Clothes make the man? I beg to differ. Sometimes the crowning touch – the truly defining element – is not the clothes, but the glasses. Tom Cruise’s “Risky Business” Wayfarers marked the beginning of a phenomenon. Bootsy Collins could not have brought the P-Funk without his star shades. And Woody Allen without those thick-ass frames looks naked (and thank God that’s all he ever takes off in movies). But there’s an art to selecting eyewear that eludes many of us, and I for one refuse to wimp out and buy another pair of aviators just because that’s all I can find these days.

Enter Tom Davies, who is literally putting “bespoke” in your face. Tom Davies Bespoke offers fully-customized eyewear, designed exclusively for you and your individual needs. You start by selecting one of their ready-to-wear designs that most closely matches what you’re looking for. Then working with your optician, they go through a seven-step customization process in order to develop a portfolio of designs ideally-suited to your facial structure and coloring. Throughout the design selection process they set up your own online gallery where you can view mockups of the glasses directly on your face so you will always know how much of a rockstar you’re going to look like. The portfolio is usually ready in 24 hours and once you’ve chosen a design, they’ll usually ship the frames in three weeks. The glasses arrive made-to-order with your name “discreetly” laser-engraved on the inside.

Rest assured that this is no fly-by-night operation making your new shades either: Davies has been at it for seven years now and has perfected his process, with all frames being precision crafted in Japan from the finest materials including titanium and Davies’ unique bloc acetate (which is, in turn, made bespoke for Davies).

Who knows – maybe your new shades will bring out the real you that’s been hiding inside. Here’s hoping it’s more Steve McQueen in “The Thomas Crown Affair” than Elton John in “Tommy”.

This post is tagged bespoke, bespoke eyewear, bespoke glasses, bespoke sunglasses, custom eyewear, custom glasses, custom sunglasses, in luxury living