In fashion circles Bayonetta glasses are most famously known as Giselle Bündchen’s specs of choice in “The Devil Wears Prada”, or as an early noughties mainstay - famously donned by Kate Moss in the 1997 Calvin Klein Eyewear campaign and Megan Fox at the height of her bombshell powers.
However, since then the mini, rectangular glasses have been tarnished with an unflattering, nerdy reputation - relegated to something only Librarians and geeky emojis would wear. A relic of a time best-to-be forgotten where ponchos and capri pants also ruled. Simply put, if you wore them to school, you’d probably be bullied.
But lately a new generation of style curious teens have reclaimed them as the ultimate It-girl accessory, with the #bayonettaglasses garnering over 23 million views on TikTok. Spearheaded by actual It-girls Emma Chamberlain, Julia Fox, Gabbriette and Bella Hadid, all of whom have multiple pairs in their closets. Bayonetta glasses have also been popular on the runway. With Miu Miu (which topped Lyst’s hottest brand of 2023) sending models wearing dainty eyewear along its FW23 catwalk, while Gentle Monster x D'heygere sold-out miniature spec miniature specs was one of the most sought after collaborations this year. Most recently, pop star Sam Smith took out a pair to read their acceptance speech for their Cultural Innovator win at the British Fashion Awards, too.
Named after the titular character of 2009 cult Japanese video game series, Bayonetta, who famously wore the silhouette while fighting magical foe, the return of these dorky glasses might stump the average scroller. Although the trend cycle has brought back many other Y2K trends such as low-rise jeans. Bayonetta glasses seem like a harder sell. At least to the untrained eye.
Back in October Julia Fox declared that “men hate my outfits”, which has since been adopted by Gen Z as an anti-male gaze sartorial statement, with many TikTokers now judging the success of their ensembles based on how much their boyfriends dislike it.
“I love that Bayonetta glasses aren’t about being conventionally attractive,” says 19-year-old student Sienna, “I actually think girls look so sexy when they wear them. To me it shows they don’t care what people - or more particularly - boys think of them.”
“Glasses like Bayonetta are not the most flattering shape and are known as reading glasses,” agrees Hanna Sampson, founder of popular archive Haut Corporation, who adds: “Reading makes you smart and knowledge gives you power,” she continues on the silhouette’s allure. “It makes you look powerful and it’s a shift from needing to look perfect.”
It’s perhaps no surprise then that dweeb-adjacent trends such as “geek chic”, “corporate-core” and “office siren” are all currently dominating the TikTok For You Page. All of which are a slight variation of this current fetish for commuter-ready, secretary-esque vibes. The irony being that it’s given rise to a new aspirational ideal which prioritises femininity, ambition and intelligence that at its core, is actually extremely sexy.
Whether it’s the campness of supermodels cosplaying nerds, or a reclamation of women-dressing-for-women, Bayonetta glasses don’t care about your judgement. In fact, they'd probably welcome it.
