Specs in the city: You shouldn't underestimate the transformative effect of bespoke glasses — and this London shop crafted some for Amelia Earhart
Mark Hedges heads to E. B. Meyrowitz to find the ultimate bespoke glasses.
My hero as a young boy was the Milky Bar Kid. He was a cowboy, but, more importantly, he wore, like me, a pair of glasses. He made spectacles cool and that was very important.
I had almost forgotten about him until I walked into E. B. Meyrowitz in the Royal Arcade, just off Bond Street. Here, I met the utterly delightful Sheel Davison-Lungley, owner and inspiration behind the company and a shoo-in for the nicest proprietor I have ever met.
Perfect fit: the writer sports his bespoke specs for the first time at a fitting with E. B. Meyrowitz creative director Sheel Davison-Lungley.
The extraordinary thing about glasses is that, as a population, we take so little interest in what they look like — and perhaps more importantly, how they make you look. Yet, in my case, I wear them all the time. They are the first thing I put on in the morning and the last thing I take off at night.
My eyesight started going when I was in my late forties with a frustrating hereditary disease. I only wore glasses in childhood due to a squint, which was operated on. I haven’t been very lucky with my eyesight, but that changed when I walked into E. B. Meyrowitz.
Glasses are how people see me and part of my personality. They are me. My granddaughter doesn’t recognise me when she pulls them off my nose. This means that getting the right pair matters. They need to fit (my previous ones didn’t), be the right colour for your complexion and complement your jaw line, at the same time as highlighting your eyes.
A vision of success
- Emil Bruno Meyrowitz founded his company in 1875 and it became a pioneer of all things optical and ophthalmic. His goggles became synonymous with car racing and many land-speed records broken between the 1920s and 1950s, including those by Sir Malcolm Campbell, Sir Henry Seagrave and John Cobb
- Charles Lindbergh completed the first transatlantic flight behind E. B. Meyrowitz’s Luxor goggles and Amelia Earhart wore them on her maiden voyage. Today, these traditions have been moulded to make E. B. Meyrowitz into the foremost purveyor of luxury optical goods
Sheel, between plenty of laughs and storytelling, carefully measured my face. The proportions and variations are what we recognise each other by — a fact, strangely, I hadn’t acknowledged until then.
After the science came the art: a variety of frames in various hues was tried. I first thought I wanted a black pair, but soon realised it was too harsh. I cycled through various options before landing on the right pair: rectangular frames in dark-brown acetate, less hassle than a horn that needs looking after.
Being bespoke to me, I had to wait a while for the specs to be made until I could get my nose under them. Patience is key, but the result has been a transformation.
They are by far the most important piece of clothing I own (nobody sees the Bremont watch that my father gave me, as it hides under my cuff). They define my image and make me feel better and prouder of myself.
This feature originally appeared in the November 5, 2025, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
