Feeling Ace(&Tate)
Neil, Neil Large, Pierce and Finn… four eyewear styles from Ace & Tate that I tried out in the studio.
Neil
Desert Spice
Pierce
Fizz
Finn
Espresso Gradient
Neil Large
Satin Gold
Eyewear has changed. When I was younger I feel there was a set label attached to those who wore glasses. So when 6-year-old Jordan entered the classroom with his cobalt blue specs on with his bright red school jumper, I already had my place. Now I feel the stigma is gone and glasses provide not only clarity, but also confidence. Six-year-old Jordan would have been rocking that red and blue combination. Whatever negativity there was around eyewear, it has long gone and brands like Ace & Tate are making opticals (and sunglasses) fun.
Through the Ace & Tate home try-on service, I styled four frames that I have linked above. The process is as simple as shopping online: choose up to four frames, have five days to test them out - whether that be at work, at home or if you are like me, in a studio - before returning them and making a decision. Oh and it’s free to do as well.
In the glasses industry, I believe there’s a lot of talk around eyewear styles that suit some and not others and how your face shape dictates the glasses you should choose. I even remember walking into my old opticians and there would be face measurers in-store to define what face I had. For me I think it’s not about your face shape, it’s about how the glasses make you feel.
The idea for our studio shoot was to amplify how I felt, my self-awareness and the glasses I was wearing. I wanted the camera to come close, to make me feel a little under the microscope and see how I felt wearing them. Subtle textures were included to play off clarity, perspective and distortion, all words associated with sight. It was fun to be in a studio, to see how I would behave in a different setting and looking back through the photos you can see me warm up the longer we were working on the images. Putting myself in poses I would not normally do, playing more with the glasses and just having fun with it.
I remember saying to my photographer Nas Abraham how it is worth trying a pose or stance that might look a bit different because you never know how these things turn out if you do not go for it. It is this kind of attitude that carries through in Ace & Tate, feeling confident in what you are balancing on your ears and nose and allowing yourself to be lifted.jbicon