The British-English phrase Deirdre spectacles (also Deidre specs, Deirdre glasses, Deirdre-style glasses, etc.) designates a pair of spectacles with an oversized frame of a style that was fashionable in the 1980s.
For example, this phrase occurs as Deirdre Barlow glasses in the following, published on Monday 4th April 2022 by Peep Eyewear:
Deirdre Barlow glasses legacy
Coronation street’s spectacle style icon Deirdre Barlow and her glasses collection is a bit legendary. Oversized glasses and eighties style pattern and crystal frames are having a moment and we’re not sorry.
—Cf. also the phrase John Lennon spectacles.
The phrase Deirdre spectacles (also Deidre specs, Deirdre glasses, Deirdre-style glasses, etc.) refers to the spectacles worn by Deirdre Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid), a fictional character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street, interpreted from 1972 to 2014 by Anne Kirkbride (1954-2015). (Created in 1960, Coronation Street is set in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on Salford, near Manchester, in north-western England.)
For example, the following—with a photograph of Anne Kirkbride as Deirdre Barlow—is from We find out which glasses have… specs appeal, by Lynn Barlow, published in the Evening Post (Bristol, England) of Tuesday 30th July 1991 [No. 17,990, page 10, column 2]:
SEXY FRAMES? Bristol men don’t rate Deirdre’s specs
Spec surveySHOPPERS in Bristol’s Broadmead centre agree that styles of glasses are associated with certain types of people.
But Bristol men gave the specs appeal ‘thumbs down’ to Deirdre Barlow’s goggles.
“It would be the woman herself, not her glasses, which would be sexy,” said Winston Barrowes of Knowle, trying on some tortoise-shell frames.
“I try to pay attention to the person rather than what they are wearing, but it’s quite hard because first impressions are very strong.”
Marie Grove from Lawrence Hill couldn’t believe anyone would think Deirdre’s glasses were attractive.
“I don’t like them at all,” she said.
The earliest occurrences that I have found of the phrase Deirdre spectacles (also Deidre specs, Deirdre glasses, Deirdre-style glasses, etc.) are as follows, in chronological order:
1-: From Explaining the Brits to U.S., by Peter Taylor, published in the Sunday Telegraph (London, England) of Sunday 2nd August 1981 [No. 1,060, page 18, column 7]—the U.S. journalist Tom Brokaw (born 1940) had hosted the U.S. morning television show Today from a makeshift set outside Buckingham Palace—the phrase occurs as Deirdre Barlow spectacles:
The best part of the show was Tom interviewing a London “marriage broker”—resplendent in Deirdre Barlow spectacles and bright red lipstick—who claimed that American men prefer British wives because they are not so pushy.
2-: From the caption to the following photograph illustrating Anne’s house is haunted, about Anne Kirkbride, published in The Sunday Post (Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland) of Sunday 6th February 1983 [No. 4,039, page 18, column 2]—the phrase occurs as Deirdre specs:
She’s a down-to-earth Lancashire lass who buys her clothes off-the-peg and takes holidays in the Cotswolds rather than the Caribbean.
She enjoys photography, embroidery and walking the hills near her home.
She’s short-sighted and wears contact lenses, but pops on her specs as Deirdre.
● Anne minus her Deirdre specs!
3-: From the caption to the following photograph illustrating We find out which glasses have… specs appeal, by Lynn Barlow, published in the Evening Post (Bristol, England) of Tuesday 30th July 1991 [No. 17,990, page 10, column 4]—the phrase occurs as Deirdre-style:
DEIRDRE-STYLE: Marie Grove hates it
4-: From Pinprick Picasso, about the British tattoo artist Louis Molloy (born 1963), by Alison Lyon, published in the Manchester Evening News (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England) of Wednesday 24th November 1993 [No. 38,692; Magazine: page 17, column 3]—the phrase occurs as Deirdre Barlow glasses:
“If you’re going to do it, do it big, and do it well,” advocates Pam, from behind her Deirdre Barlow glasses. Pam, 40, wears her hair in a neat bob and goes in for plum-coloured eyeshadow. Her government employers have no inkling that underneath the conservative blouse and skirt, she is more civil serpent than civil servant.
A half-completed dragon, nick-named “Horny” by Pam’s six-year-old son, writhes across her back each time she moves.
5-: From Sign petition to Granada bosses: Free Deirdre of specs hell, by Phil Coghlan, published in the Midweek Visiter (Southport, Merseyside, England) of Friday 22nd May 1998 [No. 806, page 18, columns 4 & 5]—the phrase occurs as a pair of Deirdre’s:
CORONATION Street’s Deirdre Rachid is free from jail but continues her life sentence in those spectacles!
A Southport optician wants to “Free Deirdre” from her “1980s frames” and pull her fashion sense back into the 1990s.
A petition at David H. Myers Opticians, London Street, will be sent to Granada Television encouraging producers to give Deirdre a new pair of specs.
David Myers, optician, said: “Talk about making a spectacle of yourself—those glasses are just appalling. Customers choosing frames make a point of saying the last thing they want is a pair of Deirdre’s.”
6-: From Getting style in focus, published in the Midweek Visiter (Southport, Merseyside, England) of Friday 10th July 1998 [No. 813, page 5, column 3]—the phrase occurs as a pair of Deirdre’s and Deirdre spectacles:
A SOUTHPORT optician’s “Free Deirdre” campaign to release her from the fashion hell of “those” glasses has received a positive response from Coronation Street bosses.
David Myers Opticians, London Street, posted a 500 name petition to Street producer Brian Park appealing for Deirdre Rachid to wear a more trendy ’90s style.
[…]
The campaign was launched because customers at the Southport opticians were often heard to comment that they “did not want a pair of Deirdre’s!”
FREE DEIRDRE ● Gaynor Haidjsmail modeling [sic] some unfashionable Deirdre spectacles.
7-: From You’ve been framed (and it really suits you), by Muniya Barua, published in the Daily Post (Liverpool, Merseyside, England) of Tuesday 6th April 1999 [page 16, column 4]—the phrase occurs as Deirdre-style glasses:
Buying specs is a potential minefield and many people get it wrong with the result they end up highlighting their worst features. Worse still, they could end up looking like Deirdre Barlow or Dame Edna.
[…]
VAL STANDARD, 52, personal assistant at Littlewoods in Liverpool.
Val is long-sighted and has been wearing glasses since she was a child. She says she finds it difficult to choose frames that suit her and admits that colleagues sometimes make fun of her Deirdre style glasses which she wears in emergencies when she has forgotten her other pair.
8-: From a review of Boots, Boots, Kinky Boots, performed by Raw Theatre Co. at Amersham & Wycombe College—review by Sarah Templeton, published in the Bucks Examiner (Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England) of Friday 27th August 1999 [Vol. 104, No. 5,818, page 42, column 4]—the phrase occurs as Deirdre-style glasses:
Russell Loten as factory owner Pete was the star of the show for me. […]
A close second was Marie Francoise Wolff’s office secretary. Marie had developed a very strong characterisation and, unlike some of the others, managed to carry it consistently throughout the piece. Hysterically-huge Deirdre-style glasses and some wonderful facial expressions meant I couldn’t take my eyes off her whenever she was on stage and the interaction between her and boss Peter was flawless.
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