while development was occurring in the Western world in optometry, similar developments were occurring in parts of the East. We have little record (at least in English) of the Eastern timeline of eyeglasses development, and hence, this discussion focuses on the Western invention and development of glasses.
Around 20AD the Roman philosopher Seneca used a glass globe filled with water as a reading aid, apparently suffering from farsightedness. His invention was improved upon by the development in the year 1000AD of reading stones made of solid, polished glass, essentially a magnifying glass used for reading. These were set into bone or soft metals and hand-held only when reading or examining objects close-up.
The thirteenth century Italian monk Salvino D’Armate, despite the lack of visual and textual references, is widely believed to be the inventor of modern eyeglasses. These were essentially magnifying glasses in various shapes depending on the severity of one’s eye ailment. It is presumed that he used the thickness of blown glass at different intervals in one glass object as a means of finding the right thickness for each person based on the degeneration of their eyes.
In 1306 an Italian monk delivered a sermon that was copied into text. In the sermon he made mention of the fact that it had only been twenty years since the invention of spectacles. From this first written record historians surmise that it may well have been D’Armate who made (or at least refined and then popularized) the modern reading glasses design, complete with convex and concave lenses.
Despite all of these advancements, it was not until Johannes Kepler released research on optics and astronomy that the eye was properly mapped, thus explaining earlier successful attempts with concave and convex lenses for the correction of vision problems.
Nearsightedness, until the fifteenth century, had seen little progress. Pope Leo X, however, writes that he acquired and wore eyeglasses when hunting to increase long distance vision. We can safely assume that distance glasses had been around for roughly forty to fifty years prior to the pope’s nonchalant mention of his set of glasses.
By the mid-sixteenth century eyeglasses tied to your cranium were being replaced by spectacles resting on the bridge of your nose and tied loosely behind your ears. In the next hundred years they evolved into the metal frames we know today. It was at this phase in the development of eyeglasses that Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals in l784 to ease the transition for those who would otherwise have to switch between near and far sighted correctional lenses.
Following these well-paced developments, the field of optometry (the study of eyes) was advanced by Moritz Von Rohr, who invented the first aspheric lenses. Meaning, he made it possible to have thinner lenses, and to decrease the distortion of the eye others see when looking at a person wearing glasses.
Shortly after the Von Rohr additions, scientists began searching for ways not only to correct vision, but to enhance aesthetics. Thus emerged the contact lens, and not long after that—laser eye surgery.
Thus, from before the time of Christ to present day, the development of eyeglasses—a necessity for some—has improved at a continuous and steady pace. One can only imagine the next phase in development!
Jun
20
The History Of Sunglasses
Filed Under Sunglasses History, Sunglasses Trivia | 1 Comment
The exact origin of sunglasses is unclear, as precise records related to inventions were uncommon in earlier times. Several theories about their beginnings exist, and are as follows:
Chinese Magistrates. Some claim the origin of sunglasses was in China, where magistrates would wear smoky quartz lenses to hide the expressions in their eyes and maintain the appearance of neutrality. Though no documentation exists to verify this story, it is not unlikely as the Chinese were the inventors of many items still commonly in use. The quartz was said to be refined and made clear through polishing, it was then attached through fire (welding) to a holding rod. The quartz could be held at short intervals under a thick brush fire to gather a thin layer of smoke, thus tinting the lens. The magistrate could hold the smoky quartz pieces up to his eyes with the rod and thus hide his expressions during trials.
Spectator Sports. The Roman Emperor Nero was said to have watched gladiator fights with emeralds, though scientifically this could not have given poor Nero much assistance as the Emerald would not have worked as a vision tool, but more as a series of mirrors. Still, it could have been used for Nero to watch several aspects of the battle simultaneously, essentially giving him the ability to look two places at once (though green-tinted and at a distance).
Artic Survival. Another suggestion for the origin of sunglasses comes from the Natives of Northern Canada and Alaska. Trackers would wear bark fragments over their eyes, tied in place with a band around their forehead and secured with sap below the eye on the cheek-bones. The thin strips of tree bark would essential block some of the light, decreasing the amount entering and damaging the eye. They used these makeshift shades to block the blinding rays of light that were reflected off the snow, even from directly underfoot.
