In the late 1950s and early 1960s, females of every age had to have cateye glasses. Who could resist those almond-shaped beauties that made us feel as glamorous as the movie stars we saw wearing them in magazines and in the movies?
I started wearing glasses in 1961 when I was in the 8th grade, and the first ones I had were black cateyes, with a small silver metal design in the corner...not too flashy, not too grown-up, but cateyes nonetheless. My grandmother Mimi, always the
glitz girl, had a gold metal pair that had a row of large rhinestones at the top of the upswept frame. Even my mother, never the fashionista, had to have some...albeit a conservative tortoiseshell pair with no ornamentation.
After all, even the most practical among us secretly wanted to look like Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn.
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Marilyn Monroe
cateyevideos.com |
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| etsy.com - VintologyTradingCo |
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| etsy.com - VintageKismet |
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Grace Kelly
stealtheirstyle.co.uk |
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| etsy.com - Vingage50sEyewear |
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| etsy.com - THAYEReyewear |
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Audrey Hepburn
torontomike.com |
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| etsy.com - Veramode |
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| etsy.com - LessThanPerfect |
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Sophia Loren
cochinechine.com |
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| etsy.com - joonE |
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| etsy.com - holdenism |
I love cateyes glasses!! Marilyn looks like a dream in hers. I've never been able to pull them off though - I have such a small pin head that I look like an alien in them. : (
ReplyDeleteAll four of those stars looked sensational in theirs, but Marilyn and Grace Kelly really bowled me over. I think that one fashion accessory epitomizes the look of the 50s and 60s more than any other.
DeleteI just got a new pair retro style glasses, semi catseye, love them!
ReplyDeleteI'm due new glasses very soon, and I just might go that route with my sunglasses.
DeleteQuestion is, would you still wear them now? I really think you should!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes...I'd wear either of the striped frames in a heartbeat! I'm just so careless with my glasses that I'm reluctant to buy vintage frames that have already got stress lines just waiting to snap when I throw them into my handbag without a case! :)
DeleteIn third grade, I unhappily got my first pair of glasses. I believed, Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses and I know it impacted how I viewed myself. Anyhow, they were a lovely blue with silver sparkle threads sprinkled throughout. I do not believe I would wear them, but then again, if I wore that style, I might choose green to bring out my hazel eyes.
ReplyDeleteI loved my mother dearly, but she was a bit on the frumpy side. Perhaps, as you said, her self-image had been affected by starting to wear glasses at age 6. I have a feeling she chose plain styles that did little to enhance her natural beauty because she didn't want to draw any attention to herself. As an 8th grader, I was devastated when I was told I needed corrective lenses, because I'd heard the same thing about boys, girls and glasses...although, inexplicably, my drop-dead gorgeous dad, who looked like a cross between a young Elvis and Rock Hudson, didn't seem to mind my mom's glasses one bit! Rather than play it safe, though, I decided to take a cue from my grandmother Mimi and make bold, unusual frames part of my fashion statement. Over the years, I've had some really fantastic ones.
DeleteI say go for the green cateyes! You only live once!
oh I love them ...I have my grans which are orange with black flecks. sadly my head is the size of a watermelon....say no more...I adore sophias...wonder if they come in orange? x
ReplyDeleteYou just hit on one of the reasons I'm reluctant to buy vintage frames online...sizing. I figure there's some good reason for all that measuring they do at the optometrist's office, and I'd rather not look like I'm wearing my grandson's sunglasses on my big bullum head.
DeleteI think it's cool that Sophia is frequently seen wearing glasses. She knows she's still beautiful and can make anything look chic.
Dana, aren't you sweet. I just realized when you mentioned your father being unaffected by your mother's glasses, the same thing could be said about my Dad and Mom. My Dad was a hunk and in their wedding pictures, I always tell people, he looks like the cat who caught the canary, he looks so happy and pleased. My mother had style but like many women, she wished she looked different. She had dark hair and full lips and she wished she was a blond like her friends. Her sister teased her about her lips and they still are gorgeous. Something to ponder, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think most of us would do well to try to see ourselves as others see us, rather than through our own hyper-critical filters. Others see us as a total package...our intelligence, our humor, our kindness, our sense of adventure, our loyalty, our generosity, and so much more...not just our physical appearance, while we often focus on something as insignificant as a pair of glasses.
DeleteI love the black and gold striped ones, the navy blue and white and the starburst pair.
ReplyDeleteI purchased a pair off E-bay I just have to set up my eye exam and get a new prescription. The ones I bought are black on the outside & white on the inside.
=D