Geek Chic in Glasses

In my first job, working at my hometown weekly newspaper, one of my tasks was to write “Back Through The Years.” It was a look at what was newsworthy in our town 5, 10, 15 & 20 years ago. I would open the big musty bound books and search for something I thought was not boring. It wasn’t easy. But, that aside, I never ceased to be shocked by the eyeglasses that people wore in these old pictures. My 16-year-old self would crack up at the rimless spectacles, nerdy horn rims and crazy cat eyes set on peoples’ faces.

I bring this up now because I’m stunned by the most recent trend in frames – huge, dark bug-like spectacles – bigger than even Buddy Holly wore. Boomers, I’m giving you a heads-up here. Before you know it, you will be wearing them too. How do I know this? Because just days after realizing it was a trend, a salesperson at TJ Maxx convinced me that I should buy a pair. Okay, I haven’t worn them in public yet, but I’m practicing at home.

I first saw this trend when Oprah reached for hers during an interview, and I thought she had borrowed them from one of the men on her crew. Then a few days later, my friend Kim hooked me into watching the finals of “The Voice.” Unless you’ve been out of the country, you must have heard about the three finalists: The Swon Brothers, Danielle Bradbery and Michelle Chamuel. Well, Michelle was her authentic self in her mode of dress which included big black glasses. Next thing you knew, judges Shakira and Usher were sporting them too. It was starting to grow on me.

As I usually do, I polled the twenty-somethings who I work with about this phenomenon. Co-worker Kelly immediately cited Nicole Richie and said she wasn’t quite ready for the look. Others were sort of lukewarm on the subject.

So, I dug a little deeper and found some 17 year-olds to get their take. Mason and Brandon immediately mentioned rapper 2 Chainz. (real name Tauheed Epps.) I looked him up on the Internet, and sure enough he sports a multitude of big glasses and sunglasses in the photos I found of him. Brandon and Mason said that the big glasses are indeed coming into vogue among their peers. They were quick to add that for now, it’s mostly the girls who are showing up in them.

So folks geek chic is the thing. When I googled celebrities in big glasses, I found Jennifer Aniston, Tina Fey, Justin Timerlake, Johnny Depp……it just goes on and on. So far, the only boomers I can name are the above mentioned Oprah and Katie Couric. Can Piers Morgan and Scott Pelley be far behind? Gosh, Larry King and Phil Donahue left the airwaves too soon.

#   #   #