Horn-rimmed glasses were initially popularized by comedian
Harold Lloyd after he wore them in his 1917 comedy short
Over the Fence. Lloyd had risen to fame playing an eccentric named Lonesome Luke, characterized by an ostentatious appearance. In an effort to break away from the character and revitalize his career, Lloyd crafted a new character who would be Luke's opposite and made distinct by a nondescript appearance. Lloyd outfitted himself in clothing popular among Americans in the 1910s, completing the ensemble with a pair of round, horn-rimmed glasses that would solidify the character's status as "ordinary." Glasses wearing had long been stigmatized, with wearers stereotyped as physically weak intellectuals, President
Theodore Roosevelt's wearing of
rimless eyeglasses had only recently begun to eliminate the stigma, albeit with glasses designed to minimize their appearance. The character proved to be a tremendous success with audiences and resulted in an unexpected rise in popularity of horn-rimmed glasses: (left) and Wayfarer horn-rimmed glasses, with prescription lenses for myopia A variant of horn-rimmed glasses,
browline glasses, became one of the defining eyeglass styles of the 1940s and 1950s. Invented in 1947, the style combined the aesthetics of horn-rimmed glasses with the stability of metal frames by fitting prominent plastic "brows" over the tops of metal frames, creating a distinctive look that was also sturdier than solid plastic frames. Browlines quickly became popular in post-
World War II America, and composed half of all eyeglass sales throughout the 1950s. Ray-Ban introduced the
Wayfarer sunglasses in 1952. Plastic eyeglasses mounted in popularity throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, ultimately supplanting tortoiseshell as the most popular material for eyeglass frames. Buddy Holly iconisized the horn-rimmed style, with his upbeat pop culture rock and roll music. The trend died out in the 1970s with a backlash against 50s and 60s culture, as oversized metal glasses in the style of the
Ray-Ban Aviator became popular. Semi-round horn-rimmed glasses came back into fashion in the 1980s, with tortoiseshell being fashionable amongst entrepreneurs and "yuppies". Wayfarers were popular among
New Wave musicians, which popularized them among the late 1970s anti-disco "resistance". Horn-rimmed glasses fell back out of fashion in the 1990s but returned to popularity with the rise of the emo and hipster subcultures in the early 2000s. Many glasses manufactured during this period tended to imitate popular metal eyeglass styles, with significantly thinner frames and vertically smaller lenses. The popularization of 1960s styles by the television show
Mad Men led to horn-rimmed frames produced in the 2010s being more traditional, with large lenses and thick, heavy frames. ==See also==