Danny Gokey is spec-tacular on 'American Idol'
By Olivia Barker, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/fashion/2009-03-30-gokey-glasses_N.htm
Some people show their personalities through, say, their 18-pair shoe wardrobes. The American Idol front-runner's style signature is his 18-pair collection of mostly rectangular, mostly thick-rimmed, often colorful glasses.
Gokey's weekly frame swap is giving the specs set the kind of exposure not seen since Sarah Palin made rimless glasses all the rage. With his dramatic, chameleon collection, "he's stepping out, and it's really nice to see that," says Deb Lochli-McGrath, an optician and spokesperson for the Vision Council, which represents the optical industry.
Gokey's optometrist, James Wagner of Southridge Optical in Greendale, Wis., says foot traffic has picked up as Gokey's national star has risen. Wagner has received calls from patients and opticians in Colorado, Arizona and Texas requesting information on specific frames worn by the Milwaukee music teacher while performing on Idol.
Gokey's gigantic collection isn't typical, Wagner says. An ordinary fashion-conscious customer might own only a half-dozen pairs. "But he's truly looking for his glasses to be part of his identity and to make him stand out, so he needs more than the average person," says Wagner, Gokey's doctor since the early 2000s. Before Idol, Gokey's collection hovered around a mere five or six pairs.
In a February conference call to reporters, Gokey declared his "love" of glasses. Still, Wagner swears that Gokey's frame fetish is not just for flash: His vision is 20/200, which is considered legally blind.
The show frowns on logo displays, so lately Wagner has shipped him some brand-hidden frames. One non-Wagner-approved pair, however, snuck onto the Idol stage: white plastic aviator specs, which Gokey sent to Wagner to fit with prescription lenses. "I saw them and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, what an ugly pair of glasses!' I said, 'I don't remember him getting them from us,' " Wagner recalls.