Basic artic survival tips in outdoor magazines and survival guides claim that protecting yourself from the sun is of the utmost importance. Many artic hikers and adventurers suffer serious eye damage from the sun’s rays reflected off snow. The cold distracts the mind from the sun, which is associated with heat, and many forget to shield themselves. Light reflected into the eyes can be severely damaging, and will not only cause severe vision blurring, but could eventually lead to blindness. It is also physically and mentally exhausting to absorb too much sun through the eyes, causing one to be drowsy and helpless—feelings not wholly helpful in a survival situation. Modern artic sunglasses come with thick leather blinders on the sides to further decrease the amount of reflected light absorbed by the eye.
Medical Roots. Darkened lenses were prescribed in Europe for patients suffering from various diseases including syphilis, though they were of little actual medical assistance. Rather than tying a bandage around the eyes of a blind man or woman, European doctors began to offer black metal sunglasses (though no light came through at all) to the blind to make others aware of their condition without alienating them or singling them out by having them walk around with an uncomfortable and attention-grabbing head bandage.
Modern America. Early silent film actors would often wear tinted or darkened sunglasses on camera to block the blinding arc lights aimed at them. It developed into a style related to the glamour of Hollywood which has persisted even today.
Innovations. In 1936 Edwin H began experimenting with polarization and made the first polarized lenses. Basically, transparent materials reflect light that is partly or fully polarized when reflected indirectly, polarized lenses allow the material’s reflective light to dissipate on contact. Since the polarization of sunglasses many small additions have been made, including the addition of titanium frames, foldable frames, frames with cameras (as in True Lies) and even mirror frames that employ similar technology to two-way glass.
There you have it folks, a rough and tumble history of sunglasses from their purported smoky origins to the invention of sunglasses that bend in half without breaking and contain small cameras and viewing screens.
Jun
20
The Ultimate Eyeglasses/Sunglasses Stereotype List
Filed Under Sunglasses Trivia, Fun with Eyewear | Leave a Comment
In light of the recent reemergence of a wide array of fashionable and chic glasses and shades, I began to consider the various stereotypes associates with wearing glasses. Below is a list that is not intended to be comprehensive. Glasses are not just for scientist anymore, and contacts are not the ‘saving grace’ they were in the early 1990s. People in need of glasses have embraced vision-correction implements and made them fashionable accessories. Let’s consider the most common stereotypes.
The Intelligent stereotype. By far the most common stereotype associated with eyeglasses is that of inherent intelligence. Teachers, librarians, scientists and computer programmers are all linked with the wearing of corrective frames—and indeed it adds to their legitimacy. The every sexy evening talk show host Steven Colbert, of the Colbert Report, hides his subtle sexiness behind professional and modern frames. In attempting to match the intelligent and conservative persona that this stereotype refers to, he reinvented it and made it cool.
The Geek stereotype. Piggybacking on the stereotype of the inherently intelligent is the stereotype of the inherently hopeless– at least fashion wise. Let’s take a gander at the America’s biggest three geeks- Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates. All wear frames, all are millionaires and, not surprisingly, all are pale, thin and appear to be wearing toupees. Glasses are only one part of the stereotype, though as necessary and indispensable as too-high socks and pocket protectors.
Yet, for all the oddities geek’s posses, these three famous American geeks have made geekiness fashionable! Look at the entertainment industry: Napoleon Dynamite, the band Weezer, and even the recently released Juno give praise to the geek image. The modern American hero has transformed form John Wayne and Steve McQueen to heroes like Orlando Bloom—quite obviously not the beer-drinking, truck-driving bad ass of yesteryear. Perhaps the most obvious proof of this Hollywood transformation was in Die Hard IIII, where Bruce Willis, the ultimate man’s man, was paired with an effeminate computer programmer who cried and fretted and was friends with a basement dwelling goth-nerd.
Even massive corporations have capitalized on the geek-chic frenzy; Best Buy leads the exploitation of geeks with their establishment of the Geek Squad, a group of men and women with black pants, white shirts, black ties and glasses. Experts with credit lent to them through the geek stereotype.
