If he was alive today, would John Lennon have had Laser Eye Surgery?

What do Mahatma Gandhi, Buddy Holley, Sarah Palin, and John Lennon all have in common?

They didn’t all lead India to freedom in their underwear. But they did have a significant impact on fashion, whether intentionally or unintentionally, thanks to their distinctive eyewear.

Gandhi and his round metal-rimmed spectacles (and robes) caused him to have nearly as many style copycats as he had religious followers.

Holly and his iconic thick black frames were arguably as influential and groundbreaking as his music.

Palin’s wide array of specs, particularly her rimless Kazuo Kawasaki’s, branded her as “wonder woman” by the press and probably made more headlines than her political campaign.

But even if you bundled together the influence of these icons’ facewear fashion into one, the impact would still pale in comparison compared to that of one man:

John Lennon.

But he didn’t do it alone. During the time The Beatles and John Lennon were rising to fame, eyeglasses were also becoming stars in their own right. In 1965, Vogue devoted its whole Beauty section to eyeglass fashions, and other huge idols such as Buddy Holly and Roger McGuinn were also sporting the trend.

That being said, Lennon was the one who took spectacles by the arms and really made them shine. It all started with his role in the film How I Won The War, for which he was given a pair of round “granny glasses” to wear for his character. Little did he or anyone else know at the time, these were the glasses that would become part of his trademark look and in turn, one of the greatest symbols of rock and fashion of the era.

But that was then and this is now. Today, glasses have been so overdone that anyone wearing them is instantly thought to be either showing off or not bothered enough to notice they’re way behind the trends.

This begs the question: If he was around today, would John Lennon have worn his trademark glasses or instead have perfected his extreme shortsightedness with Laser Eye Surgery?

Clear, unrestricted vision is the new glasses

Like anyone at the leading edge of an industry, especially the arts, John Lennon wasn’t interested in anything that would brand him as part of the mainstream.

Everything about the Beetles had to do with disrupting the status quo, and the band itself was integral to the evolution of pop music as an art form and the whole development of 60s counterculture.

So, it’s pretty safe to say that, if he was alive and performing in this day and age, God rest his soul, it would be highly unlikely he would grow a beard, get one of his ears pierced, stick on a vintage Hawaiian shirt, and sport a pair of black-rimmed hipster glasses.

More likely is that he would stay as far away from such burnt-out generic trends as possible and look, like he did, to the fringes of the fashion scene for his wardrobe ideas and styling influences.

Instead of his black fisherman’s cap, he may go for an edgy knitted balaclava or a waterproof jacket with an oversized face-obscuring hood.

Instead of his messy mop top, he may get a modern slick back cut and have the whole thing died a nice cool platinum blonde.

And instead of his famous round rimless spectacles, he may get Laser Eye Surgery and go all out with the 80s dad look of oversized shirts, ironed-in creases, and square cut jackets or simply parade around town in ultra short shorts.

Needless to say, the age-old medical devices we once knew as “glasses”, now know as “obsolete”, would appear nowhere on Lennon’s radar.

This is especially true since myopia is on the rise and most people wear reading glasses as they get older (despite there being a well-established and safe treatment for presbyopia).

If you want to make a bold fashion statement today, it’s much, much more impactful to attain clear, unobstructed vision by having Laser Eye Surgery.

Laser Eye Surgery is becoming more popular and more accessible as the days go by, so who knows what will happen once it becomes so mainstream that everyone has perfect vision. But I’m sure John wouldn’t care or have a clue either. He’d be too busy enjoying life free from glasses.