The Trends

Some men loathe the experience of buying glasses. It is chore-some, boring and frustrating. As you wait in an overly-hot room in your local shopping centre to be patronised by a school-age sales rep, you begin to wonder “do I really need 20:20 vision?”. These doubts are sustained afterwards, as you walk home from the optician’s looking like Austin Powers in jeans. Other men, meanwhile, fully embrace the process and derive a huge amount of satisfaction from searching for – and then finding – that perfect pair of glasses.

Here’s a guide to making sure your choice of glasses makes you feel like Michael Caine in the Ipcress File rather than Elton John in any of the music videos he’s made over the last thirty years.

Step One: Make sure you provide a correct and up-to-date prescription. There is absolutely no point in buying glasses that are ‘just right’ if you are left having to squint and lean forward in order to see things clearly. If you are in doubt, up-to-date means not more than a year old. If you let 12 months lapse between eye tests, you shouldn’t be surprised when your new glasses turn out to be inadequate. Getting this step wrong jeopardises everything that flows from it. Getting it right allows you to focus on the difficult bit – finding glasses that suit you.

Assuming you have successfully passed the first test, you will now be presented with a series of tough decisions, the results of which could have far-reaching consequences for your glasses wearing experience. Make sure you select a style that suits your appearance and fashion sense. If you enjoy going to 80s retro music gigs, then choose glasses with thick black frames and join the growing ranks of the ‘geek chic’ army. Alternatively, you can opt for perfectly round frames. However, if this John Lennon look leaves you cold, then go for the most popular style on the market: the thin framed rectangular glasses (these look particularly good in blue).

It is important to buy glasses that will last longer than a couple of months, so make sure you are buying from a reputable vendor and are getting a good brand.

Before you buy your glasses, try to picture yourself wearing them. Consider the image that you are attempting to cultivate and the look that you are promoting with different styles. Glasses can make a man variously look intelligent, nerdy, artsy, pretentious, or like they are scared of the optician and just bought whichever pair was handed to them first (this is the case for most men). If you put a little thought in beforehand, you can avoid strategic eyewear errors. Look at some photos of famous actors and musicians wearing glasses, and consider how their glasses change their look. If you are really keen to avoid being defined by glasses, then contact lenses are always an option.

If you use an online retailer, you can browse a huge range of products. For those that manage to successfully negotiate the smorgasbord of eyewear decisions, choosing glasses can be a fun and rewarding experience, rather than a necessary, annual chore.

Company Profile:

LensWay.co.uk is your complete optical store. We design, produce and distribute a wide selection of glasses, sunglasses, accessories and cheap contact lenses for you and your entire family. With our online model we are proud to offer consumers an affordable, convenient, friendly option for high quality brand name and private label vision care products.

This and more can be found at: http://www.lensway.co.uk/aboutus

In the last two decades, white gold bands have become increasingly popular and are almost up to par with their yellow gold counterparts in terms of market performance. There are a lot of good reasons for the current popularity of white gold bands and it would be easier to understand this fact if you are in the process of selecting rings in preparation for your wedding day.

For one, the value of white gold bands is lower compared to yellow gold and they are also more durable. As we all know, gold is a malleable metal and they can be easily get scratches and dents when exposed to the pressures of daily activities, both at home and at work. But with white gold bands, the pure gold metal is mixed with alloys and the process will result to the stronger and more durable white gold. In the truest sense of the word, white gold bands are ideal for couples who have a penchant for platinum jewelry but whose budget would not allow.

If you will start looking at jewelry shops, both online and offline, you will see that white gold bands come in many different shapes and styles. Because white gold is typically mixed with metal alloys to achieve the white color, it is highly recommended that you ask what particular alloy is added to make sure that the ring will not cause allergic reactions when you will wear them.

White gold bands offer many benefits like aesthetic appeal, relatively lower price tags and durability that lasts. So if you are still unsure of what beautiful rings would make a perfect reminder of your love and promise to each other during your wedding day, try to go looking for white gold bands to end your search. Surely, you will find that particular design that would match your personality and something that will not hurt your wedding budget.

Augusta Brim enjoys occasionally writing for Modern Design Inc. If you’re looking for engagement rings Los Angeles look no further than Modern Design based in Los Angeles. His interests include designing jewelry and keeping up with the latest jewelry trends in engagement rings, wedding rings and designer jewelry. Modern Design Inc has been in business since 1978 serving thousands of happy customers looking both locally and nationally for wholesale diamonds Los Angeles.

There are lots of different online retailers all competing for our attention these days, as the practice of buying our clothes and other items online becomes increasingly popular. It can be hard to tell which sites are superior, with so many to browse through and choose from. Reliable online retailers can be hard to find, especially when you need to find something affordable but be assured of its quality. Although relatively new to the UK, Ellos is one such retailer. Originating in Sweden, the brand has now spread out through the rest of Scandinavia and recently into Russia, France, and the UK.

