June 25, 2009

Hotel De Ville

I've been getting hounded by my friend, Mike Stewart, to go check out his favorite glasses store in LA, Hotel De Ville. Last time I saw him, with much enthusiasm, Mike showed me his 40s, prison-issue specs (with no metal in the arms and made of nylon... "shiv-proof"). Okay, I was impressed a place in LA stocked such classy eye wear and decided I needed to scope it out for myself. I did.

Owner and resident optometrist, Javier Brambila, greeted me and showed me the lay of the land to his Rosewood location, just of Fairfax. Stocking up-and-coming brands as well as an impressive collection of vintage spectacles, Hotel De Ville offers a little something for everyone. Prices were more than competitive for such fine specimens of dead-stock government and prison issue pieces, and they can handle all prescription issues right there on-site.












Prison Issue...






I left without a pair of the impressivly, well-fitting prison glasses, but with promises of a return trip soon. Go check out one of their three locations in LA, tell them Mike and Nick sent you, and just try and sharpen those prison specs to a point... bet you can't.

A couple shots from the HDV blog. A great resource for old pictures of great and timeless (and sometimes not-so timeless) eye wear.









Next door to The Hundreds...
7911 Rosewood Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.782.0772 phone
323.782.8094 fax

With the Michael Caine painting above it...
7422 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.634.9911 phone
323.634.9912 fax

On th East side...
4624 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323.664.1462 phone