Veronik 022

Cat eye frames were the first hype in the history of eyewear fashion. You saw them everywhere in the streets of my native Amsterdam between the mid 1950's and the early 1960's. The frames were much smaller than the pair shown here by Veronik. The arrival of Beatlemania in 1964 coincided with the end of the cat eye era. The new style was small and fairly compact. The famous love summer of 1967 brought not only the arrival of flower power and an influx of hippies but also a new trend in eyewear. Frames got larger and larger, culminating in the giant shop window glasses of the mid seventies. The only place where one could come across cat eye glasses was the "Waterlooplein" flea market where I started building up my collection in 1970. Several attempts were made to revive the cat eye style but all in vain until a few years ago. Zenni always has a keen eye for new waves in fashion and the nice thing about them is that their frames always have a twist of their own. This goes especially for their cat eye glasses. This extravagant pair appeared in their catalog seven years ago and it was chosen by many models including Marieke, my climbing partner in the Alps.