I remember going for my first eye test. The optician was in a hurry and not very chatty. I was strapped into a chair that looked like something out of a James Bond film, and the lights were turned out. I was told to look straight ahead, as the optician proceeded to blow sharp puffs of air into my eyes. I had to read the charts, too, with no indication as to whether I was even close to saying the right thing. I was terrified. Needless to say, whatever the outcome, I was never going back. That is, until I was about 25 year old, when I saw someone in orange glasses frames and I realized that glasses could be the fashion accessory I’d been missing.
Back to the optician I went. I took a morning off work and everything. I stood looking at all the frames on the wall, picturing myself in my new magazine-cover guise, because in my head, glasses would transform me from a random nobody to someone who looked like they had just come from plans and was on their way to do something else interesting, with interesting people in an interesting place. Glasses look dignified. Glasses look sophisticated. I wanted in.
The only problem was that with so much choice, I didn’t know where to begin my foray into some weak strength reading glasses (approved by the optician, of course, due my nine to five working with computer screens). Let’s look into what I didn’t know back then…
Horn rims (basic black colour)
Basic black horn rims are an understated yet confident option for people who wish to add a splash of fashionable taste to their look. The thing about medium thickness horn rims is that they look both smart and casual, without looking too smart or too casual along the way, giving you flexibility throughout the day.
Featherlight or rimless glasses
This is a little out of left field, but featherlight glasses of rimless frames give off a clean and almost surgical appearance in their quietly affirmative look. This superlight light says you wear glasses all day because you have important things to do, and you don’t find forgoing the statement rims can make for the alternative statement of “I’m important”. Classy.
Classic browline (1950s chic)
The classic browline frame is never going away. Since taking the fashionable world by storm in the 1950s, countless people from the superstars of stage and screen have been seen in these intellectual looking frames. Why intellectual? The browline definition highlights the part of our faces that we raise or lower when discerning things, showing we understand something.
Good luck making your choice … if you’re anything like me, you’ll have a draw filled with options once you start buying!
And, then's there's the question as to what to wear outdoors. My top choice is blue light sunglasses.
