New specs again!

Maya

I am likely to be getting new glasses again, as I hate the ones I chose last year. They do not stay in place (always slipping down my nose, even after being adjusted), and the hinges constantly pull out my hair! Stylewise they are kind of boring. They're supposed to be tortoiseshell, but they really just look brown. The plus: My mom is an ophthalmic technician so I get a 40% discount. The minus: I am limited to whatever is available in my mom's office boutique. They have a lot of nice brands though, so I should find something. But the point is that I won't really be able to shop around.

I have a strong prescription and astigmatism, so my lenses are very thick. I have them ground to be thinner, but I still can't have rimless or half-rimmed glasses because the lenses are too thick and ugly-looking. Other than that, I can wear anything. I'm already pretty good at picking out the right shapes for me but I am stuck on details and colors.

Angie (and others, but I know Angie is good with specs), is there anything color or stylewise that you think I should keep an eye out for? I am normally good with color, but having it right ON my face and near my eyes just throws me off. I don't want to go with boring brown again.

16 years ago

General

9 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

Maya

Veteran

bump...

16 years ago

starry

Active Member

i have been thinking about glasses too, since i need to get new frames. so for research, i've been scoping out everybody with cool specs...

yesterday i was in san francisco and saw 3 people with amazing pairs:
- one blue titanium
- one reddish-brown cat eye
- and the most amazing was a sleek pearly white frame...
the woman wearing them had light brown skin/black hair, and the white looked so cool on her. very 60's but in a sleek modern way.

i've never had colored specs, so i was inspired to see 3 people pull it off effortlessly, so that the color wasn't obtrusive, it just looked 'right'.

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Those pearly white frames sound divine, Starry. I would love to try white frames but they are hard to find (I have a similar complexion as the woman you described). I also have the added problem of having a very narrow face, so any glasses that come in one size usually do not fit me. I can't wear butterfly shapes or anything that has heavy sidebars. Cat eyes look good on me since they taper up and therefore look narrower. Rectangular and rounded rectangular frames work too. Ovals don't really suit me. A low bridge looks good since it shortens my big nose a bit. All this information I have down. But I still feel like I'm stuck when I look at rows of glasses, especially about color.

One of the glasses I liked last time I went was the Coach Gianna glasses in burgundy:

http://www.amazon.com/Coach-GI.....038;sr=1-1

They have little rhinestones on the temples. I thought it was cute but maybe it's tacky. The burgundy is also very understated, so it might just work out to being like brown glasses. I don't know. Are these cool and hip and graphic designery enough?

I tried these too and liked them, though the shape of the Giannas was better on me:

http://www.sunsrus.com/frame.php?id=2948551

The ones I tried were in "berry" which is a bright pink color.

I also tried on some purple frames that seemed to fit the best, but were probably the least interesting. And some fuschia cat eyes that were fun but didn't seem all that versatile. It was a very cool bright purple shade of fuschia. I know glasses don't have to match what I wear, but it just seemed so loud.

16 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Here’s my two cents:

o You are bound to a specific retail store and a specific style because of budget constraints and the thickness of your lenses – that’s where you start.

o I like the idea of something light on your face. Your hair, eyes and brows are dark and distinctive. A dark pair of specs is just not a good option. Too hard.

o You need to follow the line of your brow and prevent eye and cheek droop.

o You have huge eyes, so you’ll need lenses that are big enough.

o Do not worry about going a little wider at the corners of your eyes. This *can* be a good thing. I have a narrow face too and all my specs are WIDE. The look works if the rest of the variables are right. It opens up the face in a good way.

o Consider half rims too. Look at the specs in my facebook profile picture.

Lets get cracking!

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Thank you Angie! I do indeed have huge eyes, but my prescription actually de-magnifies them, so I always have to take that into consideration. Last time I did not do this, and I was really surprised at how big it made the lenses look compared to when I tried them on.

I really want to try a pair of white specs, but they are so hard to find, and the ones I did find do not come in a small enough size I'm not sure what other light colors or neutrals to try. What about brights? I was thinking plum or some shade of purple is good for brown eyes.

Going wide at the corners of my eyes is fine. These would be okay (assuming they were the right size) because the thickness is up in the corners but nowhere else:

http://www.lenscrafters.com/ey.....ren/rl6012

but these would not work:

http://www.lenscrafters.com/ey.....ue/vo2449b

Semi-rimless will not work at all. I was told that by the shop owners. The lenses are just too thick at the bottom. My brother just got his new glasses last week and initially chose a semi-rimless pair, but they strongly advised against that for him too. Our prescriptions are wacky because of the astigmatism.

What do you mean about eye and cheek droop?

16 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Aha. Fair enough. Thick lenses don’t work with half rimmed styles. Good thinking about the demagnification. I had forgotten about that too.

I *absolutely* 100% believe you need to entertain a colour – although you were not keen on the idea at all the last time.

o Specs do not need to match what you wear.

o Colour can be subtle – (my favourite specs are turquoise on the INSIDE. You’ve seen them). You don’t really notice the colour but other people do and it’s fabulous. The frames can be neutral but the temples a colour. Another goodie. Cathy (forum cciele) went shopping with me last week when she was in Seattle and she'll show you KILLER specs she tried on. They blew us away. They are perfect.

o The first LC style is nice – a little safe and predictable. Not my choice for you.

o The second style is too heavy on the corners and the diamonds are NOT your look. That's what I mean by cheek and eye droop. Frames must LIFT the cheeks and eyes. Always.

16 years ago

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

The only suggestion I would make is to abandon all your pre-conceptions about what doesn't look good for your face shape, and just try glasses on. I try on many, many, MANY pairs when I go shopping (I wear my contacts on those days so I can see myself, or I bring DH to be my eyes). I try on all kinds of things I KNOW usually don't look good on me. That's how I ended up with the turquoise ones!

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Those were not my selections Angie...they just demonstrated the kind of shapes/weights I could and could not wear.

Actually, the "safe" pair is close to something I would pick though, since it has both inner and outer rim color, and seems like a good shape for me. I don't think I'm going to find anything jaw-dropping and fashion forward on my budget AND within my shopping restrictions. You and Cathy had the benefit of shopping around various places and spending more liberally, but I do not have these options. On top of that, I need something that comes in a very small size, and that has a good grip on my nose so it doesn't slide down like my current ones do.

My lenses are also VERY expensive, so I really have to take that into consideration when choosing frames.

I'm not sure now. Maybe I should just cancel my appointment and put it off. If I'm just going to end up with another pair of boring and unsatisfying glasses, I do not want to waste time and money. If I do that it is going to be a very long time before I get a new pair, since I will need a whole lot of money to afford both the lenses AND frames...not to mention the doctor's visit.

No wonder I prefer contacts. I just haven't been wearing them as much because it seems like a waste to just wear them around the house and on errands.

16 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Maya, it doesn’t cost anything to have a squizz! Go have a look and report back.

16 years ago

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