Vogue VO 2535B
Sometime back in the nineties, my mom, dad, and brother all had identical glasses frames. Wire rims–but with some sort of tortoiseshell finish on the wire. Gigantic nineties lenses. (Nothing like the ones above.)
Yeah, somehow I was spared glasses until college. Although, I admit, back in the day while my family was getting fitted for their frames in the optician’s shop, I would wander over to the kids’ section and kind of lust after the frames there, trying them on one by one. I was that child, the one who had a strange fascination with glasses, casts, and braces. Guess what? I ended up with all three. Not as fun as they sounded. (Who was I that I even thought they sounded fun in the first place?)
But of the three, I’ve minded glasses the least. Perhaps that’s partially because I don’t have to wear them all the time–though my days of 20/20 vision are gone, my specs are more for eye strain than anything else. I can get away without wearing them, it’s just that it’s better if I do.
Nicole Miller Passport
Prada PR 11MV (Men's)
The other advantage of glasses over braces and casts? Fashion statement. Though it sure is nice of the hospitals and orthodontists to offer color options for casts and braces bands, I’m not sure how chic I looked when I sported a mouth full black-and-orange Halloween-themed orthodonture. Or when I had that purple leg cast (that I got a pen cap stuck in the first night I had it, but that’s another story…).
I love my distance frames (Nicole Miller, brown, rectangular-shaped–not pictured) and in fact switched opticians just to have them salvaged after one place said they couldn’t put new lenses in them. Yes, I am attached, and for good reason. These puppies are just the right mix of statement (I get more compliments on them than I do my home-sewn duds) and understated, and to top it off, they don’t pinch my face.
Kate Spade Grace
Nine West 390
Gucci 2568
There may come a day when I look at photos of myself in my glasses and think how dated they are. At the time my three fellow family members got their frames that now look so ancient in photos, we were all pretty excited about how rad they looked. What looked slick in the nineties now looks…well, so nineties. But who cares if the same happens with my current beloved frames? They’ve lasted five years so far, and they’ve stood by me. Looking back at photos in the future, what I’ll remember is how comfortable they made me feel in my skin at the time.
I hope the same will go for my homemade clothes.
Lafont Borgia
ANYWAY, what about you guys? How do you feel about specs as a fashion/personal/can’t-see-without-them-so-who-cares-I-have-to-wear-them-anyway statement? I’ve pasted some photos throughout this post of frames I like. (Sense a pattern at all?) Any styles out there you’re into at the moment? I love how into her glasses Gertie is.
I was obsessed with glasses and braces as a kid too! I never did get braces, but my sister and I used to attempt to fashion fake ones out of foil when we were playing dress-up. Yeah, they looked about as good as one might imagine braces crafted out of foil by a seven-year-old might look.
Glasses, on the other had, I finally ended up needing. At first I picked frames that were as inconspicuous as possible, even though I liked the look of more statementy frames on other people. Each pair gets a little better, though, a little more me. I love the frames in your post, but mine probably aren’t quite that cute/cool yet!
My glasses were, indeed, hideous. I look back at photos of myself from that time and shudder.