Pandemic Uproots Philadelphia Orchestra Summer Travel Plans

This season, millions of individual trips were scratched and thousands of group journeys were called off, but when the Philadelphia Orchestra and its Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin cancelled its annual summer jaunts to Saratoga, NY and Vail, CO, it meant revoking hundreds of train and plane tickets, specialized cargo trips for instruments—try moving a 17th century cello valued at seven figures—and thousands of hotels, rentals and restaurant reservations.

Travel, domestic and international, has become an intricate part of the life of American orchestras, but who knew that the Philadelphia Orchestra launched its first tour just two years after it was founded, in 1900? Since then, it often carries the flag of its city but also the American flag. Indeed, it was the first American orchestra to perform in China.

Want a few numbers? During the 2018 Europe/Israel tour, 125 employees traveled 13,000 miles taking 6 flights to perform 11 concerts in 9 cities over 13 days. They carried 18.7 tons of cargo and performed for 16,000 audience members.

After only one week on the job last fall, Vice President Artistic Production Tanya Derksen found herself part of a touring party that included about 150 travelers (musicians, guests, staff members and stagehands) on her way to Taiwan, Japan and Korea. 

Remembering Photographer Peter Beard (1938-2020)

On Sunday, April 15, photographer and artist Peter Beard was found dead in the woods near his home in Montauk, New York. He was 82 years old and had been suffering from dementia.

I had the great pleasure of knowing and working with Peter throughout my career. Prior to meeting him, I was already a fan, well aware of his work as a photographer, artist, naturalist, and husband of supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.

In the early 1990s, I returned to New York City from a my life adventures of living in Paris and Africa. The first job I had was at Esquire magazine as an assistant fashion editor, where I first got to work with Peter.

One editor I worked with back then was Anne-Laure Lyon, who had ties to some of the best artists on the planet. Peter and Ann had a close working relationship and created fashion editorial like I had never seen before.

At the time, they had just returned from a fashion shoot on Peter’s Hog Ranch just outside of Nairobi. They styled the models and equally styled the Maasai tribe. It was a menswear publication but Peter always made sure that top female models were on set. Peter never liked photographing men—he once told me so. The only male model Peter liked to shoot with was Marcus Schenkenberg. Marcus was an adonis as well as the number one male model in the world at the time. He told me that he liked Marcus because Marcus could handle having a beautiful women in his arms with no fear. Marcus was in control and Peter liked that type of image. All he ever wanted to shoot were beautiful woman; he always said that women were the last beautiful thing left in the world.

I remember producing another shoot in Las Vegas with models Mark Vanderloo and Shana Zadrick, and a New York nightlife drag queen Candice Cane. For that story, Peter—who was famous for his safari photographs in Africa—had the idea of taking the viewer on a wild visual journey through the bright lights and sexual promiscuity in Sin City. The shoot started out just fine until we were asked my management at the Mirage hotel to leave because we had been too noisy and out of line. Peter had a hard time following rules.

Years after I left Esquire, I hired Peter throughout the years on several fashion and celebrity editorials. He taught me so much. He had amazing stories about Truman Capote, Diana Ross, Lee Radziwill, The Rolling Stones, and so many other famous friends. I remember once sleeping over at his home in Montauk; when I woke up, I saw a painting of Peter by artist Francis Bacon above my head.

Feestjurken

Among the treasures I have from Peter are a signed copy of his photography book The End of The Game, first published in 1965. The book is a collection of his diary-like text and photographs, documenting Africa’s imperiled wildlife including gruesome photographs of dead animals. He also gave me a photo of a giraffe signed and painted. I cherish it to this day.

If You Love A Fashion Brand, Buy Something Right Now

I cover retail. In the grand scheme of things, some retail is “essential” and some is not – or certainly, when looking at timeframes of even 1-2 years, there is much of retail that is not essential.

Fashion is not essential. The only clothing that could be argued to be essential might be kids’ clothes and maternity wear. Kids and bellies grow. Everything else can wait. That said, when we are through the other side of this pandemic, this non-essential status, on top of an overall retail industry behind in making the transformational investments required to be relevant in the future, means that many fashion brands you know and love may not make it past this next holiday season.

To be clear, the science of contagion is real, even if you can’t see its benefits directly with your own eyes. Social distancing works. No one should be weighing loss of life against an economy. We must live through the hand we have been dealt as best we can. In that context, it also means we must take a cold, hard look at the cards we have and prepare for what will come next.

