Marimekko makes its mark on eyewear

Anyone who knows their Scandinavian textiles will know and no doubt love Marrimekko, the Finnish designers known for the perfect prints.

Good news if you're after the eyewear as it's just been launched. As you'd expect there are subtle, tasteful shapes (above) and some great colours (left).

And some even feature Marimekko prints incorporated into the design (below)... 

50 Shades

If you thought I was going to do a post with 50 sunglasses in it, you're wrong – that'd take forever! Or if you thinking I'm in any way interested that book, you're mistaken.This is a book review, a short one, for 50 Shadesby Lauren Goldstein Crowe.

A super tome it is too; said number of sunglasses on the likes of (top-to-bottom) Jack Nicholson, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Robert Redford, John Lennon and other massive stars. Each great photograph is accompanied by a quote, sometimes glasses related, from the shades-wearer. It's a book led by its amazing photography, capturing the stars perfectly, but the selection of sunglasses features prominently, even if the frames are mainly unidentified. Those that are attributed to their designers are Ray-Ban, Oliver Goldsmith and Persol. A few others I believe I know include Neostyle on Elvis Presley, Francois Pinton on Jackie Kennedy Onassis, but I can't be entirely sure.

My favourite sunglasses featured in the book are worn by Carole Lombard, not sure who they're by; and perhaps the best quote is, "With my sunglasses on I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them I'm fat and 60."

Hover over images for photo credits, or see below. 50 Shades is available direct from Reel Art Press. More good glasses books here.

Photo credits – Audrey Hepburn: Keystone/Getty Images / Bob Dylan: Jan Persson/Redferns / Diana Ross: Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images / Jack Nicholson: Giribaldi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images / John Lennon: Robert Whitaker/Getty Images.

Liam Gallagher's sunglasses: Slip inside the mind of Pretty Green Eyewear

Pretty Green Eyewear, as worn by Liam Gallagher. Top is PG383, above PG2576 and below PG2653. Thanks to Brillor.

Thom Browne by Dita 2012 eyewear: safety first

Popped into the brilliant Eye Company on Wardour Street last week where I was introduced to these little beauties from luxury menswear designer Thom Browne, produced by Dita Eyewear. Loving the clips, the mesh safety sides and, having tried them on, the comfortable wire temples. Well worth the price tag!

CW Dixey's Chartwell 01 glasses as worn by Tony (and Churchill)

After the weekend's Diamond Jubilee celebrations here in London, the next anniversary is that of the Normandy landings, this day in 1944.

Fittingly, here's my father-in-law Tony, who lives in Normandy and is a keen reader of all books Second World War. So I was particularly pleased to find him in a pair of Chartwell 01s, by CW Dixey & Son, a faithful replica of Sir Winston Churchill's famous round frames.

More on CW Dixey, which has been making glasses since 1777, can be found in my post last September...

Cutler & Gross 2012 sunglasses: starry eyed surprise

Ordinarily, anyone suggesting to make a pair of sunglasses that are star-shaped on the outside and circular on the inside, might be laughed out of a design studio. But Cutler and Gross is hugely capable and its signature piece for the summer is simply out of this world.

Have a look at the Cutler and Gross Magazine for much much more...

Oliver Goldsmith round glasses remade for 2012 – as worn by John Lennon

New York-based  actress Emily Bennett wears Oliver Oval/Pro from Oliver Goldsmith – a titanium remake of the original Windsor-bridge spectacles worn by John Lennon.

Suitable for ladies or chaps...

Get around, round, round: Mykita eyewear 2012

Mykita continues to make round glasses as inviting as they ever could be. Above you can see Teiti, Thorvald and Cecile. And at the top, two pictures from another wonderful Mykita lookbook, shot by Mark Borthwick. See the full Mykita 2012 lookbook here...

CW Dixey launches Chartwell glasses collection including frames worn by Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill with Franklin D Roosevelt, Casablanca, 1943. Photo courtesy of the Franklin D Roosevelt Library and Museum; version date 2009

CW Dixey & Son is the oldest independent eyewear company in the world. Its history straddles four centuries and its frames have been worn by an A-list unlike any other.

The current owners of CW Dixey have spent the past couple of years creating the above collection, the centrepiece of which is Chartwell 01, replicas of the round glasses worn by Churchill. These are directly above, and at the top on the red background, alongside Chartwell 02, which is a remake of Churchill's reading glasses. Both frames are handmade in France from original dimensions, using the best Mazzuchelli acetates in light and dark tortoiseshell and black. There are then seven other limited edition frames (Chartwell 03 and 07 are featured above) in the collection which bring together sophisticated designs of the 50s and 60s to the modern day. So hats off to CW Dixey & Son - it's created a great new collection. But if there wasn't the back-story, the distinguished patrons, the coat of arms, the amazing history, this collection would still stand out as being extremely well made. I've had all nine styles in my hands and they're tip top quality. Worth every penny of the £380+ price tag. Oh, one more thing: the spectacle cases are pretty fine too!

HISTORY & PATRONS Forget Lady Gaga, Rihanna and the rest of the paparazzi's targets of today; how about Sir Winston Churchill for a little endorsement? Impressed? Then read on, because CW Dixey has the most astonishing list of customers I've ever come across.  As well as Churchill, there are no fewer than 10 other British prime ministers, including: Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Ramsay MacDonald and the Duke of Wellington. Who else? How about Queen Victoria? Yes, alongside Prince Albert , George VI, V, IV and III. I could go on. Okay, a few more: Ian Fleming, Peter Sellers, Tennessee Williams, Boris Karloff .... the list is endless. Did I mention Napoleon Bonaparte? He had a telescope rather than spectacles but that's what Dixey did too. It was "Optician and Mathematical Instrument Maker". CW Dixey had premises at 3 Bond Street, London, below, which was sadly bombed in World War II.

Who needs photochromic lenses? Glasses-cum-sunglasses on Brick Lane

Continuing the East London gig, may I present this friendly chap, who had just purchased these spectacles with hinged sun lenses at the ready when I came along. I've always preferred this traditional clip approach to solving the glasses/sunglasses conundrum than those clever lenses...

Retro Super Future limited edition Liberty print Lucia sunglasses for spring/summer 2011

Last year's Libertyprint collaboration with Italian sunglass supremos Retro Super Future was hugely popular and 2011's Lucia sunglasses, in three iconic Liberty prints, will doubtless be blooming marvellous too. What EWG particularly likes is the combination of round lenses with a square frame shape.

Above is Poppy & Daisy, above that is Peacock, and below are 2010's Elysian. These shades, and a couple more, are available from Liberty's Great Marlborough Street store in London or online here.

Giorgio Armani launches Frames of Your Life photography project

This picture by Natalie Weiss in Berlin features Giorgio Armani GA823 spectacles and is part of a collection of street-style photos for the brand called Frames of Your Life, which also includes photographs from Milan, Paris and London. These London images below, taken by Jackie Dixon of Showmeyourwardrobe.com, is of a chap wearing GA788 and a lady, also in GA823.