Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The Eyes Have It!























One of the harbingers of spring is the annual l.a.Eyeworks benefit sale hosted by Alexander Gray Associates with proceeds supporting Art Matters. On this occasion, Valerie was KO'd all week by the Upper Respiratory Thing going around but Jean sallied forth to spend an evening trying on fabulous eyewear, having cocktails and delicious treats and hanging out with friends, all for a good cause. Hey, it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it, right? Jean was thrilled to reconnect with Brent Zerger, l.a.Eyeworks' Director of Communications and all-around eyeglass guru. In honor of the event, Jean wore her 1986 l.a.Eyeworks' Gigantor frames. Since they had her circa 1986 prescription lenses, it made for some ophthalmological fun house mirror moments.

Held in Alexander Gray's spacious gallery in the shadow of the High Line, the event always features creative and delicious food. This year was no exception! A functional ferris wheel could be rotated to provide better access to the delicious macaroon cookies on each of the seats on the ride.






















Made by Sweet Maresa, the delicate, pastel-colored French macarons were as delicious as they looked. Pictured here are the violet lemon and creamsicle lavender flavored cookies.


































Stan Satlin and Debra Rapoport showed up and were greeted by l.a.Eyeworks' co-founder Gai Gherardi.  Debra and Gai were sporting yellow-framed glasses.Check out Gai's fabulous gold oxfords -- and Stan's dapper red-soled shoes. Apologies for the rather fuzzy photo, taken by a rather fuzzy photographer.  Looking through her seriously out-of-date prescription lenses, Jean had no sense of in-focus versus out-of-focus.

































This gent tried on a pair of squared off frames. Behind him, you can glimpse the peace sign monocles designed to be used like reading glasses, to check out menus and programs, and then hung around the neck as jewelry when not in use.


































Co-designer Margo Willets and Brent indulged Jean with a photo.


































Debra posed with two hat-loving gents with the improbable Instagram monikers of Sucklord (left) and Mrseang (middle). If you check out last year's post, you'll see Sucklord wearing the same hot pink framed and lensed pair of glasses, but with a decidedly more restrained outfit and demeanor.




















We mentioned at the outset that Jean was wearing a pair of 29-year old l.a.Eyeworks Gigantor glasses that look as contemporary now as then. To prove the point: l.a.Eyeworks has reissued the frames, which is a true testament to their staying power. Jean is wearing her black glasses, whose wide black frames resemble Groucho Marks' eyebrows. They lady next to her is wearing the 2015 Gigantor version - with tortoise shell design rather than flat black.



































It just goes to show you that what goes around comes around, and everything old is new again. Ta-ta, kiddies!

1 comment:

  1. Some very cool eyeglass frames and outfits in this post. I would definitely wear Margo Willets two-tone frames. I've always liked the way that Gai dresses, with colourful frames and cool shoes accessorizing one of her many identical-but-different suits.

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