This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was given the opportunity to order prescription eyeglasses from Zenni Optical, I jumped on it. I wear specs all day every day and have always invested a lot in my frames and lenses. I was eager to try an inexpensive option at the other end of the price range.

With an open mind and busloads of curiosity, I hopped onto the site and ordered two pairs of specs. The grand total for two pairs came to only $54.90. Ordinarily I would have paid ten times that amount for one pair of prescription eyewear (with some help from our medical insurance of course). The price difference was astounding.

The Zenni Optical site is fairly easy to use if you have a recent eyeglasses prescription in hand. But you do need to be familiar with measurements like lens width and height, temple length, and frame width and weight, in order to select a style that will work for your face shape. You also need to measure your PD (pupillary distance, the distance between the centers of your pupils). I enlisted Greg’s help for that measurement.

As I searched for the right pair on Zenni’s site, I found myself having two main concerns:

1. Selecting a pair of killer specs is not easy under any circumstances. The slightest change in frame shape, color or detailing makes the world of difference. It’s definitely an art and not a science, and for this reason I was very skeptical about ordering prescription eyewear online. On the other hand, these Zenni’s specs are so inexpensive that one could afford to make several mistakes before finding a pair that looked good. You can also measure the dimensions of a frame that you’ve worn in the past and find a Zenni pair that is quite similar.
2. I also worried about the accuracy of the prescription. I mean, would I actually be able to see properly with these inexpensive specs?

Despite these concerns, my mind was still open. After using my own specs as references for calculating the dimensions, I placed an order for a red full rimmed, acetate pair, and fun patterned plastic pair.

The specs arrived three weeks later. The first thing I noticed was that one pair was completely bent out of shape. I phoned Zenni Optical customer service hoping that they would send me another pair. No. I was told to hold the frames under hot water and bend them back into shape. Okay. Moving on.

The lenses seemed fine — I can see quite sharply through both pairs of specs — but aesthetically the frames were not so fab and I won’t be sporting them as everyday eyewear. First, the shapes are unflattering, which illustrates how difficult it is to select specs without seeing them in person. Second, the quality is in line with the price. The only way I can think of describing it is that they seem a bit like toy glasses. Finally, the colours look quite different in person to the way they did on my computer screen.

This experience has reinforced my opinion that specs shopping is something you need to do in person. Also, when it comes to quality you often get what you pay for and Zenni is no exception.

That being said, I have to acknowledge that these specs are incredibly cheap and there are situations where a “throw away” pair would be really useful, like a river rafting trip or a costume party, for example. Or perhaps you would really like to wear a different pair every day of the week. Zenni’s price point makes that possible.

In fact, the experience has left me wondering whether we are overcharged for specs in general. In particular the lenses, which in Zenni’s case are less than $10 a pair. I think the lenses in my normal glasses were ten to twenty times that price and I’d love to know why that is. Are they more optically correct? Will they be ten times more durable? If you have some knowledge about this I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Today’s post is written by fabulous forum member Melissa, who currently lives in Maryville, CA. Melissa just graduated from Berkley and will soon be heading back home to Salt Lake City where she’ll be returning to her full time work as an antiquarian bookseller. Melissa recently joined a bunch of fellow California YLF ladies in San Jose, and by the sounds of things everyone had a ball!

One Sunday in August no less than ten wonderful women (nine youlookfab.com members plus one gracious guest) met up for some shopping at San Jose’s Westfield Mall!  I was thrilled to meet and spend time with Rosie, Lisa (cyan45) plus her friend Aimee, Cathy (cciele), Nisha (nonie), Kelly (kellygirl), Srujana, Marianna, and Kim (queenie).  Not only is YLF an unbelievably wonderful online community, but its members are equally amazing in person, and we had a great time shopping and socializing.

Rosie (sporting her versatile L.A.M.B. bag and stunning zebra print dress) and I arrived and began the day well by spotting and hugging Lisa before we were even sure whether or not she was part of our group (maybe it was her fab outfit, with killer pops of yellow and blue, that drew us to her right away).  Lisa’s visiting friend Aimee, looking adorable in a striped ruffled top, came out to join the fun, and we all sat down to chat.  Any vicious rumors going around that someone brought out homemade pastries at this point and forced people to eat them should of course be dismissed as shopping-crazed delusions, and should in no way be interpreted as reflections on the character of a certain guest blogger.

The combination of pastry and shopping anticipation may have gone to my head at this point, and things started to get a bit fuzzy, so please forgive any errors of recollection.  After Cathy (pulling off a casual ensemble with harem pants) and Nisha (rocking a summery look with shorts and stripes) arrived, we made our way to Ann Taylor Loft, where I filled a hole in my basic wardrobe by buying a cropped white denim jacket.  We then abandoned Cathy to her fate at the Lush store and descended en masse on the Nordstrom coffee stand to ensure that no one would be making any fashion decisions without the benefit of caffeine.  Srujana turned up for our coffee adventure and wowed us all by sporting daytime appropriate sequins.

