Sunglasses and glamour go hand in hand. From Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany, to Ray-Bans, there is something about wearing stylist shades that ups your fab level like nothing else.
And while I am admittedly a fan of $10 sunglasses from Target (or $5 sunglasses from Wal-Mart) they don’t exactly have the same glam factor that, say, Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses do.
The iconic Oliver Goldsmith brand was taken over by the great-granddaughter of Oliver, Claire Goldsmith, in 2005, and Claire’s SS2010 collection is pure magic. I recently popped down to the Oliver Goldsmith shop on All Saints Road in Notting Hill, and I got the chance to poke around the archives of the great OG collections from the ‘50s and ‘60s.
OG sunglasses have graced the faces of everyone from Michael Caine, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn to Elton John, and if you venture to the downstairs area of the Oliver Goldsmith shop, you’ll see that the wallpaper is actually made up of press clippings about Oliver Goldsmith, including photos of the famous icons that were fans of Goldsmith’s shades.
At the shop in Notting Hill, you can choose to have custom-made sunglasses created for you, based on one of the hundreds of the vintage sunglasses in the Oliver Goldsmith archives. Once you’ve picked your frame, you can also pick your material and lens color, and have your dream sunglasses brought to life.
The hand-crafted, bespoke sunglasses, in my opinion, seem more exciting to have made than bespoke suits or dresses, simply because of the story behind each frame, and the history and legacy of the brand. Plus, knowing that you’re walking round with the same style glasses that were worn by Audrey Hepburn or Sophia Loren will make you feel pretty badass.
The Oliver Goldsmith shop in Notting Hill is, essentially, a sunglasses museum. There are hundreds of photos to drool over, plenty of frames to try-on, and there’s even a replica of the original Oliver Goldsmith shop guest book, which includes signatures from iconic celebrities such as Dusty Springfield.
The prices for the custom-made vintage Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses with cost you a pretty penny – the service starts at £250 – but if you think about what you’re getting, and how much money you’d spend replacing cheap sunglasses that have broken or fallen aapart, the cost is totally worth it.
You an visit the Oliver Goldsmith shop on All Saints Road in Notting Hill, or find out more information on the Oliver Goldsmith official website.
All images © BitchBuzz.com