In other words, if you think that every sector of retail can just pick up the pieces once everyone is able to get back to living, think again. Outside of travel and leisure, no industry will be more impacted than non-essential retail, and in that category, no vertical will be impacted more than fashion. Which means, if you can afford it, just like you’re buying takeout to help support your favorite restaurant, buy something from your favorite fashion brand, even if it’s only a gift card for later. 

Avondjurken

German Designer Marcell Von Berlin Brings Street Couture To Los Angeles

Since the opening of his eponymous store in Los Angeles last year, designer Marcell von Berlin has confidently landed on his feet in the USA’s competitive fashion market. Berlin’s unique street culture that continuously inspires Marcell von Berlin to create clothes that are labeled “street couture.” Masculine and feminine, confident and sensual - the bold sex appeal of his looks were already spotted on some celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Malika Haqq, and Zedd. In addition to his womenswear, menswear and accessories collections, Marcell von Berlin has expanded this Fall with an underwear line that pays homage to West Hollywood’s increasingly gender-fluid crowd.

Understanding your target customers is one element of success, but it is not everything. Reflecting on his first year doing business in the USA, I sat down with German designer Marcell von Berlin to better understand his formula for success as a young fashion brand on the rise.

How would you describe the current state of fashion in LA? In Berlin?

Both cities transport a hip "easy-to-wear" vibe that inspires me. They also have a lot in common - it's not for nothing that they are sister cities. Both Berlin and L.A. offer enough space for personal development. Everyone is free to make their own choices and choose their own clothes to express themselves with. For me, fashion means a combination of things - freedom, a light attitude toward life that can be projected onto the style and a certain sexiness.

Why was it important for you to open a physical store in LA vs other US cities, like NYC?

Los Angeles has become my second home next to Berlin, which made it clear to me that we needed to open the flagship store here.  There is a special spirit in L.A. – it’s the place where a large majority of stars call home and the world pays attention to the fashion on the Hollywood red carpets. I loved the idea of adapting the color scheme of the two cities within the store concept.  While Berlin is a bit darker, sexier and more glamorous, the color concept at the Los Angeles store is more aligned with the blue sky, the ocean, the sun and thus creates an individual experience for each location.

Bridesmaid Dresses

Why Sustainable Fashion Matters

Summer is over and professional woman are falling back to the work routine. Whether you're shuffling between boardrooms or attending your nonprofit’s annual gala, most of us struggle to find tailored clothes for business environments that are sustainably made. Whether you are dressing for function, durability, or comfort, it is important to find pieces you can be proud to wear that still meet your sophisticated lifestyle when commitments call.

In recent years, sustainability has become a buzzword and turned a few heads. Just as consumers today are taking a closer look at the food they consume and the chemicals they put into their bodies, they are also shifting their purchasing decisions to create a cleaner environment through the clothes they wear.

What it really means.

Today, professional woman are savvier than ever and not only pay attention to the quality of their garments, but also the entire supply chain, production processes, and product afterlife. They are more aware that a hang tag using the word "sustainable" does not mean the retailer is using clean processes to develop that garment.

One of the biggest culprits in the fashion industry is "fast fashion," or clothes made cheaply to meet demands for the hot new styles. However, fast fashion is putting our future planet at risk.

After nearly 25 years in the industry, Melissa Nataadiningrat has over a dozen patents and immense product successes under her name, not to mention her extensive knowledge on sustainable fashion.

                                                     Ballkjoler

Planning A Wedding In Nature? Get Hitched in Mendocino

Mendocino County is one of the most splendid destinations in the county for its miles and miles of rugged coastline, charming inns and glamping spots, locally driven restaurants, and eternal views. Whether your style is high-toned or hippie, Mendocino has an outdoor wedding spot that will tickle the fancy of you and your betrothed. And because it is only a few hours drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, you can easily get guests up to Mendo from SFO. It feels remote, but it's not too remote, logistically speaking — a perfect combination for wedding-planning.

One cool choice is situated just a half-mile from Mendocino National Forest. The Oak Granary is a land-based environmental education organization in the Potter Valley, a 305-acre organic farm with a steel barn for events that can accommodate up to 150 people. Three houses on-site can comfortably speel up to 20, and there are campground facilities for up to 50.

