Friday 3 April 2015

Dressing Mine Eyes

Being a bespectacled person, I am very fond of spectacles.   For years now, I'd have loved to have a wee selection of glasses which I can change depending on what I'm wearing, but never felt I could justify it.  It seems a bit of an extravagance - like folk with 20 handbags.  Gorgeous, but I'd feel odd spending so much on carry-things.

Unlike handbags, however, I am compelled to wear the spectacles on my face every day.  So I should chose ones I like and enjoy wearing them.  Glasses are as much a part of me as my nose, and it's based on this theory that I got in touch with the Eyedresser this month. 

Last year, I stumbled across the Eyedresser at Hillhead Bookclub on a wander one day.  The Bookclub is a gorgeous vintage venue near my flat which has yummy food, ping pong tables in a cage, nintendo & sega consoles, cocktails of every description (including those served in grammophones) and, last but not least, craft fairs.  





It was at one of these craft fairs that I bumped into Michael, aka The Eyedresser.  My current spectacles were bought here over a year ago, and continue to serve me well. They're pretty, they fit, the service was impeccable and I couldn't ask for more.

This year, due to work, I've been unable to head to the Bookclub for the fair, and so the Eyedresser offered to come to my flat.  

Now, when you're presented with innumerable beautiful eyeglasses, it's difficult not to wander away with more than one pair (which is exactly what happened.  I'm now the proud wearer of frames older than I am).  

And the cases!  With the eyedresser himself arrived four nondescript, black cases.  One by one, these were opened to reveal rows & rows of tiny shelves.  Inside each shelf lay glasses, in tiny boxes, and as you pull the drawer further more pairs emerge.   Each drawer is different, filled with a selection of glasses which complement each other.  Spectacle microsystems, if you like.  Half the joy of the morning was opening each little drawer to find out which kind of glasses would be waiting inside.   These range from new popular shapes to unusual vintage pieces which have been collected over a lifetime.  There are ever a pair or two of original Diors from the 70s. 

Not only is Michael the curator of a wonderfully eclectic range of eyespecks, he's really into what he does.  With a flair for the vintage and a deep understanding of the way of the spectacle, it really is easy to see he likes his job very much. 

After a while, I whittled my choices down to these three pairs.  Then I accidentally bought all of them.   They're now all off on their way to the land of lens-fitting so that they can serve their worldly purpose and help me see things and people.  And more glasses.





We should have a glasses party.  We could invite the Eyedresser.  Cocktails and spectacles.

If that seems like a pipe-dream, you can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, on the website or at the Hillhead Bookclub on occasion.  Or in your house. 

2 comments:

  1. I've heard of yarn stashes that get out of hand, but it sounds like you may have a burgeoning eyeglass stash as well! Not that there's anything wrong with either kind of stash, of course . . . :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. When your lenses reach well into three figures it does limit the amount of pairs you have, I've just gone one, it's a departure from my last two pairs, will have to do me the two years or so though.

    ReplyDelete




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...