Peppered throughout the history of the music industry are spectacle-clad icons who have not only become renowned for their music, but for their characterizing framed faces. Some of these individuals are so synonymous with their frames, that they exemplify the evolution of eyewear (say that 3 times fast). Here are a few.
You can’t talk about musicians and eyewear without mentioning the incomparable John Lennon. Essentially the poster-child for glasses throughout his decades in the spotlight, Lennon was, and is, the most influential figure associated with rocking (pun intended) frames. His style was simple, though revolutionary for the times, as the round, minimalist yet mod frames were his staple despite the changing of trends. The glasses—his signature—became synonymous with his name. Few other icons have truly left a mark on history with something so small as an accessory.
Someday is a fresh take on Lennon’s iconic circular frame
Another musician who was identified by his eyewear and who changed the face of popular culture for it, is Buddy Holly. Musically, the teenaged rock and roll prodigy was inspiration to the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney, but his distinctive choice in glasses represented a paradigm shift in the way musicians approached style.
Allure, a slimmer and more contemporary take on Buddy Holly’s look
“Without Buddy Holly’s glasses the world would likely never have seen John Lennon in his granny-style glasses nor Elton John in his oversize frames. For that matter, it might never have seen Madonna in her cone-shaped bra or Lady Gaga in her meat dress.”
In the same way Buddy Holly put eyewear in general on the map, the King himself, Elvis Presley, did it for the aviator shape. As characteristic as his swiveling hips were the gaudy gold aviator lenses that Elvis was known to sport more often than not. In fact, his sunglasses were so iconic that they hold the record for the most expensive pair sold on eBay, auctioned at $250,000 dollars.
What’s the King without his crown? Or in this case, his sunglasses. Camp would have fit him well
