When I was nine years old, my third grade teacher noticed that I spent an inordinate amount of time a) coloring exactly inside the lines b) squinting at the chalkboard. I was accordingly shuttled to the optometrist, spent several minutes eyeballing one very large E and eventually diagnosed with 20/400 vision.
What? Yes.
That's nigh-on legally blind, y'all.
So I spent the better part of my elementary school career hidden behind the giant-grandma glasses of the early 90s. (I believe mine were light purple with some lovely gold molding where the arms connected to the lenses). When junior high approached and it became clear I was also destined for orthodontia, I put my foot down and announced that having braces and glasses simultaneously was simple unacceptable! I would have none of it!
So seventh grade found me inserting gas permeable contacts into my very weak eyes - a habit I continue to this day. I very, very rarely wear my glasses and almost never in public. In my mind, glasses are tied to questionable perms, pastel sweatsuits and the most singularly awkward time in my life. I don't feel like a sexy secretary or a hot-for-teacher. I feel like I'm going to get a dodge ball in the face. When men hit on me while I'm wearing glasses, I get all "Umm, what? Can you not see that I'm unattractive right now? Am I on a hidden camera show?"
What? Yes.
That's nigh-on legally blind, y'all.
So I spent the better part of my elementary school career hidden behind the giant-grandma glasses of the early 90s. (I believe mine were light purple with some lovely gold molding where the arms connected to the lenses). When junior high approached and it became clear I was also destined for orthodontia, I put my foot down and announced that having braces and glasses simultaneously was simple unacceptable! I would have none of it!
So seventh grade found me inserting gas permeable contacts into my very weak eyes - a habit I continue to this day. I very, very rarely wear my glasses and almost never in public. In my mind, glasses are tied to questionable perms, pastel sweatsuits and the most singularly awkward time in my life. I don't feel like a sexy secretary or a hot-for-teacher. I feel like I'm going to get a dodge ball in the face. When men hit on me while I'm wearing glasses, I get all "Umm, what? Can you not see that I'm unattractive right now? Am I on a hidden camera show?"
I know that glasses are extraordinarily hip at the moment and heaps of people are wearing them for the sake of fashion. Do you wear glasses - prescription or no? How do you feel about them?
I am a life long glasses wearer too, and unable to wear contacts for various reasons.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer to stumble around blind then be caught in public/at work with them on. Sadly, I have been photographed a few times in them recently and it makes me wat to (ahem) poke my eyes out.
Is this practical? Hells no... But they add so much to my already geeky image that it's a bit painful. AHH! Better blind than MORE geeky, that's my motto!
Yes,you might be surprised that your thick glasses that you have to wear to see, make you look quite cute, sexy, and desireable. I saw a girl that was wearing thick glasses (~1.5-2.0 cm) that had a strong red-brown tint in them, looking a board to see her grades at the end of the semester. The next semester, I saw her in class and sat down next to her. She was not wearing her glasses and was probably wearing contacts. But, I noticed that she did not take notes. When class was over, I walked out with her and she seemed to be seeing OK. I came to an intersection and she almost stepped out in front of a car and I grabbed her arm. I said didn't you see that car and she replied that she didn't have her glasses with her. I walked her back to her dorm. A few days later, I saw her in the Commons and she was not wearing her glasses. I thought that she must have contacts on. So, I walked over to her and said Hi and she did not recognize me, in fact she did not even respond. Another girl sitting across from her said that a guy is speaking to you. Oh, she said and then looked at me and squinted and said, I am sorry but I cannot see you at all, as I am not wearing my glasses. She took her thick glasses out of a case and put them on. I almost gasped, as they were very thick, with strong red-brown tint and flashed almost all of the time, so I could not see her eyes most of the time. Her glasses actually were quite small in catseye frame and I thought she looked quite cute in them, especially if she could see me, wearing them. I asked her why she didn't wear her glasses all of the time, if she could not see anything much without them. She said Oh, they make me look geeky and ugly. I said Oh, no you look very good wearing them and especially if you can see with them and without them you are obviously blind. She said, Really? I said yes and she put her thick glasses on, smiled at me and came closer. I them kissed her and we became boy-and-girl friends and lovers. We are still together and her glasses are much thicker now and she is wearing glasses with myodisc lenses in which she has to look through a very small lenes imbedded into a translucent carrier lenses and her eyes look very small and you can only barely see them. I still think she is very cute, pretty blond, with very blue eyes that are completely blind. Sometimes, we have sex with her wearing her very thick, unusual looking glasses, and other times when she is not wearing her glasses and I can see her beautiful, blind eyes. I like her both ways, but I want her to wear her very thick glasses most of the time so she can see somethings and sometime when we are having sex, I like her to wear her glasses so she can see me. She really is beautiful, with and without her glasses. I actually fell in love with her wearing her thick glasses and being able to see so much more. She tried contacts a couple of times, but they were too thick and irritated her eyes too much. And she was completely blind without her thick glasses when I first met her in class and walking back to her dorm. We recently got prescriptions for both contacts and glasses that reduced the thickness of both and so she sometimes does GOC,or glasses over contacts and she sees so much more, and looks outstanding and I can actually see her dark blue eyes most of the time behind her glasses that are not as thick as her regular glasses. We are now married and have two girls, 5 and 7 and they too are very nearsighted and wear strong glasses and have to get new prescriptions about every year. Recently the oldest one has had two new, stronger prescriptions in one year so she can see more things in school and everywhere. So, it seems that they have inherited their mother's poor eyesight, but also her very pretty looks, even wearing their glasses!