Over by the coast, Spring Ranch Agricultural Preserve is a 1,000-acre dairy and cattle ranch amidst a fragrant eucalyptus forest — the largest on the entire California coast. The working organic farm morphs into a rustic-chic event venue with its classic 1840s salvaged wedding barn from Ontario, Canada. On the property is a 5,500 square-foot, 19th century Victorian home, as well as a honeymoon loft, which invokes the feeling of being in a tree house.

Bridesmaid Dresses Australia

Meet Caroline Constas, A Female Founder In Fashion

It's the days leading up to Montréal Grand Prix and designer Caroline Constas is being fêted the by the luxury Canadian department store, Holt Renfrew, at their annual Grand Prix event.

She enters the party being held at the top floor of the Ritz Carlton, her statuesque framed draped in a long, white, strapless goddess-gown of her own design. Earlier in the day, she posted a photo of herself with her collection's display at the store with a caption that read, "Dreams to come true.”

For Constas, this year's Grand Prix event is not only a dream come true, but it's also a homecoming of sorts. Being honored by the department store coincides with the Montréal native's 5th of year in business at the helm of her namesake label.

"I've been dreaming of working with them [Holt Renfrew] for years and years because growing up in Montréal, that was the place you aspired to shop,” she says.

As a young fashion brand, to stay in business in a cutthroat industry after 5 years is, indeed, recognition-worthy. Constas, however, has done more than just stay in business—her brand is thriving, and the Holt Renfrew event is an acknowledgment of her success.

Her collection's whimsical-yet-elegant vibe is directly inspired by Constas' upbringing and globetrotting lifestyle, which is marked by life in New York, summers in Greece and inspiration trips to foreign countries.

"It started when I was 8 years old, and I was traveling to Greece every summer to visit family,” she says. She is the daughter of a Greek-Lebanese father and an American mother who, through these visits, exposed her to the world from a very young age.

During her childhood travels, she found herself sketching the clothes she wanted to wear on her holidays, and over time she became aware of the keen eye she possessed for spotting trends that crossed borders.

"I was always very focused and aware of fashion and how fashion differed, and how it was similar across different cultures. I was able to see what was overlapping between different countries,” she says.

A key factor to her success is that Constas herself is the ultimate muse for her brand—she knows her customer because she is her customer. "I start each season with the question: What do I want to wear that isn't in the market?” she says, admitting she is designing for herself first and foremost, knowing that women like herself will gravitate to what she's offering.

In addition, Constas is regularly featured on her company's social media in her designs and also posts pictures and musings from her personal travels. Images of her wearing her label bring the clothes to life in a way only she can, and the content, as a result, is a physical embodiment of the Caroline Constas brand story. She is undoubtedly one of her company's biggest assets.

In the beginning days of her label, it was this idea of creating clothes for her own personal lifestyle led to the creation of the Lou top, the design that put her name on the map.

Constas had always been searching for cotton shirting in feminine shapes and came up with an off the shoulder silhouette in a blue striped fabric traditionally used for dress shirts. An editor came in to view the collection, snapped a pic of the shirt and posted it to social media, which then led to Oprah's stylist pulling the shirt for a shoot. The next thing she knew, the Lou top was on the cover of O Magazine. "It was absolutely surreal,” the designer says of the experience.

Meet The Mastermind Bringing Marijuana To The Modern Mall

It’s official: marijuana has made its way into the modern shopping mall. Situated between two mainstream chains, J. Crew and West Elm, Higher Standards is readying to open the doors of its second location at Ponce City Market in Atlanta on April 20.

Last week dosist celebrated its standalone space and last month, The High End became a reality for Beboe and Barney’s New York. But first came Higher Standards, which opened in late 2017 at Chelsea Market in New York City. Co-founded as a side hustle to his role as chief marketing officer at Greenlane Holdings, an international distributor of cannabis products and accessories, Sasha Kadey is the mastermind behind sparking the retail revolution taking shape in the post-legalization era.

As the traditional head shop fades into history, an experience more closely linked to the cannabis lifestyle is the future. Kadey explains, "Higher Standards is not a cannabis brand, but a lifestyle brand rooted in cannabis culture. Cannabis use really is a lifestyle for many people, so naturally cannabis brands are lifestyle brands."

