vintage

In today's post we will explore the history of antique Windsor style eyeglasses, the iconic fully vintage round glasses worn by many famous people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Ernest Hemingway, and John Lennon. Windsor glasses date back to the late 1800's. Originally invented in the city of Windsor in England. Nose pieces as we know them today hadn't been invented...

Every so often we like to do a post about some new vintage frames that arrived at our shop. Today we will go through some vintage eyeglass frames that arrived in the mail today. Some 1960's era cat eye glasses and some older antique eyeglass frames dating back to World War 1. Box Of Vintage Eyeglasses That came in today...

If you open up a newspaper or turn on the radio or TV these days you will no doubt come across some news about trade wars and import tariff's, trade imbalances and deficits. Without getting political it seems fair to say that many in the US are upset about its place in global commerce. We seem to have this idea that everything was once...

Today we got a new shipment of antique eyeglasses from Europe. These are 14 pairs of genuine vintage round Windsor eyeglasses. The color of these is silver, they are made of some sort of metal, possibly stainless steel. They were never used, New Old Stock (NOS) sometimes also called Deadstock eyeglasses. These were recently found in a factory in the...

Here at The Vintage Optical Shop we get to see a nice sampling of the frames made 50-150 years ago. We can often tell by the quantities of the different vintage eyeglass frames we get which were the most popular in their prospective era and which were more rare. We can also tell which vintage frames lasted until today and...

Recently there was a story in the news that MIT online magazine conducted a study that concluded that hipsters often look alike, which they found ironic for a group of people trying not conform, trying to stand out. The study seems to suggest that many people are trying hard not to conform by doing the same things, beard, Horn Rimmed Vintage eyeglasses, Flannel Shirt etc...

In the early days antique eyeglasses were sold by peddlers and shopkeepers, who generally had a trial set of 8 to 10 antique eyeglasses from which one could select the prescription most suitable to them. The scientific methods used today to help determine the prescription for ones eyeglasses was still in its infancy, only significantly improving in the late 1800’s...

Let's Check Out The History of Pince Nez Eyeglasses Take a walk back in time and discover some fascinating and fun facts about Pince-Nez eyeglasses, including the history behind them which make them so unique. Pince Nez originally came into existence in the mid 15th century in Europe, but later gained a large following from curious eyeglass enthusiasts from 1885-1925 when Pince-Nez eyeglasses reached their peak popularity. At one point, they actually were one of the most commonly seen antique eyeglasses during that era. They are unusually unique because their supported without ear pieces, by pinching the bridge of your nose to keep them in place. They were anchored onto the bridge of the nose with two small spring loaded clips. These one of a kind eyeglasses have earned their place in history and will make people do a double take. Continue reading →

Rugged yet distinguished, men’s glasses have been lending gentlemen a dapper look for well over a century. Donned by Hollywood’s leading men of the past and present, there’s no doubt that a pair of glasses can really make the man. Today we’re sharing a variety of our favorite celebrity looks with tips on how you can steal their signature spectacled styles – all without leaving the comfort of your home! Continue reading →

 Now the perfect accessory, glasses have moved out of the shadows becoming an iconic part of fashion history. They’re so much so that we can’t think of a better way to show off your personality or style than with an amazing pair of specs. And, while the optometrist offers undeniable expertise in the health and wellness of your eyes, we find that getting an original and unique pair of glasses isn’t easy when buying new. That’s why we want to share our top 3 benefits to buying new, old stock glasses so you see why going vintage can be a wonderful and fashionably inspired decision! Continue reading →