The Lair’s Brief History Of The “Buddy Holly Glasses” Look

Those black-framed “Buddy Holly” Glasses. Freeway glasses. Geek Chic. Emo. Nerd cool. We use different words to describe the style, but no one can deny their origin and influence in popular culture.

Rarely seen without his trademark black-framed glasses, Buddy Holly was a pioneer of rock and roll. Holly died in his 20’s leaving a legacy that has gone on to influence countless artists and fashion designers.Today was the 50th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that ended the lives of Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly.

Let’s take a look back at a few familiar faces who, from the 1960’s to 2009, adopted the Buddy Holly glasses look and made it their own.

Weezer’s hit “Buddy Holly” was likely the tipping point for the “Buddy Holly Glasses” look to reach the masses in the early 90’s. The music video became so popular that it was included on the Microsoft Windows 95 CD-ROM when the operating system was first released.

Despite the absence of Rivers Cuomo’s own trademark glasses in the video, his signature specs were already on every teen with a computer’s radar.