Also Higher Standards’ creative director, Kadey, 35, has created a concept intended to expand across the country in harmony with its own brand, which includes glassware, cleaning kits, accessories and a just-dropped HS Streetwear capsule collection. Curated pieces from classy cool consumption brands Storz & Bickel, LEVO, Grav Labs, Puffco, Tree Trunk and PAX are matched with marijuana-minded home goods from Malin + Goetz, Blackwing Pencils, Oxford Pennant and Revelry Supply in both brick and mortar locations with select HS supplies available online. There is no cannabis for sale, but yes, a small selection of CBD self-care items is also stocked.

Back home in Miami Beach following a launch party for a Jonathan Adler collaboration and a Greenlane IPO announcement earlier this week, I caught up with Kadey, to talk about the current cannabis retail environment, Higher Standards' new Atlanta location and the meaning of lit luxury.

Startup to Bring Holographic Video Glasses Into View

Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences have developed a new breed of augmented reality display that is capturing high-tech imaginations. Inventor and professor Nasser Peyghambarian has been working on video holograms for over two decades.

Today’s popular virtual reality technology uses goggles that completely block out the outside world. In contrast, augmented reality creates an environment that layers computer-generated perceptual information like images, sounds or touch over what we experience in the real world.

While companies like Microsoft are commercializing devices such as Hololens 2 that enhance virtual and augmented reality, the inventions that EARDG Photonics Inc. has licensed represent a different technological approach; the new technology will provide augmented reality wearable glasses that allow users to combine the real world around them and an augmented holographic video display with superior performance.

Peyghambarian is leading the company along with Lloyd LaComb, also a UA optics research professor and experienced industry leader. The two have a history of successful collaborations; together they developed TIPD, another company advancing 3D holographic displays. Working with Tech Launch Arizona, the UA office that commercializes inventions stemming from research, EARDG has licensed the technology, along with associated technology from TIPD, to develop it and bring it to the marketplace.

"While it is important to conduct state-of-the-art research at universities and publish in high-impact scientific journals," Peyghambarian said, "it is as important to have a consistent effort on translating innovative research out into the real world through technology transfer and creation of startup companies so that it not only creates jobs, but also improves lives."

A dedicated educator, mentor and National Academy of Inventors Fellow, he also notes that such inventions and startup companies represent excellent opportunities for students. "Those that work on such technologies with us are highly sought after as they gain experience in solving real-world problems," he said.

Naked Restaurant In Paris Closing Due To Lack Of Nude Diners

If dining naked in Paris seemed like a good idea to you, you are no longer in luck. O'naturel, the city's premier—and only—naked restaurant is closing. Conde Nast Traveler reports that after a 15-month run, the high-concept-low-clothing theme establishment has discovered that, for some incomprehensible reason, it turns out people don't want to eat naked in public. It will shut its doors in February.

Back in late 2017, Forbes senior contributor Cecilia Rodriguez revealed that at the then-new joint in the 12th arrondissement, diners disrobed upon arrival in the lobby—hence, the coat check became an everything you're wearing check—and a pre-opening soft launch was for members of the Paris Nudist Association. Apparently, a big curtain blocked dinners from bypassing voyeurs. And surrendering one's mobile phones and cameras meant your fellow diners weren't going to post your nudes to the 'net.

O'naturel is the brainchild of twins Mike and Stephane Saada, who were looking to capture a piece of the nudist-happy French market. As of this writing, there were a mere six reviews of O'naturel on TripAdvisor. "You [disrobe upon] entry and also [have] to leave your mobile phone with clothes- to prevent you sneaking photos of other diners!" one reviewer, who missed experiencing what it's like to dine naked at London's Bunyadi, noted. "

So, what's the problem with a naked-theme restaurant? For now, that remains a mystery. It's possible that it's simply too much of a niche strategy to be sustainable. It attracts people who want to dine out AND want to be naked while dining out. While consumers tend to enjoy dining out and sometimes enjoy being naked at, say, the beach, it may be that the Venn diagram overlap between the two is simply too small. And dining in the buff at home is one thing—but in public, it's quite another.

Will wearing glasses make my vision worse?

