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First Lady's Sunglasses Start Fashion Fad

May 13, 1962 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy is selling eyeglasses on Madison Avenue. Although the First Lady may be unaware of it, her name and face are starting a new fashion fad — curved sun spectacles. Last week, a hand-lettered sign in the window of opticians Aitchison & Co. proclaimed: “The fabulous ‘Jackie’ sunglasses.” The sign was nestled among several pairs of horn-rimmed sunglasses with curved lenses that wrap the eyes from the bridge of the nose to the temples. Farther down the avenue, a cardboard sign in the window of Purdy had four photographs in which Mrs. Kennedy was wearing the sunglasses that this optician calls Panorama Sport Glass. Other opticians, like E.B. Meyrowitz and Clairmont-Nichols, have also experimented with similar signs and pictures. The experiments have been successful. The link between Mrs. Kennedy and the sunglasses “causes action,” according to a spokesman for Clairmont-Nichols. “It’s the hottest style today,” he said.

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