Spectator Sport
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 15, 1998
Eyewear designers have found a new, more colourful face.
Forget advice that an elongated face should sport round shapes or that a round face equals rectangular rims. Optometrists and eyewear designers alike now say anything goes, and suggest you invest in a wardrobe of colours and shapes.
Just as with fashion, there is a multitude of trends. The heavy, solid dark frames of the nerd look are disappearing from the catwalks and the perennially safe black and tortoiseshell frames are no longer the fashion. Sorry, this season we're talking colour.
And not just one colour. Eyewear designers are layering colour into thick plastic frames, with up to five layers in some designs, working from the lightest layer closest to your skin out to the darkest colour on the outside.
Optometrist George Skoufis, of Paddington, and Diane Malcolm, owner of Dioptics in the Mid City Centre, have just returned from the Paris and London trade shows where they noted the trend for coloured frames. "Plastics and lots of multicoloured plastics. There's not a lot of black and tortoiseshell," Skoufis says.
Malcolm agrees: "Greens, French navies and a lot of laminates where you have two or three colours fused together - darker colour at the back and lighter at front so it gives the frame more dimension."
If past attempts at colour haven't worked for you, don't panic. We're not talking the lairy reds and multicoloured frames of the '80s, but rather a more '90s subtle and subdued approach: steely blues, olive greens, forest greens and beige plastics; brushed dull gold, red and navy metals - colours to highlight your features, but not take over your face.
However, the shape remains basically square, although frames are now more likely to be in flat metals or chunky plastics.
"There's definite colour and volume, so you're seeing the frame," Malcolm says. "The frame is on your face - even the metal frames are heavier. Rectangular
is in at the moment, but the eyewear designers have taken that rectangular
shape and made it a bit different with regards to the finer details."
Malcolm says that eyewear designers with their own label, such as l.a. Eyeworks, Theo or Jonathan Sceats, are the ones to look to for the latest trends.
Peter Smith, marketing manager of Safilo Australia, which makes Diesel, Gucci, Christian Dior, Carrera, Valentino, Oliver by Valentino, Polo Ralph Lauren and MaxMara, believes that big fashion houses also play a major role. "Design is 12 months ahead over there [in Europe], which means it will be here for our summer next year. The fashion designers are very heavily involved - Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, John Galliano for Dior.
"There are a lot of signature lines done by them. They guide colour direction, styling and fabrication. John Galliano has just done a lorgnette for Dior, which we have coming out next year."
It seems the system for eyewear design is the same as it is for the diffusion clothing labels, perfume, handbags, sunglasses or jewellery. The image, theme or concept trickles down from the haute couture parades, so these accessories end up a less extreme, more commercially viable option.
"The styles we sell are not seen on the runways in the fashion shows, and they generally aren't for sale," Smith says. "The catwalk stuff is over the top; we get a more conservative, scaled-down version of the product."
What they do all agree on, though, is the trend for square and colour. "We're seeing a lot of transparent colours, smoky colours, beige, grey, olive, brown; colours that can be worn with anything. There is a bit of metal starting to come through, either stainless steel or even titanium, which is great - it's lightweight and non-corrosive," Smith says.
So, with such a wide choice, Malcolm and Skoufis have a couple of suggested rules of thumb when buying.
Skoufis says: "The tops of frames have to work with brows, and the bottom of the frames have to work with cheeks. It's all a matter of trying things on. Colour has to work with hair and skin tone and, secondly, with the majority of colours that you wear.
"Ideally, a wardrobe of a couple of frames is probably the best thing, because there really isn't one ideal colour. Even black doesn't necessarily work with everything. The other thing with colour is that it has to suit your personality as well. Black will seek attention, if that's what you want. Red is another colour that will seek attention. Green will seek less attention."
Malcolm adds: "Style your eyewear like you would if you were styling fashion. At the moment they're saying don't buy one pair of glasses, but if you do buy only one pair, really look at your skin toning and eye colour. For example, if you're yellow based, stay away from the yellows, as they will make you look more sallow; go for more solid colours like greens, navy or royal blue. If you have the right make-up, lipstick and clothes, you may be able to get away with a strong colour for that day - but it won't be something you can get away with every day easily, when you throw on your jeans, etc."
But, at the end of the day, Skoufis advises: "The bottom line is there's no such thing as a trend if it doesn't look good on your face. It's important to get the right advice."
The looks
Layered laminates
l.a. Eyeworks black and tortoiseshell square, $360, from George Skoufis Optometrist.
Fine metal colour
l.a. Eyeworks red metal frames, $420, from George Skoufis Optometrist.
Clip-ons
l.a. Eyeworks streb steely blue clip-ons, $420, and clip-ons $140, from George Skoufis Optometrist, Paddington, 9360 7487.
Patriotic plastics
l.a. Eyeworks layered green and gold, $400, from Dioptics, City, 9221 0049.
Bold colour
Killer Loop spectacles, $179, from Face It, Broadway and Macquarie Shopping Centre,
other stockist inquiries
1 800 806 598.
Rectangular retro
Gucci black plastic squares, $220, from OPSM, other stockists 9540 2533.
Eyewear stores
* Oxford Eyes, Darlinghurst, 9360 4408 and Sydney Central Plaza, 9233 5552.
* Dioptics, MLC, 9221 0049.
* Harry Notaras Optometrist, Darlinghurst, 9267 4099.
* George Skoufis Optometrist, Paddington, 9360 7487.
* Mosman Eye Centre, Mosman, 9969 1333.
* Michael Angelos Optometrist, Greenwood Plaza, North Sydney,
9922 7616.
* Eyeballs, Paddington 9331 4650.
* Individual Eyewear, Cronulla, 9544 2079.
* A.V. Simon Optometrist, Cremorne, 9909 2922
* Look of Australia, 1st Floor, Skygarden, city, 9232 2780.
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald