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I love glasses! I don't wear them, but when I was like 14 I went through a phase of wearing some fake ones I got from 'Hot Topic' online haha. I was such an emo. I don't wear fake ones now cos it's pretty embarassing when people are like 'I didn't know you needed glasses Helen!' and I'm like 'errr I don't actually'. It kind of feels like if I were to go around in a wheelchair or with a walking stick without needing it - like I'd offend people who actually do. If that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIf when I get older though I start to need glasses I will fully embrace my glasses! Although I would be a pretty stereotypical librarian with glasses...so maybe I'd wear contacts for work to avoid that stereotype, idk.
I got glasses last year at the age of 18, so thankfully I didn't have them at the same time as I had braces. I have astigmatism, so my eyes don't like to focus properly. After years of telling my Mum that I needed to see an optometrist and her telling me to 'stop lying', when I got to university and realised I couldn't see the lecture notes properly I finally did something about it.
ReplyDeleteI have two pairs of glasses, one black with white and pink accents, and another purple. I work part time in a library so I do sort of feel the 'sexy librarian' vibe - especially when I put my hair up with a pencil, something I do regularly because half way through my shift I'll decide my hair is annoying me =)
You look cute in your glasses!
I wear glasses, by prescription. I found I REALLY needed them when I was at university, first row in lecture hall and the professor turned a projector on and asked if everyone could see alright. Everyone said oh yeah. Even VERY far back. Um, I could barely see a thing. A visit to an optometrist followed the same afternoon, a referral to an oftamologist and after that glasses. My vision has kept deteriorating (new prescription every year!) but is stable now). I can't wear contacts but don't have a problem with eye wear. Some people make them into a fashion statement and match them with what they wear. With me it would have been too expensive but there are really some neat eye wear out there. Emphasis on neat.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I had to wear my glasses to work, because my contacts ran out and I am waiting for new ones to come in. One of my 8th grade students told me I looked like a nerd. For one sad moment I felt like I was back in middle school.
That's why I wear contacts.
Like you I've been legally blind since I was 7! I hated glasses for years because it was all tied up with my school and being teased for coke bottle thick glasses....
ReplyDeleteHowever, a few years ago I stopped being able to wear contact lenses. I had two choices. Go about blind or wear glasses.
Now I love my glasses. They are part of who I am. I have several pairs to match different outfits. I even have a pair of immensely cool big sunglasses with prescription lenses. Yeah they cost a bomb but so do contact lenses.
I'm happy, but it took me a long time to feel like that about glasses.
It was first discovered that I needed glasses when I was 8. My grandma chose me a lovely pair of cats eye frames which I promptly stopped wearing as soon as I could. It was then sort of forgotten about until about 6 years ago. I only need them for reading and computer work which, like everyone else, is my entire work day and then some. I love wearing glasses now and have for the last 6 years. I've embraced it and I think that's the key.
ReplyDeleteI "found out" in third grade, too. Wore glasses through 7th grade, then got the magical contacts. I'm not legally blind, but going without glasses/contacts is absolutely not an option...it's a world o' blurred colors. Never understood kids who "forgot" their glasses at home and then their parents had to bring them in. REALLY? YOU DIDN'T REALIZE YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING? Psh, I bet they didn't even need them.
ReplyDelete...Sorry. A little latent third grade rage? Anywho, wore contact 7th grade-sophomore year of college, and then was diagnosed with chronic dry eye...was told I couldn't wear glasses anymore/put on a major eye drop regime. Now I can wear them for working out/date nights, but yeah...they still hurt/irritate. When I first got switched to glasses only I was traumatized. I, too, have always equated glasses with a much uglier version of myself. Associated them with the ten minutes before I go to bed when my face is all zit-creamed up and my hair's in some crazy formation.
Anyway, long story made short(er), I'm mostly over it. I try to keep 1-2 fairly stylish pairs of glasses at the ready, and I do like them (Costco rocks for glasses, btw...so much more affordable than a lot of places and plenty o' chic options). Do I still wish I could wear contacts? Oh, definitely. For one, I feel like eye makeup is such a waste with glasses on. But my boyfriend likes the glasses, and I like having eyes that don't burn. So...glasses it is. Mostly. Don't think I'll ever TRULY stop feeling more attractive in contacts...
I wear prescription glasses,I'm not legally allowed to drive without them!
ReplyDeleteI like them because they add a bit of character to my face, but it's annoying in summer when I can't wear [non-prescription] sunnies because I can't see. Oh, and I'll need contacts when I start taking motorbike lessons...!
Whenever people tell me what their prescription is, I always think, HAH! I win! I'm -12 diopters! (In one eye, and -11.5 in the other. And this is for glasses, it's slightly different with contacts.) Then I remember: it's not a competition, and I am blind, blind, blind.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the 20/something equivalent is, but trust me - it's baaad. Doesn't qualify me as legally blind though, because here in NZ you have to have vision that can't be corrected by lenses/contacts to count as being blind. I see perfectly fine in my contacts. Glasses, I'm not such a fan of. Because I have such a high script, even using the thinnest most high-tech lenses still mean I have thick-as lenses, and consequently have that owl-ish look. Getting new glasses soon though as back ups--the last time I got glasses was about ten years ago so they really aren't doing the job now, I only wear them at home.
