My hunt for Elle Woods' sunglasses
And an glimpse into the colorful designs of Alain Mikli who made "glasses to see and be seen"
There’s nothing I love more than a challenge, specifically a fashion related one. So you can imagine my sheer delight when the fabulous
sent me this message:
For a week straight, my focus was singular. Every night, I'd open my phone and zoom in on those glasses, intent on starting my shopping hunt. The small diamond logo on the side became my obsession – I thought identifying the brand would lead me straight to the glasses.
I am sorry to report, I still don’t know this logo. If anyone out there knows these glasses, PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY. When I realized I wasn’t going to find them simply by Googling “Legally Blonde sunglasses”, I switched into true Minority Report mode. I enhanced the sh*t out of those frames.
An overview of my methods:
I watched the film and took screen shots at various angles and pasted them into google image search.
I read and watched interviews of Sophie De Racoff (the costume designer for Legally Blonde) with the hope she might mention the glasses.
I searched for other eyewear in the film to see if it would lead me to more information.
Through this research, I discovered:
Elle’s Harvard reading glasses were Alain Mikli, and the actual glasses were auctioned on Ebay at some point.
This 1998 interview with Alain Mikli on his collab with Mattel to make Barbie Sunglasses and mention of custom glasses for upcoming films. The pink lens in those Barbie glasses feels very similar to Elle’s.
Sophie de Racoff custom made many of the iconic outfits from the film, which lead me to my final verdict:
My best assumption is that Elle’s glasses are custom Alain Mikli.
Again, if you know otherwise, please share in the comments!
Alain Mikli deserves an entire post to himself. He designed some of the most iconic glasses you’ve seen in pop-culture. Surely you’ll recognize his designs on people such as Elton John, Grace Jones, Any Warhol, and Kanye West.
All this to say, it's entirely plausible that he designed these iconic glasses to complement the vibrant and playful costumes of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Below, I've included what I believe are the same glasses or similar alternatives. I also included some extras, just for fun.
I trend more towards 70s-80s styles in eyewear so it was exciting to get out of my normal search criteria and discover a whole new world of eyewear possibilities (thanks, Shenel).
I hope you have as much fun as I did browsing through these!
ALAIN MIKLI Square Tinted Sunglasses
These feel really close to me, but they look so different at each angle. Check them out on the mannequin and let me know if you think they are the same!
Alain Mikli Black Sunglasses with Mirror Lenses
These could also be them minus the pink lenses!
Alain Mikli - 309172 Pink with spotted burgundy w/ brown lens
Very Elle Woods with the pink and burgundy spots
Alain Mikli sunglasses
I love a tortoise shell and I think I probably had a knock off pair of these in college.
Alain Mikli - A.M.85
This candy cane stripe pair have more of a downward slant which I think is so cool. Its’s almost like a reverse cat-eye.
Alain Mikli Paris Rx Glasses Frames
Elle’s Harvard reading glasses. I think these are the same pair in tortoise shell. There are a quite a few reading glasses that are similar on Ebay, but this specific make was harder to find.
Mikli Par Mikli 7143 Vintage Glasses
Also in my research I discovered that Natasha Richardson’s fabulous glasses in The Parent Trap were Alain Mikli, and I believe these below are the same style:
Alain Mikli Butterfly Tortoise Sunglasses
I absolutely love the shape and the color combination of these.
Alain Mikli occhiali da sole vintage donna modello A0842 12S
This pair feels like a tamed down version of the Grace Jones pair with the wide sweeping square lens.
ALAIN MIKLI Cat-Eye Tinted Sunglasses
I can’t help of the tagline “glasses to see and be seen” when I imagine these on. Show stoppers.
ALAIN MIKLI Genial lunetier
A very 90s, very cool pair of glasses that I would have never come across without this mission. I love these so much!
Alain Mikli Sunglasses woman Red Vintage 1980er Fashon Show 305 030 Medium
On principle, I usually don’t include items I wouldn’t buy myself, but I feel like I have to include at least one of the wacky 80’s pair. Also, I might buy these.
There are SO MANY MORE cool Alain Mikli glasses out there, so don’t limit yourself to this post.
Have fun out there.
XO- Kellyn (aka: Best Friends)😎
Wow did not know we could submit requests
This was fun to read. Now really thinking about what hard-to-find fashion item I have been coveting that I can request your services for.