The monocle it wasn’t just a bizarre accessory from dandy: born as one optical instrument of myopia correction, although certainly impractical, but it soon turned into symbol of status and refinement. Used in particular by German soldierswas targeted by satire in the nineteenth century and underwent the definitive decline after the world wars. Today it is no longer considered functional, it survives as a historical curiosity and as a cultural icon.
The monocle comes from the quizzing glassa lens with a handle used in the 18th century for reading and observing closely: the novelty was to eliminate the handle and hold it directly in the eye socket. However, it wasn’t practical at all since he corrected only one eyeunlike glasses, fell off easily and required some muscular effort. But it was small, elegant and scenic: enough features to make it a pocket item loved by aristocrats.
In the eighteenth century the baron Philipp von Stoschcollector and spy, was among the first to wear it and make it popular (also for this reason, this invention is often attributed to him). From there the monocle quickly went from tool to status symbol. In the’Nineteenth century it was the favorite accessory of the dandyparliamentarians and men of the theater. Often the lenses they were made of transparent glass, without any corrective function: wearing it only served to communicate sophistication and belonging to the elite.
Precisely because it was ostentatious, the monocle soon became a target of satirein the 19th century cartoons of snobs who showed it off in unnatural poses abounded. The final blow came in 1925when the New Yorker created the mascot Eustace Tilleyan affected character who observes a butterfly with a monocle: the definitive representation of vain pretentious.
In Germanyhowever, maintained a more austere aura. From the 19th century until the Second World War he was associated with the Prussian officers and field marshals. Generals such as Erich Ludendorff and other German commanders wore it as a mark of authority and military aristocracyfixing the monocle in the collective imagination as a symbol of severity and power.
After the Second World War the monocle disappeared: too much uncomfortable to wear and too tied to an image of snobbery and militarism. Today it remains a collector’s item or a detail from a theatrical costume, but above all a cultural icon that tells how a useless accessory has managed, for over a century, to represent prestige, fashion and power.