I have been wearing glasses since first grade, and am the type that can't leave home without them or contacts. I went through several horrible pairs of glasses (giant purple frames with transition lenses anyone?), which I partly blame on the fact that I couldn't actually see what I looked like when I tried them on.
ReplyDeleteIn middle school I got contacts and was a die hard contact wearer for years. I don't think I was seen in public with my glasses until college when I got a new pair that I found to be decent. Even those were only worn out about 3 times a year, and I was determined that they only looked good with my hair a certain way.
Then disaster struck: I got an eye infection a few years ago and had to wear glasses for a month. I had a new pair by then and actually started liking what I looked like with them on, and worse them with more than one hairstyle. While not happy I got the infection, I am glad that I got over my glasses wearing phobia and realized I can look pretty darn good in them. It does help that I am a librarian and get the "sexy-librarian" comment a lot more when I wear them.
I've had to wear glasses since I was 6 years old. I had a pair of thick granny glasses and I just cannot stand the old photos of me. I hated how I looked, how I couldn't see when it rained, how it steamed up when the temperature change, how I felt it was a ball magnet... (the list goes on). As soon as I was allowed to wear contacts, I hopped on that train straight away and never went back!
ReplyDeleteI still hate wearing glasses, I feel so dorky and unattractive. I too never wear them outside.
There was one point when I had a little evey infection and I couldn't wear my lenses in my right eye as I was taking eye drops. Stubborn and blind (-9.00 in each eye), I decided to go to school with only my left lense in. There was no way in hell I was going to be in public with my glasses on. So I ended up spending almost two weeks half blind and obviously feeling a little silly just do I didn't have to wear glasses.
Silly as it may sound, I'd still do it againg if I had to. I just hate wearing glasses!
I don't wear glasses but they do rock. :)
ReplyDeletei've worn glasses since i was in sixth grade, and although i adapt well to contacts, i refuse to wear them! i love my glasses, i think i look "smarter" with them on, and i definately don't mind having to wear them for the rest of my life!
ReplyDeleteI'm sexy in my glasses :)
ReplyDeleteI've been wearing contacts since I was 14 (so, almost 16 years now) and I just found out a couple of months ago that I have a mild astigmatism, so I really should be wearing glasses. I haven't gotten around to getting new ones yet, though - I stepped on mine on a plane last summer and they're currently held together with electrical tape. Now THAT'S sexy.
ReplyDeleteit's funny you posted this today: i'm farsighted and i wear glasses (and have since i was five) but i completely FORGOT them today. (i took my time getting out of bed which left me about ten minutes to get ready). i can see, however, since i'm farsighted i just have to strain my eyes but i am able to focus. anyway, you look adorable in your glasses, sarah!
ReplyDelete<3 Melanie
I got braces and glasses the same week. And then went skiing for the first time that weekend. It was HORRIBLE.
ReplyDeleteI ended up having braces for five years and eventually converted to contacts. I almost never wear my glasses for the very same reason! They are just so ugly and hide my beautiful face :(
My boyfriend's worn them since elementary school, and he thinks it's really dumb when people who don't need glasses wear them. I don't mind it THAT much, because sometimes it looks really cute, but if you think about it, it's almost akin to using crutches for fashion or something.
ReplyDeleteThat plushie with the glasses made my morning.
I got glasses when I was 12.. for distance. omg, oogly cat like frames... I hated them... At the age of 26 I got my first pair of contacts. Soft lenses and have been wearing them 4 ever.. I'm on monovision where one eye has the prescrip. for distance and the other has the prescrip for reading... Believe me your brain can make the adjustment... Its better than reading glasses.
ReplyDeleteFor once, I really like my glasses!
ReplyDeletehttp://dailybooth.com/MimsieSky/4495841
I've had to wear reading/computer glasses since 10th grade because of eye strain. I don't wear them a lot, but I don't really mind when I do.
Luckily we took care of the braces part before High School. haha
My new glasses cost me over $300 but it's worth it, because I actually wear these, as opposed to my 4 other pairs that I've had.
And I've gotten many compliments from my wearing these, so Horray! :D
Well actually, I'm wearing mine right now(;
ReplyDeletebuuut, generally I only break 'em out if my contacts are going nuts or I'm already donning the "the only people allowed to see my today are my dogs" pajama day outfit.
(;
however, I think you look cute in glasses, and they can be quite attractive accessories for a face.
I heart my glasses.
ReplyDeleteI have been wearing them since I was six. I went through the requisite contact-wearing phase during middle school and high school, but ditched the lenses my senior year and have been wearing glasses ever since. I even wore my lovely glasses in my *wedding* (and got lots of compliments about it).
I think its sad that there is a stigma attached to wearing glasses. I think they are cute on every size and face shape. And the choices available today are MUCH better than the choices of the early nineties AM I RIGHT??? My optometrist now carries DIOR glasses. Craziness!
