The Curse Of The ‘Edgy’ Glasses

Many have seen the ‘Being A Dickhead’s Cool’ video (if not, have a gander now!) which features the stereotypical alternative he/she that can usually be found roaming Brick Lane.

They travel in packs, sipping on cans of Red Stripe, either handing out a flyer to the next party in Shoreditch or trying to get onto the guestlist of that next party in Shoreditch. Among the group, there’s a 2:1 chance (I’m no William Hill…) that one of the guys or gals will be wearing a pair of thick-rimmed-fake-wayfarer type glasses OR thin-framed-cylindrical-monocle types. Considering they’re trying to be different, they ‘aint very imaginative…

This is an unusual spectacle (<3 puns) around the streets of Exeter. There is no doubt that we are a fashionable campus but it isn’t as contrived as other cities, which is never a bad thing. I have however noticed an increase in students with thicker framed glasses, not always to such ‘alternative’ extremes but nevertheless, people seem to be opting in for the Austin Powers look.

And why not?? I have diplomatically taken the piss out of the eyewear found in London so I feel I can now say, why shouldn’t students all over the country wear thicker frames without fear of been called an Edgy Twat?

In many cases it has nothing to do with trying to be ‘edgy’…a word which I feel should hang its head in shame due to its overuse. I may seem a tad bias as I am the owner of a pair of thick-rimmed-fake-wayfarer type glasses, but I first made the leap 3 years ago when I was about to go travelling and needed a more robust pair to replace my flimsy ones from Year 9.

I won’t lie, I did also choose them due to their shape, not because I was trying to stand out, but purely because I thought they looked nicer on my face, which as fellow blind people will know there’s not a lot worse than hating your glasses.

So if you fancy having the E word introduced into your life go forth and purchase those new frames you’ve had your eye (or lense) on! If anyone asks you ‘Do you actually need them or are they, like, just for fashion?’ Poke ‘em in the eyes.

‘They’re not glasses; they are spectacles’ – AWMS Griffin (Geographer/Part-time Model)

(Edgy) Photography by Alex Banks.