Icon makers. How many icons can you think of that use glasses as a key identifier and as a key image for their personality? Elton John can only be accurately pictured in his famous thick white frames, or his modern square fashionable and trendy shades. Roy Orbison, another music legend, was constantly and mysteriously shielded by his dark black frames—even on stage! The same can be said of Ozzy Osborne—and image that is only complete with dark frames. Nirvana’s second album cover pictures the sorely missed star behind white bug-eyed large glasses—a fashion that defies fad.
Mysterious and Sexy Men. Picture Tom Cruise in Risky Business in only his white button down shirt and dark shades. Or, picture him in his rowdy and uncontrollable bad-boy character in Top Gun. He was the epitome of 1980’s cool. Little has changed in the last twenty years. Sexiness is still inaccessible, thus its allure. It remains partially hidden behind dark shades. Picture Keanu Reeves as Neo in the Matrix series, bas-ass leather, ultimate control and, to top of the image, once he realizes he was ‘the one’ he appears on screen clam, collected and decked out in modern shades.
Edgy and Capable Women. Of course the most obvious bespectacled female icon would be Angelina Jolie, who is never caught off the set without face-covering shades, nor is her partner Brad Pitt. Lucy Liu makes dark shades cool in any film. Her composure alone is sexy, but hiding her captivating powerful gaze behind the frames only encourages whatever onscreen foe she is about to defeat. Whippy Goldberg is another icon in Hollywood who is rarely caught without an interesting and chat-worthy pair of frames. Indeed that adds to her edginess.
Innocent and Adorable Gals. On the other end of the spectrum, fashionable women everywhere have revived the1960’s bug-eye frame fad. I think a large part of the attraction to bug-eye glasses is their similarity to Menga and Anime characters– sexy nymphs with larger-than-life innocent eyes. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are rarely without their bug-eye frames. Of course they are young and beautiful, but they also hold claim to a legacy of innocence and an image of cuteness.
Hey, not all stereotypes are bad! I think this list alone proves that glasses are not only cool, but build a persona, create an image of the self that is marketable and can fit into any group, and are a trend that is sure to last.
Jun
20
And now, ladies and gentlemen, a cultural lesson about the global popularity and terminology of sunglasses. The most popular and universal term for sunglasses is, of course, sunglasses. However, there are many derivatives of this word with cultural and fashionable roots. As I’m from America we can begin with slag from that region.
American Shades. The most common term is shades, and you’ll notice I employ that term frequently in my posts; it was popularized by the Blues Brothers, a classic film about the very nature of cool. Coming in second for American sunglasses slang is simply calling your sunglasses by the company that produced them. Ray-Ban is, by far, the most well known sunglasses producer in the US; hence, sunglasses in general are often referred to simply as Ray-Bans.
British Maddoggers. Moving to the UK, one may hear the British referring to sunglasses as cheaters or locs. While I understand the term cheaters, especially for mirrored or extremely dark-tinted sunglasses, the term locs defies explanation—though the British have a tradition of doing just that. Creatively enough, however, they also refer to sunglasses as maddogers, a term I can understand if referring to the wayfarer or aviator, or any traditionally masculine design.
Aussie Sunnies. Australia has a slang all its own. A common term for sunglasses in the outback is spekkies, which I assume is derived from the root word specs. Aussies have the perfectly adorable habit of adding ‘ies’ to otherwise dull words. To further prove my point, the second most common slag word for sunglasses in Australia is sunnies. Adorbale.
Indian Coolers. Moving east we encounter the English slang of India, where dark colored sunglasses are called glares and light colored sunglasses are called coolers. Personally, I think glares is a fitting term that could be applied to reflective or mirrored lenses.
Universal Slang. There are several slang terms from unknown origins, at least not popular in a specific geographic region. Sun spectacles is a term used by some opticians, though it laymen’s terms it is shortened to sun specs. I feel this term is a bit archaic, and something my grandmother might use when mentioning that when she was a girl, they didn’t have sunglasses….and had to walk everywhere uphill both ways…..barefoot. However, the less common smoky spectacles is quite charming. I may attempt to bring that into mainstream dialogue.