I encourage all you loyal contact-wearers to give glasses a try. You might be surprised at how cute you look. B-)
I wear prescription glasses -- 50% of the time. When I'm really dressed up for something or when I'm shooting(my camera, not a gun), I'm in contacts because they show off eye makeup better, and they're easier and don't get in the way. But I love the way my glasses look too, so when they won't be in the way I tend to wear them.
ReplyDeleteI wear glasses %100 of the time right now. I'm thinking of getting contacts to have another option, but I love my glasses. And I get lots of hot teacher/librarian comments.
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh about your glasses AND braces line! I'm 36 and have worn glasses (frames keep getting cuter with every new eye exam!) for over 10 years. And I just got braces. While a tiny part of me feels like a super nerd, I'm embracing my inner teen and relishing looking 20 years younger!
ReplyDeleteI have also had VERY poor vision since I was 8. I wear contacts daily and only wear glasses if I have a problem with my contacts or something. That means maybe 10-12 days a year with glasses. And like you describe so eloquently, Sarah, I feel down right ugly in them. I think "Oh no, don't look at me! I know I should put a brown bag over my head!" Silly, but there you are.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about 13 I was looking at glasses in the store, and the optician walked up to me asking if I needed help. I told him I was getting new glasses, and how nearsighted I was. He didn't believe me, laughed, and said they had discounted guide dogs these days. My mum heard him, walked over to us and announced that I war correct when I stated to what degree I was nearsighted. I just wanted to cry. And - I had braces too...
Luckily I feel like I've been the ugly duckling. Not that I'm all that gorgeous but thanks to the amazing people in my life - and contacts - I feel pretty enough. So if you're an awkward teenager feeling ugly: you'll grow out of it. And you will be lots more interesting than those popular girls in your class, because of what you're going through. You'll at least have a personality. ;-)
I've been wearing glasses since I was in second grade and honestly have never wanted nor tried to wear contacts. Never really saw much of a point and wearing glasses never bothered me. I was always, and probably will always be, the quiet nerdy kid so it really just makes sense that I need glasses.
ReplyDeletePeople who wear glasses just to be hip and trendy kinda tick me off though. I've known plenty of people who were teased and called names for wearing glasses, then suddenly it's cool?! Ugh, whatever man. Whatever.
Wow, I love these pictures!! I don't wear glasses, the last time my eyes were checked my vision was pretty close to perfect. I did attempt to sabotage my eyesight in elementary school though-- I really wanted glasses so I purposely failed all of my eye tests. No one believed me though...
ReplyDeleteI rarely wear my glasses in public. Rarely. Eventhough I live in a city where I don't really know anyone, I still won't wear them out. I don't think I look cute in them at all.
ReplyDeleteYou need to have a post where we submit pics of us in our glasses! Freedom from nerdiness! Ok, I'm still a nerd w/o the glasses! ;)
Ah, you and I are similar, Sarah. Except I was a glasses-wearer from the age of 4. 20/400 for me too. Got my gas-perm lenses at the age of 15 and they CHANGED MY LIFE. As an adult, and with the advent of technology that makes my nerd-thick glasses appreciably thinner (as long as I choose plastic frames), I wear my glasses about 2 days a week. I embrace it, but it was a long, slow road.
ReplyDeleteI've had glasses since the second grade, when we accidentally found out I needed them at my mom's eye appointment. I told her which lines I could see, because I"m super competitive like that, and she was like hmmm you're next. And I've always liked having them. Well more accurately I never minded them as a kid and now I like them. For a while in middle school I tried the gas permeable contacts and I could not do it. Seeing them slide up and down as I blinked drove me crazy.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of nice that glasses are having their fashion moment but I sort of worry about what will happen when the fashion peeps decide that they are "so yesterday" because, dude I will still need to wear mine. I fear people will be eyeballing me all "she didn't get the memo". Although my doc says I can wear soft contacts now, I'm not sure that I care to stick my finger in my eye.
They discovered my nearsightedness in third grade too, and I've had glasses (and soft contacts) ever since. The funny thing is that I desperately wanted tortoiseshell-framed glasses before I discovered I needed them, and then my parents made me get gold frames instead!
ReplyDeleteI hated my glasses until around 2003, when I picked up a pair of navy-colored metal frames that I LOVED (and I've had them ever since). I really only wear my contacts when I want to feel "pretty" rather than "geeky-chic."
How cool was I?
Er, clarification: soft contacts since eighth grade. My parents barely let me get them then so they certainly wouldn't have trusted a nine-year-old with them!
ReplyDeleteAh, glasses and contacts... My mom took me to the eye doctor when she noticed I had a wandering eye, (also both of my parents had glasses or did when they were younger, so she knew she would have to eventually)in the summer before second grade. We realized that I can only see through one eye at once(something that glasses and especially contacts actually help with) and bad vision.
ReplyDeleteI hated my glasses then and I do now, about 10(almost 11) years later. I've had contacts since my freshman year of high school and wear them every day unless I have a problem with my eyes like a sty or pink eye... weirdly enough like I think I do today! It's funny that now glasses are so in, I like how they look in certain photos, and how some people wear them, but on me? NO!
