women's : 1940-50s : k5445
product code : k5445 : £ 145
  • 1950s/60s blonde tortoise plastic frame marked
    MADE IN FRANCE

  • Original mid-grey mineral glass sun lenses

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  • This extreme cat-eye was made in France, so seeing

    a similar style on Brigitte Bardot in 1957/8 in the film

    La Femme et Le Pantin (or US: The Female or UK:

    A Woman like Satan), captured on set relaxing, one

    couldn't ask for a better model. The Flamenco ruffles

    her character wears are exuberant and the colours

    sizzle under those sunny skies. The movie posters

    promised "more jungle cat than kitten", so her European

    sunglasses certainly fit the bill. There is something fun,

    but sexy about this style. A year later, Bardot wore

    another slim cat-eye
    - with a hopefully fake wildcat coat -

    as she left the divorce court. The style endured into the

    mid-1960's and became more extreme with 'Mod' fashions

    - Bardot's were not as radical as this pair, so perhaps

    they are Sixties. And this is one of the better ones: an

    optical quality acetate frame in a rich, blonde mock

    tortoise with five charnier joints double-pinned front and

    sides. The grey mineral glass lenses are not too dark to

    show off the eyes and are fully uv-protective. For fashion

    and for quality, French sunglasses are the ultimate.

                                                           — klasik