As we age, our eyesight can get worse. Although lenses can compensate for these changes, many people worry that wearing glasses will make their eyes become dependent on visual correction. In other words, they think if you wear specs, your sight will deteriorate even more.
Thankfully, this is not how our peepers actually work.
"Wearing glasses will not make your eyes worse," says Michael J. Duerr, an optometrist in Rochester Hills, Michigan. "Your actual prescription is based on the anatomy of the eye: the front curve of the cornea, the refractive power of the intraocular lens, and the length of the eyeball." And peering through spectacles won't change that anatomy, Duerr says. "Wearing glasses or soft contact lenses will not change what your required prescription is."
But when you take off your glasses, the world seems blurrier than you remember. Does this indicate that you "need" your glasses more now than you did before you got them? Not necessarily. That change probably just means you're getting used to seeing things clearly, according to the American Academy of Opthamology. Now that you know what the world is supposed to look like, it's hard to go back—even if you thought your vision was fine before.
It's true that you may find yourself needing stronger and stronger prescriptions as the years go on, but again: This isn't a result of wearing glasses. Our vision deteriorates as we get older, and chances are, you'll need to upgrade your prescription from time to time.

That brings us to another interesting worry: Some people fear that wearing an incorrect or outdated prescription can cause their eyesight to get worse. This is also a myth, at least in the case of adults—two studies found that incorrect prescriptions did slightly increase the progression of myopia, or nearsightedness, in children.
In addition, the special glasses given to children with crossed eyes or a lazy eye can actually change them—but in a good way. These aids help straighten the eye. The real harm comes from not using them, according to the Opthamology Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin: "Not wearing such glasses may lead to permanently defective vision."
But don't fear wearing glasses: There's no evidence that the correct prescription will worsen eyesight in children or adults. As long as you stick with your annual or bi-annual checkups, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Wear your specs whenever you need them, and enjoy the privilege of seeing clearly.

The forgotten story of a Victorian child star uncovered

Fame is a fickle thing – and this point is well made by the painting of an opulently dressed girl being taught to play a stringed instrument that now hangs in the City of London's Guildhall Art Gallery.

Researchers preparing for an exhibition on Victorian attitudes to childhood, called Seen and Heard, have found that Connie Gilchrist, the forgotten young musician in painter Frederic Leighton's canvas entitled The Music Lesson, was once the toast of England and appeared in many Christmas pantomimes in the West End of London as well as in countless burlesque shows.

The child star, then known as "the original Gaiety Girl", made her name on stage at 12 with a novelty skipping rope act. But even at that early age, Gilchrist's face was well known across London. From the age of four she had posed for many of the great artists of the era, including Frank Holl, William Powell Frith and James McNeill Whistler, and for photographs taken by Lewis Carroll.

"Her features somehow caught the Victorian imagination," said Katty Pearce, curator at the Guildhall gallery. "She was painted several times, even before her fame at the Drury Lane theatre, which took off around the time of the painting and was really like her Britain's Got Talent moment."

Gilchrist's is a remarkable rags-to-riches story, yet one masked by her later identity as Countess of Orkney, the name by which she went until her death in 1946.

Leighton's sumptuous 1877 painting shows Gilchrist playing the saz, a Turkish stringed instrument, in a scene influenced by the artist's visit to Damascus in 1873. But it is not the portrait of a child of the English aristocracy. In fact, Gilchrist had been born in the slum area behind King's Cross station – a district described in 1851 by the writer WM Thomas as "a complete bog of mud and filth" – which was demolished the year after her birth in 1865.

"Connie had been pushed into celebrity by her mother, it seems, in the hope she would be able to pull the family out of poverty – which she eventually did," said Pearce. "But although she appeared in hundreds of stage shows, becoming a star turn, those who met her in artists' studios remembered her as quite a sad little girl."

Gilchrist was six when she began sitting for Leighton, and she is the Arab girl in his painting Little Fatima. Whistler even attempted to depict her skipping rope routine in an etching. By 1875 she had also played a Christmas season in the West End and at 14 she won a full-time contract with London's Gaiety theatre, going on to play Maid Marian in Little Robin Hood and Miranda in a parody of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

But Gilchrist was able to quit the stage for good after doing an American tour in 1886. Her two wealthy benefactors, Lord Lonsdale and the Duke of Beaufort, had introduced her into high society, one buying a London home for all the Gaiety theatre girls, which he then left to Gilchrist, and the other becoming in effect her adoptive father. In 1892 Gilchrist married a Scottish peer, the 7th Earl of Orkney in London, and they lived quietly together for 53 years in his home near Leighton Buzzard.

Internet glasses shoppers and loaves of banana nut bread

Are you wondering if other practices are charging for adding pupillary distance (PD) to prescriptions and adjusting glasses purchased online for free? If so, how does this fit into your mission statement and strategic goals?