I've worn glasses for almost 20 years - since I was 12 - and I love them. To me, they're like a security blanket, shielding me from the rest of the world. I've never worn contacts, and the only time I would consider them is when I'm lying on the couch, watching a movie. They're a pain in the ass then!
ReplyDeleteI've worn glasses for 20 years (since I was 7), and I love them. They make me feel smart, they're the perfect accessory (I may have 4 pairs...) and after this long, they're just "me."
ReplyDeleteI didn't know I needed glasses until about 2/3 years ago. I was fed up with my super watering eyes when I was reading, so I bucked up and went to the eye doctor. Astigmatism in both. I actually love my glasses and feel like they are a part of me now. :)
ReplyDeleteI used to feel exactly the same way! I got glasses when I was 4 or 5 and also had to wear an eye-patch underneath them on one eye for a couple of years. It was awful! As soon as I got to high school I made sure that I had contacts, and I only wore contacts for about 5 years. In university though, I decided that I didn't have to have pink plastic coke-bottle glasses like I did when I was 5, so I bought myself a pair that I felt great in and haven't looked back. It's liberating for me not to have to worry about contact solution, or falling asleep with them in. My vision is so bad that I have reading glasses now in addition to my regular glasses (I refuse to get bifocals at the age of 24), but I love both pairs and now I don't care who knows it!
ReplyDeleteshort but sweet i love my glasses!
ReplyDeleteI hate my glasses - I feel like I'm suffering some form of a handicap because of my poor vision. I can't see my alarm clock first thing in the morning, I have to look ridiculously close at my shampoo bottle to make sure it's not conditioner when I'm in the shower, putting on eye makeup means nearly sitting in the bathroom sink to get close enough to the mirror. I hate it.
ReplyDeleteI think some people can really pull them off.
ReplyDeleteI have not worn them for fashion. The only time I wear my fake glasses is when I'm with friends and just goofing around, haha.
I wear contacts. I wore glasses up until three years ago. I remember my first pair- they were huge blue plastic frames. I'm grateful for contacts!
ReplyDeleteI've worn prescription glasses since 9th grade and while I didn't love them at first, I adore them now. My first pair looked terrible on me and I only wore them when absolutely necessary, but after I lost them, I figured I should try to get a pair I actually like. Contacts were out of the question, because I had an irrational fear of them--I don't any more, but I feel like my glasses are a part of who I am. :D
ReplyDeletei have to wear glasses now to read. growing up i had 20/20 vision, but (one thing they dont tell you about having a baby) my eye sight became more poor after my daughter was born.
ReplyDeletethat being said, i like my glasses. they're green and prada made them (!!!). :)
I have recently just been told that I need glasses and I must say that I am in love with them. Not so much the glasses but there is a whole new world out there.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably end up wearing them when I get older - nearly all my family has to have reading glasses after 40. I quite like them though, and contacts freak me out a bit.
ReplyDeleteYours really suit you!
oh man. I love love love my glasses! I think they're sexy. I didn't always feel this way...it's really about finding the pair that works for you and doesn't make you feel like a dumpy librarian...been there.
ReplyDeleteAlso....on the practical side of things...I like seeing a WHOLE lot better than NOT seeing :) so...
I was supposed to get glasses in elementary school, but procrastination on both my part and that of my parents led to me getting them when I was 13. I generally avoided wearing them if I could, squinting away at the board and asking to borrow someone else's notes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally got contacts, I found them too much of a hassle to put in every morning. It wasn't until I start driving every day that I realized that those street signs? Yeah, they're kinda (as in very) blurry.
For whatever reason, about a year and a half ago, I started wearing my glasses daily (probably because I am too poor to afford the boxes of contacts, haha). I'm proud of them now.
You should be proud of yours too!
I have needed glasses since I was in junior high, and I do believe I had the bad perm and the braces at the time, so it was a bit of a nightmare! I've been wearing contacts since high school when I started lifeguarding and couldn't really dive into the water if needed while wearing my glasses. I love the freedom of contacts and being able to wear "normal" sunglasses when I want, but sometimes I'm lazy and don't feel like putting them in, so I'll wear my glasses. I love my glasses. I think because they aren't big, round, and ugly, they don't remind me of junior high times.
ReplyDeleteMy glasses are my number one fashion accessory. I feel naked when I wear contacts.
ReplyDeleteI hate wearing my glases! And I feel like wearing contacts is a constant battle (despite wearing them for over 10 years.) I've determined it's so much trouble that I'm getting Lasik surgery exactly two weeks from today! Sure, my salary is only about 2 dollars/year as well (go team non-profits!), but I'm willing to hand over a chunk of change a month for the next year or so to get it paid for. I don't care if glasses are hip these days, I just hate not being able to see! And besides, "Boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses." 8)
ReplyDeleteI have been wearing glasses since my first year of college, and I can't imagine how things were before I had them. I am the opposite of you! I LOVE my glasses, and feel so ugly and weird looking without them. They're also somehow strangely comforting to me - when I don't have them on I feel naked and like people can look right through me.
ReplyDeleteI've been wearing glasses since 6th grade. At first, I had to because they didn't make contacts for people with astigmatism. Now they do and I'm considering going for the big leap.
ReplyDeleteWhat's holding me back? People always tell me "I have a face for glasses." So does that mean I have a face that shouldn't be seen without them? Because when you've spent 15 years behind lenses, you just aren't sure if your face is pretty enough to get along without them. O! Vanity! Thy name is Farley.
