Eccentric eyewear maker Scott Urban first kickstarted his "Reflectacles" frames in 2016; the frames used emedded retroreflectors to make them throw back tons of light, making them highly visible (and great for things like night cycling); subsequent iterations beefed up the IR reflectivity, which blinded many CCTV surveillance cameras (they use IR to paint low-light scenes, and their sensors can be overwhelmed if enough of that IR bounces back at them). Read the rest

To make their truly unique Cinematiq collection, Budapest-based eyewear designer Zachary Tipton and his team looked to vintage films for inspiration. Using 16 and 35mm film sourced from "old movie theaters, TV stations and private collections," they wedged short, high-contrast scenes into the temples of the collection's eyeglass frames.

Some of the films were labeled, others were so very much of indie origin we could not even identify their genre.

We’ve literally examined miles of films frame by frame to curate the final scenes that were ready to become more than just art living in the past.

Impressively, a man known for his distinct eyewear, Sir Elton John, is one of their first clients.

I don't wear glasses (yet, anyway), but if I did, I'd have a hard time choosing between these and Vinylize, the 'groovy' ones made from vinyl records. Both kinds are produced by Tipton's team.

(Mashable) Read the rest

Brazil-based artisan Guilherme Casagrande makes handcrafted wooden sunglasses from reused skateboard decks. Read the rest

A couple of weeks ago I bought a 4-pack of normcore reading glasses, which are fine, but I just found out about these Ray-Ban Wayfarer knock-off reading glasses. I've been wearing Ray-Ban Wayfarer knock-off prescription glasses since the 1980s, and I love them, so I also bought a 5-pack of these reading glasses on Amazon for $(removed) Read the rest

Luxury retailer Luisa Viaroma at one point sold these $424 Matt Nylon Hooded Down Jackets with integrated, goggled facemasks. In an apparent bid to soften the appearance of alien menace projected by the garment when fully zipped, the vendor added a silly poof-ball at the crown. This latter seems easily removed, and I speculate that it is similar to the little snap-off bit of wink-nudge metal that converts your semi-automatic to full-auto -- that is, a way to claim relative harmlessness at the point of sale. Because once you lose the bogglie-ball, brother, you're pure terror in this one.

I'd Wear It: Winter Jacket With Integrated Goggles In Hood

Matt Nylon Hooded Down Jacket (Product page/dead link) Read the rest