One Year Naked ♥ brand review: Retrospecced

The lovely Laura of the sustainable fashion blog, One Year Naked, recently bought a pair of Retrospecced frames from us and without us being aware that she was going to review us, wrote the following. Thanks for the ace write-up Laura, and also for the permission to repost her article here. The original article can be found here, and we highly recommend having a read of the rest of her blog to find out more about how to dress yourself sustainably! I spend a lot of money on glasses. And I’m someone who strongly dislikes spending more than £10 on a top. But glasses just seem to get me – they stay on your face all day, and there’s really nowhere to hide if they’re horrid or if the glass is so thick it distorts your face. I also have no clue what I’m doing. This leaves me at the mercy of Specsaver shop assistants in Dracula costumes – no joke – and I end up spending a lot more than planned. I’m so concerned about what my face will look like that sustainability doesn’t even get a look in. But what if you could get a pair of glasses that were recycled and supported individuals out of poverty by providing affordable or free glasses?

What if, at the same time, you could save a pair of glasses from landfill, and find a snazzy vintage or designer pair for your own face?

Retrospecced sort through some of the 1000s of glasses frames donated to Vision Aid and extract some of the best designer and vintage pairs. You choose some frames you like – I picked a snazzy 1960s pair – and then choose how you would like them to be glazed (read: ‘put glass into’). I chose the brown sunglasses, to my sight. The whole thing, postage included, came to about £78. Considering that vision sunglasses in Boots start at £90 (and they’re not the ones you would necessarily want on your face), I don’t think I did too badly. The bonus? 20% of Retrospecced profits from frames sold go straight to Vision Aid Overseas, who do a myriad of things abroad to reduce poverty, including providing glasses and training to optometrists. If you’ve been thinking about buying more sustainable but you haven’t taken the plunge yet, maybe these guys will be just the ticket. At least you’ll be able to read the ticket once you get it.