The monocle, the sign of a true sophisticated gentleman also showed the wearer as an intelligent and mature human being. Where has this piece of clothing gone? It takes utter class and confidence to wear something such as this and the design (of which this blog is all about) is nothing short of gold plated genius. In this blog post, I discuss the design of the monocle and 10 famous people that have worn or do wear one.
The monocle, a sign of true sophistication
The monocle is a single eye piece to help gentleman who’s eye may have lost some of its focus, likely for those with long sight rather than short. It oozed a sense of high fashion and to this day still makes a bold statement of intelligence and a gentleman with confidence, something that hoodies and grizzly beards seem to lack in this modern age.
One end of the monocle would be attached to the gentleman’s clothing to ensure it wouldn’t be lost and the other wore in the socket of the effected eye. In this blog post, I discuss the famous groomed ‘gentlemen’ with the charisma to wear such a unique design.
1. Sir Patrick Moore aka The Gamesmaster!
Who else to start with than the great late Sir Patrick Moore. No gentleman could pull off this look greater than the Gamesmaster himself! With his single eyepiece firmly slot in his eye whilst being projected onto a 1980s video graphic announcing gaming cheats for the amiga, sega master, NES and SNES, a man I always hold dear to my heart and respected as someone of having a higher intelligence as the rest of us.
2. Chris Eubank the English boxer wore the monocle
Once nominated for best-dressed man which I think is due to the fact he oozed a lot of confidence. Maybe not the best boxer in the world but a man who certainly knew how to dress and hold himself. A sign of a true confident gentleman.
3. Colonel Mustard in Cluedo also wore the monocle
Okay, maybe not an actual person but a character from a board game that oozed upper class swarve and happened to be my favourite colour in the collection too! How could someone who wears a monocle seriously be the murderer of this famous game? Appearances can be deceiving.
4. Fritz Lang was a man that stood for equality and exposed the expanding divide between rich and poor
Image rights – https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/lang/
Fritz Lang a German-Austrian film director was a monocle wearer but had some strong principals about social divides between rich and poor. His most famous work, Metropolis, examined this in detail. A man who wears a monocle isn’t only classy but also cares about justice and fairness.
5. Lord Bath is a man who gives to the people
Lord Bath can be seen as a bit of an eccentric rich man but he is one man who turned his family estate into a safari park. Not only does this monocle wearer have an eccentric personality that he likes to flaunt but he also likes to offer his wealth for others to enjoy just as much as himself. A monocle is generosity.
So why talk about the monocle on a graphic and web design site?
You may have thought you had stumbled across an opticians website or maybe even a fashion designer but no this is in fact a website for graphics, websites, branding and art, so why monocles? Looking at all elements of design is important in influencing the work you do and understanding why people do things and our past is an integral part of good design.
You can take elements of other concepts of designs whether architecture, art or product design and tweak it to help develop something special in a graphic, art piece or web design. So for instance the psychology of what a monocle represents to us when we see someone wearing one has lots of psychological implications and that is one of wealth, class and sophistication. Psychology plays a huge part in creating great design pieces in whatever it is we choose to create and trying to understand the reasons behind all things helps us in developing the best pieces of work we possibly can for our clients.
So next time you go to the opticians and buy a pair of spectacles don’t just buy one that fits buy a pair that communicates the message you want to portray to the rest of the world.
Know of any other monocle wearers that I have forgot to mention? Please leave a comment in the box below.