The Vintage Optical Blog

Musings & Historical bits and pieces related to Vintage Eyewear

  1. Why Buy Vintage Eyeglasses?

    Why Buy Vintage Eyeglasses?
    Why Buy Vintage Eye Glasses? We shop vintage because we have edge. We are farsighted dressers (pun?) and creative types who can see beyond what mainstream culture lays out on a silver platter. We shop vintage to be unique and individual and to represent ourselves to the world. Any vintage shopper understands that there are few things as maddening as...
  2. Some (Old) New Cat Eye Glasses Back In Stock

    Every so often we will write a blog post introducing some new frames in our collection. Today we'll focus on some old favorites cat eye glasses  that have been out of stock for a while and are now back in stock. Starting off with our all time favorite: black cat eye glasses These Black Fade Womens Cat eye glasses from...
  3. Who was the largest manufacturer of vintage frames in 1940?

    History is written in the history books. The more significant the history, the more history books you are likely to have (Well,  at least in some cases). What about the history of vintage frames? Sure, there are some books. But most look at vintage eyeglasses decades at a time or cover certain periods when significant events happened. What about the design changes...
  4. Schiaparelli: When Vintage Frames got their first designer.

    In the early days of antique eyeglasses, frames were seen as a medical device worn by those who needed this "crutch". Much attention wasn't given to color, fashion, and design. Vintage frames were generally gold or silver tone, and the designs round oval or ovid (AKA Ful-Vue Glasses). While there were many solid gold glasses, this was more of a difference...
  5. Some new frames for the Covid-19 Era

    During these challenging times when COVID-19 has overwhelmed the world, many businesses have ceased to function or are operating at limited capacity. Here at The Vintage Optical Shop we are able to operate relatively normal while taking all the necessary precautions. We recently listed some interesting vintage frames as you will see below. Many of the are cat eye glasses from the 1950s and 1960's, but...
  6. American Optical Red Dot Screw System

    We recently came across a beautiful pair of 1960’s cat eye glasses called Overture, by American Optical. They are listed for sale here: american optical overture cat eye glasses Generally speaking, the best place to find information on any vintage frames is by locating the original catalog put out by the manufacturer. It gives you the best glimpse into the...
  7. The Constant Need For New Vintage Frames

    Here at The Vintage Optical Shop we are constantly getting new rare and unique vintage eyeglass frames in stock. It is always exciting to get a new pair we never saw before and may never see again after this one is sold. In the world of marketing they say that every time you make a sale you lose a great lead...
  8. A blast from the past: A Pair Of Cat Eye Frames brings back memories

    Last week we got in a couple dozen genuine vintage cat eye frames. One of those reminded me of an interesting anecdote with some women's eyeglass frames that happened a few years back. But first a little background. At the Vintage Optical Shop we sell only genuine vintage eyeglass frames. We mostly get one of each of the frames we have but sometimes...
  9. New Focus on Antique Spectacles

    At the Vintage Optical Shop our goal is one and simple: provide genuine vintage and antique eyeglasses that is suitable for prescription lenses and daily use.   Many of the vintage eyeglasses we get do not qualify as such for one reason or another and we therefore do not list them.     With newer plastic frames such as vintage...
  10. A look at an American Optical Catalog of 1960's eyeglasses

    Today we will talk about one of our favorite ways for dating vintage eyeglass frames. Namely, vintage catalog's. We recently came across an old American Optical Catalog. This was a catalog from 1963 meant for opticians and salesmen of vintage eyeglasses. It showcases their current inventory of 1960's glasses and the sizes they come in, available colors, as well as...

Items 1 to 10 of 22 total

Page