EYEGLASSES...SHOPPING ONLINE + A TIP

I was looking at Advanced Style yesterday. Images of older men and woman shopping or simply taking a walk in NYC just fascinates me. I could not help but notice how LARGE their glasses were!  In an article the writer wrote for us today he talked about the late Mimi Weddell and included several pictures of this beautiful older woman.  One of those pictures was of Mimi sitting up in bed with her reading glasses on.  Now she knew how to select glasses.

WHY WE SHOP ONLINE FOR GLASSES
As we grow older we seem to need more glass in our glasses.  Though  many women are vain enough that they will not wear glasses in photos or even on the street, there all those of us that cannot see without our glasses...we are dangerously blind.   I personally have two pair of glasses...one for seeing (no joke!) and one for reading. I could use a third pair for the computer and another for golfing but it just seems wrong to own so many!!! That is why those of us that are older wear big glasses...with progressive lenses. The bigger the better.  Big big glasses!  (I might add here that surgery for my problem is not possible at this time.)

 The women pictured in Advanced Style seem to pull it off the big beautiful glasses. They wear those huge glasses with a lot of flare. I have to admire them for that. My problem is I cannot find those glasses here in Hillsboro, Oregon.  Darn!

SHOPPING ONLINE HOW-TO
So, just for fun I went shopping online for glass frames and I found a website that actually lets you try on the glasses so you can see how they look on your face.  You take a picture of yourself with your webcam and down load it on the website then choose the option of bifocals/progressive lenses.  This choice will give you all those glasses that have enough lens to accommodate your needs. I did find one that looked very good and worked with my oval face.  Virtual try-on might be something I will try in the future.  The site I looked at was called The Glasses Shop but I am sure there are others that would work for you.  If I were to do this, I would take the frames to the place I buy glasses and have them order the lenses that fit the frames.  I did this very thing last spring with an old pair of frames that I did not purchase from the place I had my prescription filled.  They trace your frames and order the lenses.  It is not a big deal at all.  If your vendor gives you a bad time about not buying their frames, go somewhere else.  

TIP
As long as I am on the subject, I suggest you always get a copy of your prescription when you are refitted for glasses.  I carry a eyeglass prescription card in my purse.  There is nothing worse that broken glasses in a far off place and no way to get a new pair.  Once when I was in Hong Kong I decided to have a pair of glasses made...they are very cheap there.  Because I carried my prescription it was possible for me to do that!  Cool, huh!!!

WHAT I WEAR NOW
My last pair of glasses feature an upper end man's (unisex?) frame in basic black. The frame is big enough to hold quite a lot of vision options. Even though I still I need reading glasses, I can read the labels on the shelves at the grocery store...a very good thing in my world. Really what I need  glass frame maker to do is remember not everyone is 23 and cannot wear glasses that are 1/4" deep...we need more GLASS not more GLASSES!!  And please dear glass people, make them beautifully stylish!

Thank you for listening

b