Buddy Holly Glasses: The First Rockstar In Specs

Before the rise of pop culture, it was rare to see a celebrated individual in glasses for reasons other than vision correction. That was, until an aspiring rock ‘ n ’ roll musician named Buddy Holly decided to make eyewear a part of his signature expression, finally paving the room for other music legends to create their own distinctive style.

Buddy Holly ’ s outsize black frames were inseparable from his image, and became merely arsenic iconic as his one-of-a-kind audio. Read on to find out more about the musician ’ second unique history with eyewear, and possibly get a few eyewear style tips from the icon himself !

Who was Buddy Holly?

Buddy Holly posing between rehearsal
Buddy Holly poses for a photograph in between rehearsals ( 1958 ). ( credit : Pinterest ).
Born in a little township in Lubbock in 1936, Charles Hardin Holley was fondly nicknamed Buddy by his mother, while his altered last appoint ‘ Holly ’ was actually the result of a misspell on his first read contract twenty years late.

As a part of a musically dispose kin, Buddy learned how to play several instruments growing up, but ultimately decided to make guitar his forte after hearing his schoolmate play the legal document on a school bus topology. soon after, he started performing with his supporter Bob Montgomery in assorted public venues within Lubbock.

aside from being a natural hold singer and guitarist, another known fact about Buddy Holly was that he had austere myopia. With a vision of 20/800 on both eyes, he had trouble reading even the first agate line of the eye chart.

Reading: Buddy Holly Glasses: The First Rockstar In Specs

Sticking to the status quo

possibly the most interesting depart about Buddy Holly becoming an eyewear picture is that he very had no interest in becoming one, and was actually trying to hide his frames during the begin of his music career.

Buddy Holly in a recording studio
Buddy Holly at a read studio apartment in 1956. ( credit : Pinterest ).
Thinking that glasses wouldn ’ metric ton suit the rock ‘ n ’ roll double he wanted to build, Buddy constantly wore the most inconspicuous glasses he could find, and even went vitamin a far as performing without them on phase. however, his stunt backfired when he dropped his guitar woof and needed to get down on his knees to find it.

Another alternate he explored was contact lenses, which he tried out for an audition in Tennessee. But unlike today ’ s lightweight contacts that you can easily apply and wear throughout the sidereal day, these twentieth hundred ones were much larger in size and needed to be floated over the eye with saline solution. furthermore, the contacts could entirely be used for a couple of hours as they would finally cloud up and need to be replaced.

Given the nature of the contact lenses, Buddy and his optometrist, Dr. Jesse Davis Armistead, devised a scheme in order for him to be able to perform glasses-free.

This involved Buddy applying his contacts only when the pipeline had a couple of musicians left in front of him. however, due to an unexpected break, Buddy had to wait in tune while wearing his contacts for a retentive meter and was ineffective to see properly when it was his turn. He never tried contact lenses again always since.

Breaking the mold with glasses

Realizing that glasses were pretty much his merely option, Buddy decided to just own his alone look. After all, wearing glasses had no consequence any on his ability to make music and do. He once told his ma that ‘ if people are going to like [ him ], they are equitable going to have to like [ him ] with glasses on ’.

Buddy Holly and The Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets perform his single ‘ Peggy Sue ’ at the Ed Sullivan Show ( 1957 ). ( accredit : Pinterest ).
Buddy started performing in subtle browline glasses during shows, but was finally persuaded by his peers that if he was going to wear glasses on phase, he might ampere well make a boldface statement with them. thus began the search for what would be known today as the iconic ‘ Buddy Holly Glasses ’.

Buddy Holly Glasses – The industry shaking frame

Buddy Holly in his signature glasses
Buddy Holly wearing his signature glasses in a photoshoot in 1958. ( credit : Pinterest ).
With the help oneself of Dr. Armistead, Buddy was able to find the pair that would be his signature count throughout his career. Inspired by Phil Silvers on Sgt. Bilko, Dr. Armistead spotted the perfect frames for Buddy while on a vacation in Mexico. They were a midst couple of horn-rimmed Faosa glasses, which he thought complemented Buddy ’ sulfur narrow face well and added more eminence to his overall look.

thus, he brought home a tortoiseshell and black match for Buddy to try. If you ’ re a sports fan of the 50s asterisk, then you ’ five hundred already know that Buddy went with the black frames and never looked back. He was said to have kept the tortoiseshell frames in his file, but unfortunately was never able to wear them on stage due to a airplane accident that led to his ill-timed death.

His lost and now found glasses

Buddy ’ second glasses were buried in the snow during the tragic accident in 1959 and were found a pair of months late. Placed in an envelope, the frames were left in storage until 1980. The glasses were finally given to his widow, Maria Elena Holly Diaz, after a court decision in 1981.

Buddy Holly’s original frames
A photograph of Buddy Holly ’ s original frames. ( credit : City of Lubbock ).
Maria Elena held on to the frames for several years, but finally decided to sell them to Civic Lubbock—the nonprofit constitution that created the Buddy Holly Center—in 1998. today, they ’ rhenium displayed at the center of the exhibit near Buddy ’ s Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Making glasses the new norm

Despite his short career, Buddy Holly ’ second music left a permanent mark in the music fit, and influenced icons like John Lennon and Paul McCartney to play and write their own music. They late on revealed that their band ’ south list, The Beatles, was actually inspired from Buddy Holly ’ s set The Crickets.

Additionally, the concept of a rockstar break glasses besides broke the stigma associated with eyewear, and made glasses more than just an optical solution, but a boldface fashion accessary. John Lennon started wearing his glasses on stage excessively, while Elton John, who wanted to be like Buddy Holly, began sporting all kinds of singular frames during his performances.

Today’s stars in Buddy Holly glasses

Buddy ’ s total darkness rimmed frames will always be a dateless staple, and has proven to be a tried-and-tested style that looks great on both men and women. Check out how these stars wear them :

1. Jeff Goldblum

jeff goldblum at movie premier
Isle of Dogs premiere. (Credit: Jeff Goldblum at thepremiere. ( credit : Google ).
Jeff Goldblum has probably tried out every skeletal system style in universe at this charge, but these trapezoid-shaped black ones evocative of Buddy Holly ’ s original glasses are one of his best looks to date.

2. Adam Levine

adam levine in The Voice
The Voice. (Credit: Adam Levine on an episode of. ( credit : Pinterest ).
Adam Levine ’ s angular frames on this episode of The Voice are equal parts bookish and chic, and added polish to the evaluate ’ second look.

3. Kate Winslet

kate winslet at Academy Awards
Kate Winslet presents at the 88th Academy Awards. ( credit : Pinterest ).
Kate Winslet looked incredible ( and besides very comfortable ) as she introduced nominees for Best picture in thick rimmed black frames.