Cult Eyewear: The World's Enduring Classics Hardcover – November 1, 2011

This coffee table book is the answer to my search for a decent book devoted to eyewear, such that I've sought for many a year. I am not an optical professional but a long-time eyewear aficionado, who maintains his own eyewear forum, "Ken's Eyewear Club" as a Google Club (now a Google Group) since 1999; https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kenseyewearclub/infoSure there are are other eyewear books. Chic simple: Eyeglasses is wonderful - I love it - but it's from the '90s and just doesn't cover what a true coffee table book can with many large, colorful pages. Another small book I've seen, which goes through a number of designers/brands, doesn't have most names I'd like to see, only devotes two pages or so to each, and it's written by someone who's into collectibles in general and happened to decide to write on eyewear. Cult Eyewear was written, in contrast, by Neil Handley - a Britisher who has long worked with eyewear history as a museum curator as well as being a leader in optical-related organizations and a writer on ophthalmic antiques. Other small eyewear books concentrate on one collection or particularly bizarre or humorous frames.There are coffee table books on eyewear concentrate on what people wore hundreds of years ago and then, if they get up to the past century or so, they still don't cover a lot of makers - not their standard designs, their most important designs historically, or their most interesting designs.Cult Eyewear covers all of this. It starts with a handful of pages covering eyewear history in general (mainly European) and basically up to the time of the "fashion designers." I was, I must say, a little surprised Handley doesn't cover the possible Far Eastern origin of eyewear , but - oh well.... He then then takes many brands/designers in the chronological order in which he feels they reached their major importance (a most unusual, but intelligent, way of determining chronological order). There is somewhat of a British slant as to selection and history, but the author surely included many makers of many nations. Some companies are mentioned in the text but did not get a devoted space among chapters; there is an Index to bring these out (except presumably, by error, Oliver Peoples is mentioned several times in the book - and rightly so - but it is not in the Index).As of 2015, the book goes almost to the very present. Handley covers most of the brands I'd like to see, one way or another, and I certainly can't expect him to cover all those or even some that I'd like to see (e.g. Lunor, Gold and Wood, ProDesign, Moscot, Paul Smith, Robert Marc, Morgenthal Frederics, Dakota Smith, Anne & Valentin, Chrome Hearts). There are far, far more brands/designers than in any other volume I've seen to date. I'm learning an awful lot from this book regarding the historical importance and design importance of certain makers, and also I'm finding some styles appeared earlier than I had thought. I also like the way the author refers to the frames favored by famous personalities. In some ways this volume resembles Cult Watches, by the same publisher, and also Celebrity Watches, which I own.So I'm extremely happy with the book, with the exception of a few not-so-positive side comments I made above. I'm baffled why the book hasn't appeared in any Cleveland area stores or public libraries, as far as I know, and how inexpensive it is in the sources I've been finding. I got an unused copy, with the slightest waterlog-related warping evident, for under $10 on Amazon, including postage. When I first saw the online prices I was suspicious about the quality of the book's production but I see nothing differentiating it from so many more expensive coffee table volumes. Actually, I see a price of $49.95 on the jacket so why, when the book came out only four years ago, are so many copies - new or used - available for so little? There are beautiful photographs (mostly color) and other illustrations and the book is truly beautifully written. I highly recommend Cult Eyewear for anyone really into the subject (including opticians!) or for anyone who might want to get more knowledgeable about this fascinating world.

Beautifully designed, informative coffee table book featuring the world's most highly regarded glasses and their designers.

This is by far the most interesting read on eyewear ever produced. The eyewear industry has always been elusive when it comes to the history of the best brands ever produced in the later half of the twentieth century their methods kept secret. Here for the first time is a glimpse into the actual companies that produced some of the most iconic and collectible eyewear available ever. An eyeopening book! I would love to see the author write another book on the manufacturing and design processes themselves showing how handmade frames from acetate to wood are actually produced, where the materials come from, how the production changes made or kept over the years has affected the product and where is eyewear production headed in the future? New materials, techniques, designs, function over fashion and the post apocalyptic vision!

Wow! This book gives a backstage pass to what's what in the frame industry and how it became CULT. Very impressed with the formatting and photography. The details and text were all so well executed.

A+

This is a great retrospective of favorite brands of eyewear. Excellent photographs, nice pop culture references, good historical info. Love it!

It is a fairly basic book, not a lot of content as anticipated. Still would recommend if you're interested in eyewear.

I wear the at work a lot and get compliments all the time from customers. They are easy to store in my wallet or purse and they not only help me with my work but with my leisure time reading.

El libro es bastante completo con diseños poco usuales de gafas y algo de texto.Lo que menos me gusta es la portada.

An interesting book giving detailed attention to a narrow section of iconic brands.

great