Sometimes called dark glasses, or solar shields, these terms refer to extremely tinted sunglasses of the sort worn home after an eye-exam, or worn by those with extreme eye damage or sensitivity to light. I find solar shields to be a fitting term for Jackie O’s, which cover a massive proportion of the face, and are somewhat shield-like.
And last but not least, my favorite slang word for sunglasses is hater-blockers. I find this endlessly amusing. I picture an extremely annoying high-school girl wearing glasses that reflect back the glares of the classmates she steps on. It could also properly be used to describe the sunglasses military personal and police officers wear.
There you have it, a brief and global overview of sunglasses slang. Please feel free to assist me in brining smoky spectacles to global prominence as the slang word of choice.
Jun
17
Top Five Coolest Sunglasses Ever!
Filed Under Designer Sunglasses | 4 Comments
Ray-Ban Aviators: Of course at the top of this supremely authoritative list of sunglasses-coolness is the sultan of shades— Ray-Ban Aviators. Originally created for a pilot who claimed the sun was permanently damaging his eyes but who refused to wear other protection as sunglasses were not elegant or stylish. The company Bausch & Lomb accepted the pilots challenge to create eyewear that was protective and fashionable, and in 1937 released the Ray-Ban. The sunglasses not only filtered out infrared and ultraviolet rays, but weighed a shockingly light 150 grams, partially due to the gold plated metal and lightness of the slightly green-tinted lenses. They were patented as Anti-Glare sunglasses, and were the first of their kind. General Douglas MacArthur landed in the Philippines in WWII wearing Ray-Ban Aviators, and was greeted by a throng of photographers who made the image popular in the US. As a result, the fame of the Ray Ban Aviator was solidified.
Not to be out-classed by real life, Hollywood sought to project the coolness of the Aviators in several early films. The most obvious barrage of coolness was in the Blues Brothers, with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Not long after the Blues Brothers, Tom Cruise slid into American hearts wearing Ray-Bans in the 1983 release, Risky Business. The sale of Aviators on military bases exceeds average civilian sales by ratio, indicating that it is not only MacArthur that can be both authoritarian and stylish.
Mirror shades, or cop-shades are smart square framed sunglasses with lenses that have similar properties to one-way mirrors. Police use them to hide their facial expressions. for example, to hide the laughter evident in their eyes when you claim you didn’t know you were speeding. They are intimidating in that you can see your reflection in the mirror frames of the person you are talking with, increasing your self-consciousness. Picture the scene in True Lies where Schwarzenegger is questioning his wife Jamie Lee Curtis behind a one-way mirror. It is completely intimidating! Hence, cops wear them to hide expressions and increase their suspect’s vulnerability.
They have a certain usefulness, aside from intimidation tactics, and that is—they block an additional 10% more sunlight and are thus especially useful in the desert sun. Stylistically, the wearer views the world through a brown or slightly tan lens, an additional joy where white sand (or snow) may be particularly blinding.
Onassis Glasses, or Jackie O’s are named after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, who popularized the bug-eyed look in the US. Today it is the most popular sunglasses choice of fashionable young Hollywood women, and celebrities use the frames to hide from paparazzi. Interestingly enough, it was the shade of choice for singer Elton John, who’s Greatest Hits album showed him in white Jackie O’s, proudly leaning against his piano. Paris Hilton and the Olson twins are rarely seen without a pair of Jackie O’s, nor is any young emerging female icon.
For the stylish and health conscious consumer, Jackie O’s block sun in much the same way as arctic shades, which attempt to eliminate the penetration of light from all angles. Arctic shades block light by using leather blinders; Jackie O’s block additional light by the sheer amount of area over the eye under coverage.
Horn-rimmed. Though somewhat associated with reclusive librarians, horn-rimmed sunglasses make the top five for a very important reason. Ray-Bans made a sunglasses model termed the wayfarer in 1952, which had a revolutionary plastic frame (a shocking turn from the traditional, lightweight metal frames of old). The wayfarer is the most common pair of sunglasses on the market and are worn by everyone from the most glamorous in Hollywood (Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s) to the rip-off designs sold at dollar stores across the US. Recently, the wayfarer has made a come-back as these vintage sunglasses went from retired to desired in 2007. I discovered my very-hip grandmother and I were wearing the same style of wayfarer, though hers had been in the glove compartment since the ‘60s.
