'Cult Eyewear' by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN SEE OUR CURRENT COMPETITION HERE.
This week, I was delighted to receive a copy of Cult Eyewear: The World’s Enduring Classics, thanks to the nice people at Merrell Publishing. Happily I also have an extra copy to give away!

As a lover of vintage fashion and design this book is just delicious! It’s full of beautiful photographs (over 500 in total) and showcases the world’s top eyewear brands from the 1780s to the present day.

Before I received this book I admit I hadn’t thought much about glasses – beyond buying a new pair of sunnies every summer – and boy have I have I been missing out! I had no idea there was such a cornucopia of eyewear out there.

The photos in this book are gorgeous and a real revelation: 1970s butterfly glasses with red and blue lenses, Pterodactyl glasses, 1950s horn-rimmed glasses with twirled black & white frames, even some stunning Cartier glasses made for the Duchess of Windsor to match her iconic panther bracelet. Who knew?

Cult Eyewear also details style icons and seminal movies which have cemented the cool of some of the great brands: Elvis in Vegas in his 1970s Neostyle shades, David Beckham for Police, Steve McQueen wearing his Persol sunglasses in The Thomas Crown Affair in ’68, Belushi and Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers and Peter Fonda in his Ray-Bans in Easy Rider. It’s an anthology of bespectacled cool.

It’s not just a book about specs, it’s about fashion, design, innovation and image, and it’s taking pride of place on my coffee table.

Cult Eyewear: The World’s Enduring Classics by Neil Handley. Published by Merrell. £29.95
Available from lots of places including Amazon

If you’d like my extra copy of Cult Eyewear, please leave me a comment to let me know and I’ll randomly pick a winner next week.

'Cult Eyewear' by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright Op Couture Brillen gmbh/Cazal.

‘Cult Eyewear’ by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright Op Couture Brillen gmbh/Cazal.

'Cult Eyewear' by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright Mykita gmbh

‘Cult Eyewear’ by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright Mykita gmbh

'Cult Eyewear' by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright: RVS by V

‘Cult Eyewear’ by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright: RVS by V

'Cult Eyewear' by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright: Robert La Roche.

‘Cult Eyewear’ by Neil Handley (Merrell Publishers £29.95) Copyright: Robert La Roche