I got glasses in 10th grade- so I actually remember being embarassed about having to wear them in public, but after awhile you just get used to it.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have a pair of two-toned plastic emporio Armani 9391 glasses that I wear off and on. Nerd chic.
I got my first pair of glasses when I was five years old. I didn't start wearing them everyday til I got to middle school and realized that I can't see crap without them. My vision is so bad. I could only make out big shapes and colors. Forget about reading, I have to put a book to my face to see the tiny letters. I was denial for a long time, telling myself I don't really need them. Until one time I was taking the subway home, and I got on the wrong train because I couldn't read the sign before I got on. I just recently starting dabbling into designer frames, proudly wearing my Dior glasses everyday now. I'm thinking of getting my first pair of contacts for the summer, so I could actually wear sunglasses and see and the same time.
ReplyDeleteCheers to the four eyes! :)
I've been wearing glasses since I was 9, too, and I too feel unattractive while wearing them! I MUCH prefer contact lenses. I wish I could get laser eye surgery!
ReplyDeleteI have always been a little self conscious about my face, so I like to hide behind my frames. Contacts have been helpful in sporting events and beach trips, but I feel a bit exposed when I don't have my glasses on. And, if you have bright red frames from a cute brand in Denmark, wouldn't you want to wear them? :)
ReplyDeleteI wear glasses but grew to like them only recently. Partly because I have no way out, as my eyes are too dry to wear contact lenses.
ReplyDeleteBut thats not the point.
Sarah - YOU LOOK LOVELY IN THOSE GLASSES!
I feel exactly the same! I associate my glasses with being geeky and awkward and never feel ready to face the world when wearing them. I'm trying to force myself to wear them out, but I always take them off for photos cause I am so vain! I was telling my mum about this, and she helpfully said 'Well, you do look better without them..' Thanks mum!
ReplyDeleteI've been wearing glasses since I was six and contacts since I was 13. For many, many years, I felt that contacts made me more attractive and people noticed my eyes more. However, after seeing an eye doctor a few years ago who told me that I had been wearing my contacts too much, I've come to terms with wearing my glasses out in public. Typically, I'd wear them to work when I worked in the drugstore, rainy or cloudy days, or when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to leave the house. I have a great pair now that I love, so it doesn't make me feel as self-confident as it did in the past. However, I will admit I wear my contacts more in the summer, because my eyes are so light sensitive and I need to wear sunglasses so that my head doesn't explode.
ReplyDeleteI've been wearing glasses since I was 7 (we probably had matching big plastic frames in the 90's), and went through a phase between the ages of 12 and 15 where I would not wear my glasses. I've never tried contacts, and have become attached to my glasses as just being part of how I look. Without them on I barely recognize myself.
ReplyDeletein high school, i had reading glasses and never wore them because it was such a pain to be looking down and then have to look at the board and have to take them off, put them back on, take them off, etc...
ReplyDeletein college, i like to wear said glasses when giving presentations - it made my classmates seem a bit fuzzy and off so i didn't mind speaking in front of them so much.
7 years after that first pair of readers (which i pretty much stopped wearing (except for presentation giving) after i was out of high school), i had another eye appointment (finally got vision insurance...), after too many eye-headaches and haveing discovered weird facial muscles from squinting one eye all of the time (one's +, the other -, neither very much, but just enough to give me headaches with their compensating...)
now i have glasses that i love, that i can wear all of the time, and i don't get anymore headaches, hooray! i will never ever wear contacts. touching my eyeball every day? no thank you.
besides, my glasses are amazingly cute and wearing glasses makes me feel a bit like i'm hiding - like when you're wearing dark sunglasses and no one can see your eyes to tell what you're looking at or if you're even awake - except with real glasses, they can see you, i just forget that sometimes...
anyway, glasses=love.
I've worn them since 8th grade. I have astigmatism...very sexy. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI love my glasses and always have - the bigger the better. I feel weird when I don't have them on and think I look weird without them. It's a good thing because I can't do contacts. Tried once and it took me an hour to get one in. NEVER AGAIN.
Honestly, I'm bothered by glasses as a trend. Glasses shouldn't be a trend. I need them to see. I shake my fist at those who perp being visually impaired and am borderline offended by those unscrupulous who wear frames without lenses. What IS that?!?!
And Von, you look gorgeous in frames!
ReplyDeleteOh I was like you. When I was nine, I got a pair of thick pink plastic frames with red hearts in teh corners, complete with a rhinestone accent. Hideous. I snuck them out of my bookbag only when I absolutely needed them, and stowed them away as soon as I was done. This continuted until my junior year of college when I was introduced to designer, trendy frames that actually fit my face! I started wearing my glasses daily and proudly!
ReplyDeleteEveryone loves me in glasses, and I love my glasses too. But, I did get contacts two years ago mostly for vacation so I could see when I snorkel. :-) I usually wear my glasses to work (contacts dry up quick staring at a computer screen all day) and my contacts on the weekends.
P.S. You look so smart in glasses! I understand it's hard to get over the long-held stigma though.