I'm reminded of my neighbor's college-age daughter and my banana nut bread. She loves it so much that she asked her mother to get the recipe. I gladly provided it and her mom thought I had left out the "secret sauce" because her daughter prefers mine to her own.

Throw out the advice that the customer is always right. There are three different ways to provide a PD measurement to patients who take their prescriptions, purchase eyewear from somewhere else, and then bring the eyewear to you for adjustments.

Financial Impact
If your cost of goods is calculated properly and it is 33% or lower, then your complimentary services are not hurting your bottom-line. This metric suggests that patients who want to purchase eyewear are waited on promptly. Consumers express displeasure by leaving the building. Patients are less likely to become annoyed when they are attended to, so employees should always provide a patient with a PD.


On the other hand, the auto refractor used during pre-testing provides a PD without overloading busy opticians.

Your employees wanting to drop tasks without a change in job description might mean that both they and you need to re-read your employee policy manual or handbook. If it is not legally, morally or ethically inappropriate the question becomes one of office harmony and profitability versus what an employee wants to do or his or her preference.


Your Practice's Brand
If you haven't thought about your practice brand, here is your chance. An Internet search of healthcare branding advice confirms that both big and little issues influence the patient.
Adjectives like "friendly" and "helpful" describe someone who does something for nothing. In Louisiana and other Gulf states the word "lagniappe" could be used to describe the practice of giving a patient who pays for an eye-health examination their PD and adjusting eyewear purchased somewhere else.


It is said that shopkeepers tried to put an end to the practice of lagniappe in the 1800s, but the people strenuously objected. They had no choice but to keep giving a little something extra. (It is not certain whether this story is true.)

Although the tradition of a free gift is not nearly as widespread as it once was, it is still observed in optical dispensaries. Stop giving patients their PDs (which are not by law included in their prescription) and they may join their ancestors and object strenuously.

Beijing blames video games for kids needing glasses

It started last week with a call to action from China's leader, Xi Jinping. Too many of the country's children need glasses, he said, and the government was going to do something about it.

It ended Friday with billions of dollars being wiped from the market value of the world's largest video game company.

New controls on online games were among Chinese authorities' recommendations for reducing adolescent nearsightedness on Thursday, sending shares in the country's leading game publisher, Tencent, tumbling the next day. Shares of Japanese game makers like Capcom, Konami and Bandai Namco also fell Friday, a sign of the size and importance of the Chinese market.

The sell-off is the latest in a series of government-related stumbles for Tencent, one of the world's largest technology companies. Chinese state media has blamed video games for causing young people to become addicted, lowering their grades and worse. An incident last year, in which a 17-year-old in the southern city of Guangzhou died after playing a smartphone game for 40 hours straight, received wide attention.

As the biggest game distributor in the world's biggest game market, Tencent has grown fantastically rich in recent years. It has bought up game developers around the world, including the makers of influential titles such as "League of Legends" and "Clash of Clans." It owns a stake in Epic Games, creator of the international blockbuster "Fortnite."

Back at home, Tencent also operates China's most popular messaging app, WeChat, and processes a big chunk of the smartphone payments that are now used to make transactions of all kinds in the country.

But over the past year, Tencent's hugely profitable game business has come under fire as Beijing takes a more forceful approach to guiding Chinese culture — a reminder of the state's growing role in deciding the fortunes of the country's largest and most innovative private companies.

Last year, the Communist Party's official mouthpiece, the People's Daily, called the Tencent-developed battle game "Honor of Kings" a "poison" on young minds. In response, the company imposed limits on the amount of time young people could spend playing it each day.

More recently, Chinese regulators blocked sales of another Tencent title — "Monster Hunter: World" — because it was deemed too gory. The company's stock also took a slide after executives said that a bureaucratic reshuffle had slowed the process for getting licences to make money on new games such as the mobile version of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds."

Tencent's shares fell 5 per cent in Friday trading in Hong Kong. A company spokesman declined to comment.

Why people love to hate tiny sunglasses

All fashion trends are scams, but every so often, one bubbles up in the collective consciousness and forces us all to be mad at it at the same time. Right now it's tiny sunglasses, those diminutive, barely eyeball-size versions that don't seem to perform their stated function of providing shade very well at all.