With autumn on the way, one of the most important items you need to be adding to your fall wardrobe is a coat or jacket that will keep you warm and dry when the weather begins to turn. Online at www.ellos.co.uk, you can browse through Ellos’s own range of trench coats for women, as well as other coats and jackets. There are different styles and designs to choose from, with classy female autumn/winter jackets to suit any situation. Whether you are looking for a chic denim jacket or a sophisticated mid-length coat, Ellos has lots of great items to choose from in their online catalogue.

To view Ellos’s range of outwear, visit the “Women” section of the site by clicking on the tab on the navigation bar, which you will see near the top of the page. You will then have access to a list of sub-categories on the left hand side, listing the different kinds of women’s clothing that are on offer. You can browse through all jackets and coats, or you can sort them into jackets, coats, and rainwear. If you already have a particular style of jacket or a fabric in mind, you can enter it in the search bar at the top right hand corner of the page to filter to products that include that keyword in their title or description.

Fashion is fickle. From season to season, year to year there are new shapes, designs and coordinations. However, this is also a lot of similarity, reuse, recycling, reworking and tweaking. Take this season’s biggest trend: 1970s inspired fashion. From the bell bottoms to the Kaftans, espadrilles to t-bar platforms this 1970s reworking isn’t really a ‘reworking’ more a dusting off of the original with new fabrics, new colour co-ordinations and new pairings. The true ethos behind the decade and its key items remain the same, identical in fact.

So what does this tell us? That fashion isn’t as original as we are led to believe? That the 1970s has the best fashion styles ever? No. What it shows us is that fashion isn’t afraid to look back as well as forward.

This is good news for all the cash-strapped fashionistas out there. You can reuse much of what has gone before. So let’s start at the bottom shall we. Shoes this summer are reminiscent of days gone by and you may have many styles hiding in your wardrobe already. This means you only need to buy a couple of new pairs this season, rather than a dozen or so.

So first up is the flat sandal. Sandals are a summer staple and will be around long into the future. Look through your old pairs for any with embellishment, buckles and in natural colours of browns, beiges and black. If you can’t find any suitable, when you look for a new pair, bear in mind the details mentioned above, but also remember to go for a timeless style. So keep it simple and opt for a good quality pair.

Heeled sandals likewise come back every summer. This summer they are rather more platformed than in recent years. However, you can be on trend with a simple pair or Mary-Jane style heels or t-bar sandals. If you don’t have these in your wardrobe, when buying new look for wooden heels and ankle straps. Keep it simple once more with brown or coral colouring and minor embellishment and detailing.

Wedges are the shoes of the summer, especially if they are espadrilles. You may have a pair lurking around somewhere from previous summers. The best styles are in blue, white and red, with straps, crochet or lace detailing or peep toes. Likewise when looking for new go for the most versatile styles so a simple toe and ankle strap combination is the best.

You can update your styles at House of Fraser, which has a truly massive range of women’s shoes.

One of the biggest women’s fashion trends this summer is the maxi dress. Of course the dress is nothing new; variations of it have been seen in previous decades, however, this summer it gets a modern twist. There are myriad styles to choose from and it’s easy to find a maxi that suits both your style and shape, even if you aren’t a die-hard dress wearer. For a full range of maxi dress styles check out House of Fraser.

If you need some assistance in knowing how to style your maxi, here are some of our top tips for the trend of the summer.

Get a maxi that is right for your shape. If you have a tiny waist, don’t for one minute think about drowning it in an a-line shape, or going the other way and not even bothering with a maxi. This summer, many maxi dresses are fitted around the waist, either with a belt, a rope tie, rushing or simply in design. A fitted maxi will show off your waist and give you a truly feminine physique. It can even add curves where you don’t have any with a halter-top.

Alternatively, if you are of the curvy persuasion all you need to do is choose a more flowing a-line shape, and focus on your best assets. To do this look for a fitted bust, with plunging neckline or halter-neck straps. If you aren’t too fond or your arms, there are even sleeved styles too.

Styling a maxi is easy because it is a statement in itself. Therefore you don’t need to go overboard with accessories. The summer is all about the 70s, so an easy way to tap into this trend is with a pair of espadrilles. However, any wedged or platformed sandals will do the job nicely. If you prefer flats a pair of t-bar buckled sandals will be ideal.

Add a floppy hat and some Jackie-O of Wayfarer style sunglasses and keep you hair loose and wavy or tied back in a messy plait.  Jewellery should be simply so a few bangles and a long necklace will be enough. You can work your inner Pocahontas with a necklace or earrings of gold or copper leaves.

Finally, to finish it all off add a cropped lace or denim waistcoat and floral chiffon scarf and you are good to go.