1 Eye Design combines unique style with just the right amount of utility

Shared from – Chapeau Noir Blog – Trends in Golf Apparel.

Golf has always been a game that lends itself well to gimmicks and gadgetry — be it a swing aid to fix your slice, a do-dad to help you keep your head steady, another to help stay in balance, one more to improve your x-factor, yet another to add five more yards to your drive, or the latest self-help book that promises to put you that zen-like mental state that will not only help you play the best golf of your life, but will also help you succeed in business while it enhances your personal life.

1 Eyeron Red Croco. $79.And even though Batman once said, “The true crime fighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin”, Chapeau Noir has found it infinitely more important to keep things simple, as too much utility — or too many gimmicks, gadgets, swing thoughts, or dime store psychologists — can quickly become a distraction and hindrance to one’s game rather than a benefit.

Just get out there and swing the club. Play the game, not the swing. Oh, and whie your’e at it, there’s nothing wrong with looking good while you do it.

As a matter of course, it’s important to keep in mind that we’re not crimefighters out there on the links (unless you consider slow play and golf buggies a crime as Chapeau Noir does), but instead, we are merely golfers. We really don’t need a myriad of paraphanalia to get it around, though we have certainly been convinced on the contrary.

With that in mind, Chapeau Noir turns our attention to Batman’s aforementioned belt, and its undeniable utility. For the golfer, the belt provides both style and function. The obvious function of course is to hold up our trousers, while in recent years providing an opportunity to make a personal style statement with the both the buckle and the belt.

In this offering from One Eye Design, the 1 Eyeron Red Croco, certainly makes a statement. While the red crocodile belt provides a rich, exotic appeal, the main point of interest here is the buckle — which comes in the form of a one iron.

But it wasn’t until Chapeau Noir was on the back nine of a late fall round of golf did he realize the utility the belt also provides. When Chapeau Noir was unable to retrieve his ball marker from his right front trouser pocket he was about to garishly mark his ball with a tee when his playing partner reminded him of the magnetic ball marker embedded in the face of the belt. The marker is held in place by a magnet strong enough so it doesn’t fall off during play, yet is easy enough to remove when needed, and with numbers from one to four printed on its face, doubles as a first tee honours tool.

For an object to possess utility, it must provide the user with satisfaction, which the 1 Eyeron belt does in spades — but for Chapeau Noir it must also do so in such a way that one does not look the part of a fool, much in the way a wrist-born stroke counter would do.

One Eye Design strikes the perfect balance between form and function, giving life to the knife-like form of the one iron, a club Chapeau Noir could never hit, no matter how many gimmicks and gadgets he used.