They're the sort worn by the likes of Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Bella and Gigi Hadid, and various other children of famous people (Zoe Kravitz, Kaia Gerber, Hailey Baldwin), as well as Instagram influencers whose names you might not know but whose aesthetic mimics those of the ones you do.

But these shades' lack of practicality isn't why we're mad at them.

Because, to be fair, everything fashionable is less practical than the alternative, which is either a) being fully naked when it's hot, b) wearing utility jumpsuits with a million pockets when it's medium, or c) wearing the skin of an enormous furry animal when it's cold. That clothes are not always functional is hardly controversial. Yet tiny sunglasses are.

This summer, two bona fide famouses echoed the opinions many others had already expressed over drinks or online during the past year, which is that these things are bad.

"I think we will regret this tiny sunglasses look," tweeted Mindy Kaling; Anne Hathaway then took a screenshot and Instagrammed it in agreement.

How to find your eyeglass prescription without getting an exam

Want to freshen your face with a new pair of eyeglass frames? As you probably know, you can save a small fortune by ordering glasses online.

Just one wrinkle: You need to know your prescription. Sure, you can call your optometrist to get the numbers -- unless the office is closed. Or you just feel weird about asking because they'll know you're shopping elsewhere.

Thankfully, if you have a pretty basic prescription (meaning they're not bifocals, progressives or Coke-bottle lenses), there's a free tool from GlassesUSA.com that can scan your current glasses. I took it for a spin with my son's glasses and the results matched his current prescription.

And according to GlassesUSA.com, the results are "in line with the standard range of deviation as in any doctor's office" -- though this isn't meant to take the place of an eye exam. Indeed, if you haven't had your vision checked in a year or more, it might make sense to schedule an appointment. 

But if you just want a quick and easy way to find out what kind of lenses you have right now, here's how:

Step 1: Armed with your current glasses, your phone and a credit card (which is used for sizing, not payment), plunk down in front of your computer and point your browser to www.glassesusa.com/scan.

Step 2: Enter your phone number or email address to receive a link for the GlassesUSA app.

Step 3: Once you've installed the app, following the guided tutorial. You'll first need to scan an onscreen QR code, then hold the credit card up to the screen and scan that. From there you'll hold your glasses between the phone and the screen for various readings. It ends with a pupillary-distance (PD) scan, which rather amusingly requires you to hold the card up to your forehead.

It's a pretty simple process that takes all of about 10 minutes. When you're done, you'll be asked to create a GlassesUSA.com account, at which point you should immediately see your prescription.

And that's it! Armed with that data, you can order lenses and frames from anywhere. Just take note that the app doesn't store any of this information; if you want to retrieve it later, you'll have to sign back into your GlassesUSA.com account in a browser.

This Is Why You Need to Wear Sunglasses

Since I'm a borderline idiot, I went my first 28 years without wearing sunglasses. Sure, I bought fake Oakleys in the eighth grade to look cool, but I never found sunglasses entirely helpful. I could squint my way through any bright days while avoiding the dreaded sunglasses tan. That is until I started getting a headache for 30 minutes every time I saw a camera flash. To this day, four years later, I still dread an indoor, low-light photo opp. It means I need an ibuprofen, or a stiff drink or two. All because I didn't wear sunglasses for the first 28 years of my life. Or so says my eye doc.

Sunglasses look cool, or at least they should, since there are billions to choose from. But aside from all that, why do you actually need sunglasses? Isn't it enough to wear a ball cap and shield the eyes from the sun, or just put your hand over your brow anytime you look in the sun's general direction?

I called on the expertise of ophthalmologist Lisa Park, MD at Columbia University Medical Center, to get some intel on exactly why sunglasses are important for us (apart from the obvious fact that you don't squint so much when it's sunny as hell). Heed her advice. Don't be dumb like me. It's always worth the sunglasses tan, trust me.

Park says first and foremost that there are three reasons we must protect the eyes. "The first is the retina inside the eye," says Park. "With age people can develop macular degeneration (which is the light-sensitive nerve tissue in the eye), and using sunglasses may protect these photoreceptors from UV damage." This prevents vision loss. Score one for sunglasses.

"The second is the lens of the eye; everyone eventually will develop clouding of the lens which is what you know as a cataract," says Park. "Protecting the eye from sunlight may slow the progression of cataracts." The score is Sunglasses 2, No Sunglasses 0.

