9 Things You Didn’t Know About John Lennon Glasses

“You may say I’m a dreamer” — resonating words from the icon John Lennon. Famous musician and an active advocate of peace, Lennon has become a legend who taught us another way of seeing the world.

Of all the things he left behind, his trademark round glasses are one of the first things that come to mind when imagining the artist. Today, this simple accessory tells a story in itself – from the pop culture scene to the catwalks, these round shaped frames have made their way into the fashion world. Prominent designers have been commissioned to propose new interpretations of the iconic round glasses, which has kept the style in trend over the years.

Given their great influence, we’ve delved further into the origins and history of John Lennon’s glasses. Want to know who’s been taking care of Lennon’s glasses for the past 14 years? Why he preferred specs with orange lenses? Or the history of the $2 million glasses? Read on…

When thinking of John Lennon, we think of his incredible career as a musician; in the beginning with The Beatles, then as a solo artist; we think of the song ‘Imagine’ and ‘War is Over’ and his courageous stand for peace. An icon whose untimely death indelibly marked the year of 1980. John Lennon also had a distinctive, trademark style: his Windsor, or Teashade, glasses. The round glasses had certainly been around before Lennon’s time, and were sported by other famous and well know personalities, but John Lennon remains the person who’s most strongly associated with the style. Even today, many people go to opticians asking for “John Lennon style” frames and combine them with a stylish hat from Mayser.

In recent times, round glasses have come to the fashion forefront once again: we’ve seen them on the most famous faces, as a coveted accessory taking over the pop scene. Prada, Tom Ford, Armani and Yves Saint Laurent are just some of the brands who have given their variation on the style, even Linda Farrow introduced a Mickey Mouse take on the shape. Rihanna, meanwhile, sported the style embellished with diamantes to add a touch of bling to the otherwise ‘granny style’ frames and rocks the round glasses together with an eccentric Vivienne Westwood T-Shirt. Famous it-girls like Alexa Chung and the Olsen sisters have also been know to rock the Lennon teashades.

But why 9 facts? 9 was a very important number to John Lennon: He was born on 9th October, on 9th November he met Yoko Ono for the first time, their son Sean was also born on 9th October, and the first performance by the Beatles was on 9th February. The number 9 marks so many of the important events in Lennon’s life, and so it was only right to sum up his iconic eyewear style in 9 points.

Rock the Lennon shades