Spectacles, art and everything - the tooth the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth!

I’m often asked that if money was no object what frames would I love to own in my collection.

Well to be honest, most collectible frames tend to be collectible due to the provenance of the person who owned them and not necessarily the quality of the frame.

Who wouldn't want to own a pair of frames once worn by Gandhi (£34,000) , John Lennon (£1 million+) or Churchill (£11,200) ? The intrinsic value of the frame is low, but once touched by the magic of the owner the desirability and material worth is multiplied many thousands of times.

In the other corner sits the frame whose value lies in what it is and not who owned it. This is the area that interests me, as it is also the area which pushes the boundaries of design and material often making what is, at its simplest a utilitarian item, into a work of art.

Take for instance the work of Emma Montague in last year’s Royal College of Art show. Here we have a young designer taking and blending materials that have been historically used to make spectacle frames – acetate, bone and horn – and using them to great effect in expressing abstract ideas within a practical and beautiful form.

So if you ask me what I like within my collection, a jaw bone frame would currently be pretty high on the list.

TTFN
Deadman

April Fool's Day at Dead Men's Spex

Hello there

I hope you all had a good Easter. We visited my parents and the Easter Bunny delivered copious amounts of chocolate so DeadMan Junior and I are happy. Deadman and I had Lindt truffles in a huge ball the size of Deadman junior's  head. (He wore the wrapper as a hat just to prove it.)

Monday, April Fool's Day was Deadman's time to shine; he successfully tricked four people before midday and yes, one of them was me. I believed that it was all snowy and white over outside, well it could've been true!

We liked The Guardian's on line April Fool prank with their Guardian Goggles , these give the wearer a constant stream of Guardian opinions about all aspects of modern life. That's a bit scary!

Hope you had fun!

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Red Nose Day

Hi There

It was Red Nose Day on Friday and DeadMan Junior went to school in his pyjamas (not by accident- I know we are slow starters our family, but it was planned.) He couldn't wear his red nose as it wouldn't stay on so Deadman had to model it. Apparently there were quite a few onesies at the school, but due to our fashion sense (not to mention our proportions) we are a onesie free zone in this house.

We have a joke for you from Comic Relief

What do you call a dinosaur who wears glasses? T -Spex.

T Spex one of the three red noses

Talking of fashion sense I have been following in Arkwright's lead and donning a very fetching little paper bag brown number and assisting Deadman in the workshop buffing up frames on his polishing mop. The Deadman was impressed, which is no mean feat, he will, no doubt be encouraging me back in there to do some more, especially as the weather's getting a bit warmer.

Arkwright from Open All Hours

TTFN 

See you next week

Mrs Deadman

Dreaming of glasses from Amsterdam...

Hi There
Brr! Well that was a chilly Mothers' Day but I was lucky enough to be showered with gifts and cards by Deadman junior, he is a generous and enthusiatic giver. We've had snow overnight and now it's white out; and I thought Spring was on its way. This week 7th to14th March is Norwich Fashion Week and my friend and I went to have a look at the vintage fashion fair in the cloisters at Norwich Cathedral. It is a very beautiful setting but open to the elements and I felt for the stall holders who had snowflakes drifting round them through the open columns, oh don't we just love our unpredictable weather?

Vintage fair in Norwich Cathedral cloisters

With such wintry conditions outside we have been planning our summer holiday, we have settled upon a trip to Amsterdam; the Brilmuseum (glasses museum for the linguists amongst us) was a decider for Deadman. The junior and I are looking forward to staying on a boat. We've got a while to wait, but it's nice to dream on! 

Brilmuseum, Amsterdam

TTFN
Mrs Deadman

Testing Times at Deadman Towers;time for new glasses

Hello all

Deadman followed his own advice and had a sight test last Monday. The results were mixed; his sight is deteriorating, however, he is delighted to report that he doesn't need a reading prescription so he's saved from the varifocals for another year, not bad for a man of his age. The optician says he has excellent accommodation, he must've seen Deadman Towers. Deadman's now browsing his collection for a new pair and meanwhile I found an optician's trial frame in his drawers, he keeps them full of interesting stuff.

optician's trial frame

Also beating a path to the optometrist recently was journalist Sarah Vine; Beauty Editor for The Times. In her article Specs Appeal dated 28th February she discusses reaching a milestone in life; that of needing to wear reading glasses. (I reached it at forty two and have been reminded of it regularly ever since by Deadman.) She kindly recommends Dead Men's Spex as a good place to find a cool pair.

Tortoisehell cat's eye reading frames

In the meantime, we are waiting with bated breath to see which new pair Deadman chooses; I will keep you updated when he has decided!

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Bunny hops round Norfolk

Hi There

How time flies; half term has passed with various trips and activities to occupy us and keep me from the blog!  On Valentine's day I surprised Deadman, not with the bat wing glasses, but with fish and chips for two at a local pub. He was happy, especially when he overheard other diners discussing his favourite programme; Bargain Hunt.

Last Sunday we joined Bunny in one of his two favourite Norfolk activities; visiting the beach. He left his favourite haunt of Cromer and ventured onto Wells beach. It was a beautifully mild day and the sea was faintly visible in the distance. Deadman junior walked with a small amount of fuss (an achievement).  

Al Bowlly

Bunny's other Norfolk pastime is pursuing vintage bargains either by ferreting in charity and antique shops or hanging round the sale rooms in Aylsham. He has a fine collection of vintage records and a Dansette turntable to play them on, one of his favourite musicians is Al Bowlly.

We have just watched the last in the series of BBC's "Ripper Street"; a drama following the police of Whitechapel in 1889. They really seem to capture the feeling and certainly get the glasses correct. Have you noticed it's the baddies who wear them? Is it like the American films where the badddies are always English? The dodgy psychiatrist Dr Karl Crabb had a good pair of gold round eyes. I didn't trust him from the start, he was far too involved with one patient.

My favourite character has to be Jackson the American surgeon with a spurious past (all the characters seem to have those). He is good at his job and a bit naughty too, just like Deadman.

Bunny and I do like a good bit of period angst and swap DVDs excitedly, we are fairly flexible on time periods; Victorian to mid twentieth century. Atonement was a big favourite of Bunny's but we suspect that Keira Knightly may have been the main draw. The Deadman however rolls his eyes at all this emotional turmoil; that is for girls, he prefers intrigue. 

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Call the Midwife and spot the cool glasses

Hi there
This week, in honour of Shrove Tuesday we have been partaking in a bit of seasonal pancake tossing. Here at Dead Men's Spex we do not like to miss an opportunity to enjoy our food so Deadman Junior and I whipped up a batter with eggs from our chickens. Yes, they realise that spring is on the way even if the weather isn't very promising. Dead man took to the frying pan; he is a man of many talents.

We are looking  forward to the weekend so we can indulge ourselves with some Sunday night TV drama, namely "Call the Midwife" set in Poplar in the East End of  London in the1950s. The story lines and music are good and there's a fair smattering of great glasses. There is even a story line where Sister Bernadette opts for a new pair of 1950's upswept Supra frames to replace her broken old round eye pair. In 1958 the new pair would have been her own glasses and not NHS frames which were very utilitarian. This seems a little frivoluous for a nun, but then she is out to impress the doctor.

Miranda Hart who plays the likeable but clumsy Chummy has a pair of round eyes, these could have been from the NHS but she is more likely to have bought them herself as she is from quite a well to do family. 

Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) was definitely following fashion when she was seen on her rounds in sunglasses. These were a luxury as most people did not have sunglasses prior to the 1950s