I do have glasses, although since getting contacts in January I've only pulled out my trusty frames a handful of times. I had to wear them all day in school because I could never see the board otherwise, but after graduation (and until I got contacts) I really only had to wear them a few times a day. I'm nearsighted, which works out OK for the majority of my desk-job day. And it means I've left the house quite a few times without my glasses, and didn't realize it until I was driving and found that I couldn't read any of the signs. In those cases I have my passenger read the signs to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people who see wearing fake glasses like having a "fashion" crutch or "stylish" hearing aid. Ridiculous.
I wear glasses because I NEED them. People who wear them as fashion well it bothers me. My dear friend who wears glasses and is handicapped to a wheelchair due to an accident is bothered by it as well.
ReplyDeleteHe coined the following term that he also then submitted to Urban Dictionary that describes those people to a T
Nonprescripster
A hipster who wears nonprescription spectacles, thoughtlessly mocking the disability of the genuinely (physically) short/longsighted. Much easier to spot than they think.
example
Look at the nonprescripster with the Golden Girls goggles. She has not paid her dues.
Hahahahaha, that story is sadly familiar. I never needed orthodontia, but after literally getting a basketball to the face and having my huge purple glasses break against my nose, I pushed as hard as I could for contacts. I've worn RGPs most of my life, except for the last several years when they became too uncomfortable. (Maybe I shouldn't have been buying them at Binyon's??) So I've been rocking my rectangular tortoise shells for a few years now. I'm currently just days away from getting new contacts lenses from an actual eye doctor (wow, who would have thought that the Binyon's eye docs did such a bad job on my prescription last time around?) and am looking forward to the return of no-glasses Shaye, even though I do like the look sometimes.
ReplyDeleteBut Sarah, I think you look adorable in your glasses! (Um, hi. First-time commenter.)
I used to wear "fake glasses".
ReplyDeleteI bought a pair when I was about 11- when my best friend had just gotten real ones.
I thought she looked so cool that I wanted them too...20/20 vision wasn't going to stop me!
...I looked like Lisa Loeb till I was 13 when she got contacts and "so did i". LOL ;)
Hi! I stumbled on your blog and I absolutely adore it! I also made a list of 25 things to do before I turn 25! Check it out! =)
ReplyDeleteI am legally blind - I have a rare condition known as achromotopsia. My eyes have no cone cells, I'm completly colour blind (which is hard to explain, but SORTA like seeing the whole world in shades of grey), severly short sighted (I use a cane sometimes) and extremely light sensitive. I also have nystagmus (wobbly eyes - I blind and squint and don't look at people when I talk to them) which means I can't wear contacts.
ReplyDeleteI have worn glasses since I was 1 year old. Ever since I realised I was "different" and kids started bullying me, I hated my glasses, because to me they represented an outward marker that I was not normal and I would never fit in. When I was 16 I got so fed up I just stopped wearing them. My eyesight was not going to get any WORSE. I've always been completly cool with what I could see, and I never minded not seeing what other people can, but I hated the glasses because they reminded me of the bullies and the bad people.
When I was 20 I went to a local metal show and saw an AMAZING band. Talking to the really hot singer afterward, I made some passing joke about being color-blind, and he points at me and says "Achromotopsia!" I'm thinking "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"
Turns out, he has it too. The first person in my entire life (and likely one of the last) who has it! We became incredibly close friends. And he showed me his glasses, which have thick red polarised lenses and completly eliminate the problems we have with light sensitivity. They also make reds and oranges pulsate and mean I can actually recognise reds when I wear them.
So I HAD to get my own pair, and because I was 21 and I had finally learnt to completly love and accept myself, and I'd grown into my face a bit, and I had newfound confidence, and my glasses were too cool and red (my favorite color) I LOVE them. And people stop me in the street to comment on them. They are too cool :)
You can see them here:
http://steffmetal.com/swan-clothing-sock-garters-genitorturers/
I started wearing glasses my first semester of college. I loved them immediately. I feel my face is kinda too square at the jaw, And once I put those babies on I went "Oh, this feels so much more balanced now."
ReplyDeleteI have really, really dark circles around my eyes, and I've never found the "right" concealer, and the glasses really detract from that.
i LOVE GLASSES! yours are cute!
ReplyDeleteYou look really cute with glasses. :)
ReplyDeleteI wore glasses from when I was 8ish until 25 when I got lasik as a college graduation present. I was always teased in elementary school (the standard "four eyes" insult). I was always told I couldn't wear contacts because I had astigmatism. The first thing I did when I got the lasik done was buy some cute sunglasses! I always hated not being able to wear sunglasses since I couldn't see clearly without my glasses. In the six years since I've been without glasses I've noticed my vision getting slightly worse but nothing that causes me to need glasses again. I don't think I'll mind too much if I ever need to get glasses to read or drive with. There are a lot of cute styles out there now!
Wow! Thank you guys for all the sweet compliments on my glasses - though I'm not sure that you can counteract five, formative years of self-consciousnesses ;D
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear how many of your have glasses or contacts!
Wow! Thank you guys for all the sweet compliments on my glasses - though I'm not sure that you can counteract five, formative years of self-consciousnesses ;D
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear how many of your have glasses or contacts!