Creatures of the Wind x State Optical Co.’s Sunglasses Work for Day

On the March day which Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters of Creatures of the Wind planned to celebrate the launch of their sunglasses collaboration with Chicago-based eyewear brand State Optical Co., a massive snowstorm hit New York City. Undeterred, they went ahead with the party anyway. That was kind of an appropriate gesture, since the influences that informed their designs were about wearing shades indoors; that punky, new wave era of the late ’70s and early ’80s when hipsters would party, party, party in nightclubs with dark glasses firmly affixed to their faces—Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, and queen of the kitschy cat-eye Debbie Harry of Blondie.
                                           

“When we were researching this collaboration, we looked at our heroes and icons from that period,” says Peters, “though we didn’t want the shapes to look retro. We tweaked them so they didn’t look too recognizable or so specific.” The four styles are rendered in tortoiseshell, red, black, and green acetate, and vary from the aforementioned elongated feline look to a weightier square style that does indeed refract the past through the (sorry!) lens of today. “They all have this glam component to them,” says Gabier. “I wouldn’t say they were gender neutral, but they’re playful in that regard.”

The styles are named after Chicago addresses—both Creatures and State spring from the city. (There’s the Monitor, the Tripp, the Leland, and the Neenah.) The process involved Gabier and Peters making a couple of trips to State’s ateliers, located in a northern suburb, where they could meet with the company’s technicians. Those trips back to where they first started likely only added to the ongoing reflection they’ve been experiencing on what they want their label to be, given their announcement to move to a more project-based approach. They’re happy to be (somewhat) stepping out of the fashion rat race.

The Julbo Chams Are My New Favorite Sunglasses

Flying home from a ski trip a few weeks ago, I put my keychain, wallet, and sunglasses in the dog dish, then sent them down the conveyor belt into the bowels of the TSA X-ray machine. When the dish came out the other side, the glasses were gone. I begged, cajoled, and attempted to bribe the agents to find them. I even offered my incredibly bright FourSevens Mini Mk2 to aid in the efforts. But they were gone, eaten by bureaucracy.
                                               

I was distraught. Not only were they my favorite glasses of all time—the Aether Explorers—but this was my third pair, after breaking one (well, Wiley broke them) and losing the other while paddling the Sea of Cortez. At $600 a pair, I couldn’t justify a fourth.

After a suitable period of self loathing, I set out to find a replacement. I’d fallen in love with the Aether’s glare-blocking side shields, their incredibly clear Zeiss glass lenses, and the light weight. So I knew I wanted similar features, just in a much more affordable package.

Julbo remains an independent brand based out of Chamonix, France. I liked its history, and the functionality and quality of its products, but otherwise excellent products like the Explorer 2.0 just look a little too Dame Edna for my taste. The leather shields on the Vermont had always appealed, but the round lenses gave them a mad scientist air I wasn’t sure I could pull off. They also came only with extremely dark lenses designed to cut the brightness of high-altitude snow and ice, which means they’re too dark for most mundane situations, like driving my truck.

How do glasses help you see?

You’ve asked this at a very good time because more and more people are needing to wear glasses, including young children, and we don’t really know why.
                                                 

Our eyes let us see because light enters each eye, and the eye then creates a message that goes to the brain.

The eyeball itself doesn’t actually “see” – the brain sees. The eyeballs just take pictures, like two little cameras. To see properly, each eyeball needs to send the light that enters it onto a very exact spot inside the eyeball, called the retina. If the light falls onto the wrong place, your vision will be blurry.

Many people don’t need glasses and can see just fine. This is because their eyeballs are focusing light properly onto the retina.

However, some people have eyeballs that are too long. They are called “shortsighted”. For these people, things far away, like street signs or the classroom blackboard, can look blurry.

Other people have eyeballs that are too short. They are called “farsighted” and things close to them, like a book or a mobile phone, can look blurry.

Both shortsighted and farsighted people need glasses to help them see clearly.

They work by helping the eyeball to focus light onto the correct place, the retina. Only then can the eye see clearly.

Maybe you have a grandma or grandpa who wears glasses whenever they are reading books or using their mobile phone. When people get older, they usually become a little bit farsighted because a part of their eye called the lens becomes stiff and doesn’t work properly.

More and more young people in the world are needing to wear glasses.

We’re not sure why, but some scientists think that children who spend too much time inside are more likely to need glasses. We don’t know if it’s because they aren’t getting enough sunlight or if they’re simply reading too much or playing too many video games when they get home.