Sometimes specs maketh the man.
Michael Caine wouldn't have seemed so alluring without his thick-rimmed black specs. John Lennon's hippie look was completed by his coloured round glasses. When Johnny Depp wears glasses, his hotness levels go through the roof and Andy Warhol wouldn't have looked anywhere near as striking without a pair of his trademark clear acetate Moscot glasses.
They say boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses but that seems to be reversed when it comes to men wearing glasses.
The right pair make men infinitely more attractive. I know it's not scientific but to me they appear smarter and more distinguished. That is in addition to doing what they are meant to: improving your eyesight.
In the past, spectacles had a bad rap in popular culture. Clark Kent went from nerdy journalist to Superman by simply removing his glasses, and geeky Peter Parker no longer needed glasses after he was bitten by a spider and was transformed into Spider-Man with superpowers.
The assumption was that they couldn't be some kind of Adonis superhero unless they had plano plano vision (optical speak for perfect sight). With glasses they were just average Joes who couldn't get the girl.
But since the sixties there are some more positive examples of iconic spectacle wearers on the silver screen.
Atticus Finch's serious nature in the To Kill A Mockingbird film was highlighted by the fact the actor who played him, Gregory Peck, wore horn-rimmed specs.
The brand Oliver Peoples even created a style named Gregory Peck in homage to the glasses the actor dons in the film.
Likewise, in the film JFK, set in the sixties, Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison and wears classic Ronsir glasses with an acetate top and lower metal rim. Launched in 1947, the style is a design classic.
The recent trend for designer glasses has seen more men ditch their contact lenses in favour of statement specs.
As men don't use make-up to sculpt their faces and emphasise their eyes as women do, glasses help frame their face and define their features.
My favourite frames for men include optical brand Dita's New Yorker style, which are a retro all-rounder that suits a wide variety of face shapes. I am partial to Ray-Ban's Wayfarer and Clubmaster optical frames too. You also can't go wrong with the brand Cutler And Gross, as favoured by bespectacled film director Martin Scorsese.
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