Though not horn-rimmed, per say, the wayfarer piggybacked off the horn-rimmed style and thus it makes the top five. Additionally, horn-rimmed corrective lenses have also soared back into popularity.
Jun
17
What You Need To Know About Vision Problems and Solutions
Filed Under Eyewear Knowledge | Leave a Comment
How the eye works. If you’re like me, then you’ll need a quick overview on the layout of the eye in order to understand problems related to vision.
Light is refracted to the eye through the cornea (the thin layer over the whole eye) and then through the pupil (the black part) which is controlled by the iris (the colored part) and then refracted again by the lens. Together the cornea and lens take the combinations of light and send them, inverted, to your retina. At this point, you have an upside-down series of lights displaying an upside-down down image on the back of your retina, like a movie projector turned on its axis displaying light to the film screen.
Your retina contains rods and cones. Rods are for peripheral vision while cones support the perception of color variations. Through various bipolar and ganglion cells information is transmitted through the optic nerve to the brain, where it is processed by the visual cortex. To stick with the movie analogy, rods make the edges of the film appear as sharp as the middle while cones allow your film to be color-saturated.
Why problems occur. Sometimes problems occur in the eye. Often people are born with minor defects, or they can develop defects through bad habits or bad luck. For example, when little Johnny stared at the sun for hours on end as a child, he later developed blurring in his eyes and a decrease in long-distance vision. Silly Johnny should wear sunglasses with UV protection if he plans to stare at bright lights, and even then little Johnny isn’t being smart. Nearsightedness can be developed when a person stares too often at objects that are very close. A computer screen, for example (tsk, tsk!). Farsightedness can develop with age, though some are born with or develop this defect for unknown reasons.
Common eye-related problems. Near sightedness is called myopia by optometrists, and is characterized by the patient’s ability to focus on close objects while background objects tend to blur. The condition occurs in the eye when the image you are looking at gets crossed as it is transmitted through the retina, thus there is an overlap when the inverted image is displayed. This is oversimplified, and any optometrist would faint at this simplistic explanation. Myopia is treated by giving an eye exam that measures the extent of the overlap in background images. This exam is measured in diopters, which is the strength or weakness of the corrective lens. Low myopia is measured at a -3.00 range, for example, and measure for concave lenses.
Far sightedness is called hyperopia by optometrists and is characterized by the patient’s ability to focus on far away object while nearby objects remain blurry. It is the opposite of myopia. This defect occurs when images are refracted to the retina too deeply, i.e- the image is whole beyond the retina, and thus near objects are blurred while far ones reach the retina at accurate lengths. This occurs naturally with age, which is why older folks more often have reading glasses than their younger peers. This is corrected with lenses measured in a positive diopter scale, so an average low measure would be +1.40, for example, and measures for convex lenses.
Eye-exercises. In addition to wearing corrective lenses and sunglasses to protect you from dangerous UV rays, you can supplement your eye-care with the addition of the Bates method. The Bates method is a series of eye exercises that attempts to counter the damage done to eyes from poor habits (like Little Johnny’s mistakes, or yours, reader, as you stare at the computer screen). Though some optometrists claim that the Bates method is only a theory, others are adamant practitioners. Bates believed that psychological strain cased refractive and accommodation errors in the eye, and could be reversed by exercising the eye.
Thus, the best way to care for your eyes is as follows. Get an eye exam to determine if you need glasses. Purchase high-quality glasses– don’t skimp when it comes to your health! If you know you need glasses, the longer you squint and strain the worse you are making the refractive error. When not indoors, wear sunglasses to protect you from UV rays. Proscription sunglasses are available. Finally, try out the Bates method eye-exercises and see for yourself if they help. Finally, don’t stare at the sun, or at close objects at length. Simply glancing away from the computer screen every few moments will exercise and condition your eyes.