History
When Andy Conway arrived (landed?) at Bowings in 1984, Fleet Street was different from how it is today. The street was dominated by newspapers; the pavements littered with drunken reporters and inky printers. Journalists from The Sun would take breaks from writing their pornography by going out and beating up the highbrows from The Telegraph. The Express people just stood by watching. Those from the Mail all had butlers and footmen to do their going out for them. Glasses were things of strict utility verging on fashion. Contact lenses were made of granite and needed to be sterilised nightly in thermo-nuclear facilities. Sunglasses were things to be worn merely to keep the sun out.
Recent Times
In the following decades the newspapers have left; wrenched out by the Rupert Murdochs into pastures new. Well, Wapping. The lawyers, free from the competition, overran the place. A bit like the mammals once the dinosaurs became extinct.
A few banks arrived too. Thus creating Fleet Street Nouveaux; a paper free zone. Glasses changed too; 'designers' started creating 'eyewear' that actually enhanced appearance, as opposed to either just smothering it or ignoring it completely. Specs became not just stylish and acceptable, but actually desirable.
Then someone invented WAGS and sunglasses became a must have item at all times of day and night. Contact lenses changed, became softer, disposable, comfortable, no hassle to keep and maintain; a pleasure to wear as opposed to something horrendous to endure.