After fueling up, we retrieved Cathy and made our way to Nordstrom for some very successful shopping.  The ever-thoughtful Rosie had let us all know beforehand that she wanted to do something special for Marianna to let her know how much love and support the whole YLF community is sending her way.  Armed with the generous donations of many forum members, we went to the shoe department hoping against hope that they might have the coveted Me Too flats in Marianna’s hard-to-find size, and miraculously they did!  We were able to get the shoes as well as a gift certificate, and we were all very excited at completing our gift mission.

Kelly (whose beautifully paired ruffled tunic and leggings inspired instant compliments) joined us in the shoe department.  With our numbers starting to swell, we considered implementing a Scouts-inspired buddy system to keep track of everyone, but we decided against it when we remembered that the Scouts have no shopping merit badge.  Proceeding upstairs, some serious shopping ensued: Cathy and I tried on the flounce tbd tunic on behalf of forum member Maya so that she could see it on actual people; I believe Cathy and Kelly both got silk Bellatrix tunics and Kelly found some jeans; and I scored a great orange top in Individualist.

After all that shopping, we needed more fortification, so a stop at the Nordstrom Café was in order.  Happily, Kim (looking queenly in a snakeprint top) and Marianna (wearing polka dots with panache) were able to join us for lunch.  It was wonderful to be able to present Marianna’s gifts to her in person.  She was thrilled by her new shoes, and knew exactly where she wanted to spend her gift certificate.  Marianna headed for handbags with her YLF entourage in tow and immediately found the perfect bag:  the gorgeous Kate Spade bow shopper in red.  It suits her perfectly, and looked great with the outfit she had on.

WWe had to say goodbye to several people at this point, but we managed to console ourselves at Kenneth Cole.  They had a great sale going, and I got a lovely silk work dress and was overwhelmed to find my dream purple leather moto jacket heavily discounted.  Srujana found one of the most flattering and versatile dresses I’ve ever seen in a to-die-for deep purple silk.  We were much less impressed by J. Crew and Talbot’s.  We all agreed that Talbot’s would be much more appealing if the store were re-tooled to reflect the image change shown in their current catalogue.  We mustered up the energy to make one final stop at Ann Taylor, where I found a denim pencil skirt and an excellent rolled-tab work shirt in a flattering berry color (three cheers for shirts that are neither white nor black!).  Rosie also acquired a patterned skirt and an eye-catching red and black top.

It was beyond amazing to meet up with so many great women in one day, and I loved every minute of it!  I worried that the large size of our group would make it difficult to shop, but in the end I found that it was actually an enormous advantage, because shopping in a large group really gave me time to carefully think through my purchases.  Thank you so much to all who came out for a wonderful day in San Jose, and a huge thank you to Angie and Greg for making this all possible, and to Angie for generously sharing her wisdom and expertise with us through YLF.

The San Jose group, from left to right: Kelly, Cathy, Rosie, Aimee (Lisa’s guest), Melissa, Nisha, Lisa and Srujana.

How much would it take for you to wear this outfit to a night out on the town, or to a fancy dinner? I’m not talking about a costume party, your friend’s house, or the Star Trek Convention. I mean wearing it out in normal, everyday life – where you will be seen and judged by what you wear.

I like to think I have an open mind when it comes to fashion and style, but this outfit is testing my boundaries. It’s hideous. As a fashion stylist, I have a reputation to protect so my price is rather high. I don’t think I would do it for $1000, but I definitely would for $10,000. Maybe I’d get some publicity out of the deal too. What’s your price?

If classic dress pants aren’t your cup of tea because they feel dowdy and boring, you might like to try something different. At the moment, your fashion forward dress pant options fall into four main styles, ranging from full length to cropped somewhere between the ankle and knee:

1. Slouch pants: These are really on trend right now and I’m still searching for a pair. They were fringe a year ago and are slowly becoming more popular. They are usually high-waisted, pleated, voluminous in the hip area and skinny at the hems. Sometimes they have a paper bag waist.  They are made of soft floppy fabrications and cool wool blends, looking very 80’s inspired. For that reason alone I think they are very fab.
2. Skinny pants: I like to call this style of trouser “the cigarette”. They are flat fronted and cut slim through the leg. I highly recommend the Martin fit skinny pants from Banana Republic, which are made of a rayon, cotton spandex blend. Soft, stretchy and flattering.
3. Soft safari pants: This style is slouchy up top and tapered at the bottom, but the cargo pockets add a utilitarian vibe. They are soft and extra drapey, often cropped and rolled up at the hem boyfriend style.
4. Harem pants: Another super soft and slouchy pants style with a somewhat low hanging crotch point. The style can be dressy if it’s made of a dressy fabrication (read: not jersey knit). I opted for a cropped dressy style which are fun to wear.

You’ll probably see many other pant style variations, often a hybrid of the above four silhouettes. I’m enamored with most of the new dress pants styles as long as the lengths aren’t leg shortening. Initially it might be hard to get your head around the newer silhouettes, but things will get easier once you know how to wear the look.

Of course, feel free to stick to classic dress pants or slightly wider leg shapes. These looks are still fab and in style. But it’s my job to tell you what’s new so that you have options!