BS Hearts: Buying New Glasses
Saw this on the Sartorialist (so brilliant!) and then on the Fashion Spot. When we were in Utah our Nylon editor noticed that we wear our contacts morning ’til night, and we had to tell this whole story about how we left our glasses in China, etc etc, which didn't even matter because we'd bent the fuck out of them. These and all the other cute classes out there are somehow encouraging us to go back to the glasses shop, once all this Fashion Week madness is over. So many times when glasses are better! On airplanes, late at night ... okay, those are our best two. But still.
We are just taking this time to remind everyone that wearing our contacts from morning til night resulted in jacked up corneas and some not so inexpensive surgery.
Take out your contacts, everyone! Put them in a cleaning solution, or as directed! DO NOT SLEEP IN THEM!
We say this out of concern.
Posted by: LB | February 01, 2008 at 10:58 AM
I love wearing my glasses. I think glasses should be like a fine suit - well tailored. I think, perhaps, some people buy trendy or novelty glasses and end up not wearing them all of the time since they aren't the perfect fit for their face.
However, I just hate that glasses become this accessory and sometimes I feel like they clutter what I'm wearing. Who knows if there will ever be a balance in the world.
Posted by: Danielle | February 01, 2008 at 11:50 AM
I agree with Danielle's comment, which prompts me to ask, where to framed-BS-readers buy their glasses? How do you find good quality (by brand, store chain, etc)? I wear contacts most of the time, but am looking to make glasses more of a daily staple.
Posted by: ina | February 01, 2008 at 02:58 PM
Ina, you may change your mind when you see what frames cost these days. I recently got glasses and was shocked. My mother gets her glasses at Costco. But at the higher end stores, expect $300 - 700 for the frames alone. At LensCrafters and Pearl Vision, you'll find lower priced frames, starting at under $100 and going up to the $300+ range. I found a store in NYC called Davis Optical; they had a pretty good selection of stylish frames, but at more reasonable prices. I got a pair of Vera Wang frames for about $135 (I forget exactly). But by the time you get the prescription & the anti-scratch, etc. it adds up.
Tangentializing a bit, there's a new store in Soho that looks like a museum for sunglasses; very IMPORTANT; it feels like you should whisper when you're there. Freaking sunglasses!
Posted by: Andrea | February 01, 2008 at 03:37 PM
I've been wanting new glasses based on that very picture from Sartorialist. I've mostly talked myself out of it because I have bangs and I think thick frames might look a bit much with my long shaggy bangs.
However, I was going to get new frames at Fabulous Franny's in the East Village. They're supposed to stock tons of vintage frames for pretty cheap and then they send you to a cheap place in chinatown to get the prescription.
Posted by: Anna Oler | February 01, 2008 at 06:17 PM
one way to keep the price of new glasses down: get glass lenses!
I have very bad vision and my glasses are not much thicker or heavier than plastic ones. They won't shatter or break unless you grind them into the sidewalk with your foot. Plus, no anti-scratch coating needed. I've been throwing mine into the bottom of my purse for a year without a single scratch. Eye places in somewhat ghetto areas will usually do glass lenses because they are cheaper than plastic, but some chains like LensCrafters don't make them.
Posted by: sarah | February 01, 2008 at 08:01 PM
Yeah! Big frames with lots of lens real estate! Bifocals play so much better when you're not trying to find the very last millimeter that lets you focus ... plus, I can be all Edna Mode/Anna Wintour (who both have bangs).
Posted by: Kate | February 02, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Mine are probably horribly unhip and uncool, but I got rimless/frameless ones the last time I got glasses, and I wear them much more often than I have ever worn glasses before. I think it's because they don't "compete" with my accessories, as Danielle said, or bangs, as Anna said. I have daily disposable contacts, but I love having glasses as an option, too.
Posted by: Nora | February 02, 2008 at 08:34 PM
I can't handle contacts, so I have to have to have a perfect pair of glasses that will last me at least 2 years.. So now I have a pair of Paul Frank glasses, which I love! They're so geeky, but fun!
And yeah.. They can be a hard accesory, especially when you want to go and dress up real glamorous..
Posted by: | February 03, 2008 at 11:23 AM
zennioptical.com has some great prescription frames. they all run around $8-37. Great if you are like me and lose things quite easily.
Posted by: Rachel | February 14, 2008 at 05:54 PM