Specsavers Spectacle Wearer of the Year Awards in Aid of Kidscape

For many, deteriorating eyesight comes later in life. However, I've worn glasses for over 42 years now; not continuously of course, I take them off to go to bed, shower and wear contact lenses. I've worn contacts for perhaps ten years but, with so many stylish spectacles frames available, find I wear them less and less. I enjoy wearing glasses and the wide choice of looks and moods that selecting different styles offers. It was therefore a pleasure to be a guest at Specsavers' Spectacle Wearer of the Year Awards this week.

I'm wearing Boss Orange 0251 from Specsavers

Here's an event that celebrates the wearing of glasses and the opportunities they offer to enhance the looks and style of the wearer. The national competition is in aid of the children's charity Kidscape and, with its unconscious link to those far-off days when children would be teased at school for wearing specs and at a time when childhood gets harder rather than easier, it's a deserving charity for Specsavers to support. The annual competition is open to all (and covers Ireland too) and Specsavers donates £1 to Kidscape for every entry.

Twiggy at Specsavers Spectacle Wearer of the Year Awards

The event is a colourful and lively party packed with glasses wearers both well-known and less well known. From a prize for a Specsavers' optometrist who saved a patient's life by spotting a symptom-free brain tumour to prizes in several age brackets for stylish spectacles wearers, the Awards celebrate many aspects of optical ownership.

I've very much enjoyed working with Specsavers, who bring such style and positivity to the wearing of glasses. To see how I styled some Specsavers glasses I selected a few months ago, click here. For more on Specsavers, click here.

A mirrored ceiling selfie. I'm wearing Pierre Cardin 02 from Specsavers

Trying different styles of frame

Enjoying the party

This is a sponsored feature made in collaboration with Specsavers.

Hackett - genuine horn-rimmed specs reviving the retro style

Horn-rimmed glasses, made originally either from horn or tortoiseshell, became popular in the early twentieth century. They're now usually reproduced in plastic, but Hackett have designed these genuine buffalo and rams' horn spectacles frames for release in January 2015. I couldn't resist them and am grateful to Hackett for allowing us a preview.

Carefully crafted from real horn, each piece is chosen to ensure a good balance of colour and grain within the natural material. Riveted hinges are used, mitred joints meet seamlessly with fronts and temples are sculpted to allow natural give and comfort. There are four styles in six colours, from light tan and browns to deep rich blacks and greys.

Close inspection shows those interesting little variations that you get from the hand-crafting of natural materials - and no two are the same - these are clearly not plastic reproductions. For more information, contact Hackett.

I wear vintage-style tortoiseshell-effect specs myself and reckon that the retro feel suits both the younger and older man, looking good either with sunglasses or optical prescription lenses. What do you think? What styles of glasses so you prefer?