Mirjam 154

Back in 1973, Amsterdam was a less money driven city with a substantial influx of hippie tourists who brought a holiday feeling to us. Fashion was roughly divided in four categories and this was also present in the four main categories of glasses seen in the streets. Left wing students in denim uniform wore small metal glasses. The hippies were often in large metal glasses. Conservatives still clung to glasses in the style of the early or mid sixties. Young executives and wealthy ladies were wearing the large modern plastic frames. There was hardly any transition between the four categories. It was as simple as that.
I was a student at the University of Amsterdam which had (and still has) most of its buildings in the old part of the city. It was fascinating to watch the contrast between the four categories in the streets and I remember checking if there was anyone wearing the striking Silhouette glasses from the advertisement. Alas, no sightings, not even an empty frame in an optician's shop window....
Thirty years later, a friendly optician in Austria allowed me to go through some boxes for charity. It came as no surprise to me that there were quite a number of Silhouette glasses in the boxes, mainly from the 1980's and the 1990's. And all of a sudden, I discovered the early Silhouette glasses shown here by Mirjam. The other Silhouettes were great but the early pair really made my day....