’70s glasses are always in style

Summer is approaching, so we cannot do without sunglasses. And sunglasses, but also inevitably prescription glasses, albeit to a lesser extent, have perhaps been one of the few elements that still best recall the 1970s today. There is essentially one word: headlights!

The early ’70s saw prescription glasses with plastic or natural frames, which were very thick and featured dimensions extending well beyond the oval of the face. Lenses were primarily light blue, but also beige or greenish. In the second half of the decade, however, sizes shrank, and shapes changed from oval to more squared and wrap-around. And if the imperative for women was “headlights,” for men, the imperative was Ray-Ban. There is no need to explain how they were made: just think of the TV series “CHiPs” (the Californian motorcycle police) and you already have the legendary Ray-Bans before your eyes. Just one detail, or rather two: the side temples toward the ears ended with a semi-flexible part bent downward more than 180°, which practically wrapped around the ear from above, behind, below, and almost came back up in front, requiring strange maneuvers every time they had to be put on, and especially when taking them off. The second detail was that it was common to bend the glasses forward at the bridge over the nose toward the face, so that the two side ends where the temples were attached would recede, giving the glasses a strange aerodynamic shape. From above, you could see glasses bent almost like the “^” symbol.
And this ’70s eyewear trend has also made a powerful comeback. And you, Discolovers, what glasses do you use or did you use?