eyeglasses thread

[cookie]

I have worn glasses since the 4th grade. My eyes are terrible: one is nearsighted, the other is farsighted and they both have astigmatism. There is no such thing as 24-hr eyeglass service for me. Since I first started wearing them, it takes a week to get custom lenses.

Recently, I bought my first pair of bifocals. I'm getting used to them. It's hard to find the right angles and if the light isn't right, forget it. It's actually easier to read if I wear contact lenses and reading glasses.

I have had a variety of frames over the years---some great others way ugly---, but I'm looking for something tres hip and arty. I just bought a nice Guess frame, but I want something a bit edgier.

You know who I think has the hippest eyeglasses in jazz? Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. I'm looking for something along those lines. Those glasses have some fierce design!

Post pictures of cool glasses(or really ugly right-out ones for laughs) or describe your adventures in the world of glasses.

[Scott Dolan]

Well, it's kind of difficult because the size and shape of your face is the biggest determining factor in finding the right frames.

Either way, I think broads with glasses are ultra sexy! Kelly started wearing them last year, and they make me knees go weak.

Lisa Loeb, baby!!

[Scott Dolan]

[bluenoter]

I found my eyeglass frames in a bag of freebies that someone had left in my building's entrance hall. That was maybe 10 years ago, and they were outmoded even then; they're big googly-goggly things--'80s style, I think.

Likewise, I want to buy new eyeglass frames but don't know what to get. I don't care whether they're "edgy," but I don't want to get caught at the tail end of a style.

[Scott Dolan]

There is no "style". Never has been.

I could easily find you both frames that were made at the turn of the previous century that would accetuate your face in a very attractive way, and none would be the wiser.

[bluenoter]

Scott, if you run across any frames to suggest (antique or not), please suggest them. But I have a small and hence narrow face; many frames are too wide for my eyes.

Originally Posted by cookie

You know who I think has the hippest eyeglasses in jazz? Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. I'm looking for something along those lines. Those glasses have some fierce design!

Are these the ones you mean, Cookie?

[walto]

There is no "style". Never has been.

Quiz: Scott or Gary?

[bluenoter]

Walto--

Word! I guess it rubs off.

Originally Posted by bluenoter

Scott, if you run across any frames to suggest (antique or not), please suggest them. But I have a small and hence narrow face; many frames are too wide for my eyes.

     A recent photo that's very unflattering but obviously not far from the awful truth

(I plan to get the  Spanish moss  hair trimmed soon.)

[cookie]

Originally Posted by bluenoter

Scott, if you run across any frames to suggest (antique or not), please suggest them. But I have a small and hence narrow face; many frames are too wide for my eyes.Are these the ones you mean, Cookie?

No, those are different ones. Those are also verrrrry stylin'.

The glasses I'm thinking of are on his homepage.

[cookie]

I mean these glasses:

http://www.garysmulyan.com/photos/outdoors.jpg

Where *is* that cat getting those crazy cheaters, man? That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.

[bluenoter]

Originally Posted by cookie

I mean these glasses:



Where *is* that cat getting those crazy cheaters, man?

You could e-mail him and ask him! I bet they're high end ($$$$).

[cookie]

$$$$ can be saved and weirdo glasses are hip forever!

[Lenny D.Guitarist]

Cooks,
Never had to wear glasses until a few years ago. I suggest that you get the non-glare lenses. They look like you're wearing nothing at all.

[Scott Dolan]

Walto, please make a mental note that I will be booting you squarely in the ass next time we are in MA. Nothing personal, mind you.


Rita, honestly, it's simply impossible to know based upon just a pic. But, based upon your hairstyle and facial qualities I'd suggest a round to oval shape frame. Probably best to go with a thin frame. You have very pronounced cheek bones (based upon this low quality pic), and thicker frames would not sit well. They would detract from your natural lines, which is the ultimate sin when it comes to glasses.

Sounds really outrageous, but do you know anyone who finds glasses sexy? Male or female, it doesn't matter. Take them with you and try on many frames. When you get the right ones, they'll know (and you probably will also). A good friend of ours, who is very pretty, has glasses that fit her perfectly. I thought they'd look good on Kelly, but they didn't. It's hard to explain, but I also worked in an eye center, so I really gained a fine tuned eye for these things.

