DRESS SENSE: DON'T WEAR SUNGLASSES IN A NIGHTCLUB

NO FUTURE IS THAT BRIGHT | July 4th 2008

Monica Chong, the creative director of Cutler and Gross, a British eyewear designer, muses on life through a lens ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Summer 2008

Why do sunglasses matter?

Because they are really your main accessory. Shoes or handbags are fine, but honestly, people look at your face first. So sunglasses give everyone a bit of instant glamour.

Sunglasses, shades, or sunnies?

It depends who I'm talking to. "Sunglasses" is the correct term--but sometimes when it's just girlies together I say "sunnies". Calling them "shades" is rock 'n' roll--but we like rock 'n' roll.

What should they be made of?

Acetate: it's light, long-lasting and very, very versatile. You can laminate it, you can print on to it...I've even developed a pair of "pinstripe glasses"--like in a pinstripe fabric but printed--that's been very successful; the boys love them. Titanium is good, too, very light. The lightest, most expensive material of all is buffalo horn, which you heat-compress in layers: it's the cashmere of the eyewear world. The colours are fabulous, from a kind of honey to chocolate brown, and look even better as they age. You won't find that with plastic.

Must lenses always be black?

Actually there is no such thing as black lenses--if they were black you wouldn't be able to see anything. No, lenses are usually a dark or graduated grey. But coloured lenses can be fun: a little coloured tinge might be quite cute, you know. And also lenses are changeable: if you're fed up with a graduated grey there's nothing to stop you saying: "You know what, I want graduated fuchsia this month."

Is there anywhere you shouldn't wear sunglasses?

Not in a nightclub--it looks really stupid. I've seen it so many times and actually I feel like walking up to the people wearing them and saying "Do you mind not?"

What about musicians on stage?

That is cool; that is perfect. It's pure attitude. "I'm up here, I've got my mask on, so there." They're a posey thing, sunglasses--you know that.

Describe the first pair of sunglasses you ever bought.

It was back in my college days. They were vintage 1950s, with pink cat-eye frames--probably hideous, but I thought I looked really good walking around in them. Right now I wear another vintage pair, quite dark, black butterflies with yellow arms. They're big; I like their drama.

Who would you nominate as the ambassador of shades?

Audrey Hepburn. Absolutely no one wore them better than her. She had that perfect-shaped face, so she could wear them really, really big. Just think of "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Oh my God--how fabulous is that?

(Interview by Isabel Lloyd, assistant editor of Intelligent Life. Our last "Dress Sense" interview was with Philip Treacy, a leading milliner.)