I would also stay away from rectangular frames. Your facial shape doesn't look as though it would fit well with those. Though something square across the top but slightly rounded underneath might work. Sorry I couldn't help anymore. But, I'd have to be there in person.


Cookie, those glasses that Gary is wearing are likely custom made frames. Expensive, to be sure, but not out of the range of us normal folk either.

Wish I could help you both more, but it's just not possible. Facial shapes and qualities simply vary WAY too much.

[bluenoter]

Well, thank you, Scott. I'd forgotten about your ophthalmology (?) background.

[Mike Schwartz]

These have been pretty happenin' around here for a while

[cookie]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

These have been pretty happenin' around here for a while

Those are happenin' for sure. But my snout isn't that big so they wouldn't work on me.

Has anybody noted the trend of young men wearing aviator goggles, or rather having aviator goggles slung around their necks or propped on their heads? It's an odd look, but it seems to be trendy with many of the dressed-in-black, hobnail boot wearing youngsters.

[cookie]

http://www.economeyes.co.uk/GU1401.htm

Those are my current glasses. I love them and I think they fit my face and personality (not to mention bifocal prescription) pretty well. The colors and shine are more subtle in reality. I liked my last ones with the rhinestone accents, but a couple of the rhinestones fell out and the place couldn't replace the frame. I tried to fix it with rhinestones from the craft store, and they pass, but up close, I can see the remnants of crazy glue and so they became my junker, in-a-pinch-around the house glasses. I think they were too heavy for my face anyway.

I have a pair of black and white glasses with distance only vision for driving. I also wear them with certain outfits. I usually wear contacts when I want to look glamorous, but I have a couple of dresses in that black/white/ possible splash of primary color thing. Wearing the black and white glasses actually looks better than the contacts because they tie the whole look together from head to toe.

I also have an old pair of wire frames with the Transitions lenses that I wear for outdoor stuff. The prescription is slightly different than the one I have now, but it doesn't make me dizzy or get headaches. I wear them when I'm walking for exercise--or even at the gym. For some reason, I prefer to wear those when sweating. Scott: will switching between two (or several in my case) prescriptions cause any kind of problems? Like I said, I don't get sick, switching them up.

Bums me out to see my new frame MUCH cheaper on the web!

[CatBenson]

I just ordered my first pair of 'progressive' glasses. That's a new term for bifocals which sounds to grandfatherly to me. After insurance this cost me just under $500 - without insurance the guy said the price would be north of $800.

They're slightly designer in that their frameless. I was amazed to learn about all the different options - types of glass, coatings, thickness, etc.

$800 for glasses. That's insane.

He said that 90% of the people can adjust to progressives, 10% can't/won't. I should get mine this weekend.

[Gary Sisco]

I wear progressives and like them better than standard bifocals.

Our filly smashed up my primary frames (great, the expensive part...) so now I'm wearing my back-ups, which I really don't like. It feels like all of the weight lands right on the bridge of my nose.

I can't stand wearing glasses at all but I'm helpless today without them and would dislike contacts even more, plus they have to be paid for a lot more often.

The price of frames is robbery. I can't imagine how many hundreds of percent profits are made on them.

[Scott Dolan]

Some people can't take progressives. They need that definitive break between scripts. It's bizarre.


Cookie, the only problems I'm aware of are the ones you have already said you don't suffer. People wear glasses with old scripts in them all the time. And I seriously doubt the scripts are radically different from each other anyway.

[Uli]

I am using those, nowadays

[cookie]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

The price of frames is robbery. I can't imagine how many hundreds of percent profits are made on them.

Right???!!! I really think it's ridiculous. In fact, after seeing the price of frames on the web, I'm disgusted by the markup over at Empire Vision. And with my custom weirdo lenses, they really pooches me. The optometrist drools and starts planning a vacation when I walk in, man.

Scott--thanks, man.

Oh, yeah--I guess my lenses are actually called progressives. It did take me a while to get used to them. Like I said above, they still aren't great.

[Scott Dolan]

Been awhile, but IIRC, most eyeglass places mark their frames up somewhere in the neighborhood of 250%.

[Chris D]

I have some lineless bifocals I don't wear much. THe range is so narrow because I like smaller frames. The progressives work better if you give them more focal range to work with, but I'm not wearing Harry Caray glasses.

[Gary Sisco]

It's pretty nuts. Never mind the retail, which is absurd. Imagine the profits being made on the manufacture side.

Progressives take some getting used to but so do the standard bifocals. The strangest thing for me at first until my eyes adjusted was that stairs looked like they were curved. Was kind of like LSD for a while there.

Backing the truck up to the trailer is a trip, too, with bifocals, plus, because of my eyes without the glasses, my peripheral vision is basically good for seeing motion but not much more. I can back it up myself to the trailer eventually but it's a lot faster with some giving me hand signals I can see the in rear view.

I travel with a back-up pair of glasses, now, as I'm really out of luck without them.

[Pete C]

I've successfully avoided bifocals by keeping two pairs of glasses. With my old prescription I can still read and see well enough at short to medium range. Then I have a stronger prescription for films & shows (and driving, if I actually drove). That's been working pretty well for me.

I've never paid much for frames. The ones I usually wear cost me $75, and my others were part of a full pair of glasses I got in Macau for about $100 (I replaced the lenses in NY). My lenses, on the other hand, cost about $300.

[walto]

Hey cookie, I just got nicked pretty badly at my optometrist, so I have a practical suggestion if you're interested. My exam was completely covered, but I need progressives and I've got astigmatism and I want the scratch resistance, so I pay a bundle for new lenses. I can deal with that, but the mark-up on frames is just criminal. After picking one of their "cheaper" frames I came out of there paying over five bills.

Anyhow, I like the frames OK, but when I got to work the next day, a friend there said, "Hey I like your new glasses, they look a lot like my reading glasses." And he took a pair out of his desk which was, if anything a bit nicer than my Brooks Brothers pair. Turns out he got his at CVS for $20. So, next time I want frames, I intend to buy some at a drugstore and make the bastards stick the new lenses in those.

Vision places seem to me to make all their money on stuff like frames. Kind of like dealer-added options when you buy a car. You get the car for $15 K and the dealer added options cost another $12.

[Jazzzoline]

I wore glasses from 5 y/o to 17. I’m “ hypermetrope “ and my glasses were like coke bottle. As soon as contact lenses were available for my type of vision, I bought a pair. I’ve never left them since. Now the only glasses I wear are sunglasses. I must have around 50 pair of them. And whenever I go without them my husband will say “you don’t wear your sunglasses?”

My son got my vision. At 5 he got coke bottle too. I paid a fortune for the slimmest glass they could use for his prescription. But still he got called all sort of names, like “les barniques cubiques”, which he found cool. (!!)

At 10 y/o I got him a trial pair of contact lenses. At this age, it wasn’t easy to adjust contact lenses, they say, go figure why. Plus he lost one in his friend’s pool. So I got him unadjusted pairs of contact lenses he could throw away after a month. He wore them during hockey matches only. But he could hardly read from the blackboard with them. He had to switch from contact lenses to glasses.

This year, at 14 y/o, he insisted on having a permanent pair of contact lenses. Fact is there are no insurances for them. If he loses one, too bad, I have to pay for another. Around 500$ / pair.
And those contact lenses only last a year.

So funny, a few years ago I had to insist he wore contact lenses on photos etc.. now if he removes his contact lenses when he comes home, and put on his glasses, he’ll remove his glasses whenever a friend show up, then he sees nothing at all. He better go blind than being associated to glasses.

Now, his friends call him "Pretty" ( like Prison break Michael Scofield ) or "Beautiful". Not to worry though, those same friends call me "Gangsta"
hehe

[Chris D]

True, walto. I got lucky when a designer frames place was having a sidewalk sale. I got some nice, smallish wire oval Gucci frames for $1. The lenses brought the bill up to $100.