I've never worn glasses or contacts surprisingly. But I really don't like when people are wearing those nerd glasses just to wear them. Just because I think those glasses just look plain stupid, to be brutally honest. But maybe I'm just old now, that I don't "get" it.
ReplyDelete-ps. that stuffed monkey with glasses, is so adorable. He's a day maker. :)
I must be honest, when I was a kid I was dying to have glasses! I thought they were so fun with all the different shapes and colors they came in. I would often try to lie on my eye exams, but since I'm horrible at lying I never got a pair. I also wanted braces too, they were viewed as colorful and all the popular kids had them. Never got those either!
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly the same way as you about glasses, Sarah. I started wearing them at the same age. However, I had to go through the horror of wearing both glasses and braces at the same time, because I started wearing braces a year after the glasses. Which meant that I was also the first person in my class to wear them. A *lovely* experience. I started wearing contact lenses when I was about sixteen. The one day a week I wear glasses I refer to as my 'ugly day'. If I mention having glasses some guys are all 'oooh I want to see you in glasses', like you say, but glasses are tied for me to being bullied. I think lots of other people look GREAT in glasses, but me? Nope. Nuh uh. One day when I have the money to buy a nice pair I might try them again, but now I'll stick with contacts.
ReplyDeleteI primarily wear contacts. Or I did. I recently started to have double vision while driving. I also have trouble reading certain fonts with my contacts. So for right now I'm wearing my glasses (and not driving >_<) I'm waiting on an appointment to figure it all out.
ReplyDeleteI prefer contacts by far. My glasses often make me feel like a goofball. Also - in junior high/high school I *was* the girl with braces and glasses. Three years of fun, heh.
I got glasses in third grade, and braces the next year, but neither of those really bothered me. I did hate my glasses because I tended to lose them or they got in the way when I did sports or fogged up in winter though. I got contacts in middle school because of that, and lasiks as my college graduation present. So now I am a librarian without glasses. Although since I got lasiks for nearsightedness I will probably become farsighted and need reading glasses at around 40 since nearsightedness helps prevent that and lasiks resets it. I think I won't mind so much since you don't have to wear reading glasses all the time usually.
ReplyDeletei realised at age 21 that i had needed glasses my entire life -- yes, i'm slow. my eyesight is pretty bad, and i need my glasses for most things, but i just can't get used to wearing them. i hate contacts, too. it doesn't help that my glasses have clear frames, which refract any/all lights -- really, really annoying. they are also the kind of glasses with small frames, so i can always see the frames in my peripheral vision. when i can afford it, i'm getting bigger glasses.
ReplyDeletei love my prescription sunglasses, though -http://ponyandpink.blogspot.com/2009/07/thanks-wayne.html. they're awesome.
I have glasses and my boyfriend likes when I wear them, but I too consider a glasses day to be a lazy/sick day so it's hard for me to feel my best wearing them. Also I'm always wishing I had new frames b/c THEN I could rock them, but i doubt it would change my mind.
ReplyDelete"Whenever people tell me what their prescription is, I always think, HAH! I win!"
ReplyDeleteTeresa I'm the same way! And I can't resist now, I win! My glasses are -12.5 and -13.75. So no, I am never ever seen in my glasses in public. For me they're not funky or sexy or cute nerdy. I wish.
I think the secret to glasses is just find the ones to suit your face.
ReplyDeleteI adored contacts when I could wear them. I got a seriously rare and serious eye infection when I was in Gr 12 and missed the last 5 weeks of school. I had to wear sunglasses to my prom, and graduation. I tripped. It was awesome.
So promise me if you're going to wear contacts so frequently you'll clean them properly and take care of your eyes! I almost completely lost vision in my eyes, so it can get quite serious!
Argh! I HATED it when people started thinking that wearing glasses was cute! I think Helen had it spot on--like wearing glasses when you don't need them does offend me, just a little.
ReplyDeleteNo peripheral vision. Can't wear sunglasses. When it's hot out, they slide down my nose. You can't run, swim or do anything fun in glasses because they fall off or fog up.
Plus, if your prescription is as bad as mine, you constantly have people snatching them off your face and going, "Wow! How can you SEE!"
Nope, no thanks. If you need glasses, you are part of my tribe, if not...you can't understand.
Dude, I totally just ordered a new pair of glasses! I've been wearing glasses since the age of 5. Failed that eye exam in kinder. I started wearing contacts in 8th grade. I mostly wear my contacts but every few days or so I wear my glasses. I'm really excited about the new pair. Yay for glasses! 8)
ReplyDeleteNa... I'm much too vain to wear glasses. Let me keep squinting!
ReplyDeleteI wanted glasses desperately as a kid -- and got them at age 8. Big, brown, goofy-looking plastic ones, courtesy of 1989. I did try contacts in ninth grade at my dad's urging (his whole family is terribly nearsighted like me, but they all wear contacts), but after a while my eyes hurt and were dry so I gave up. It's been nice watching frames get more fashionable over the last ten years (I remember in high school you could only get black retro frames from vintage clothing shops), and like others, I feel naked and exposed (and baggy-eyed) without them. And don't even get me started on how much fake glasses annoy me.
ReplyDeleteI love my glasses. I too had glasses in elementary; wore contacts in junior high and then switched back to glasses in high school. These days I never feel more myself then when I'm wearing my glasses.
ReplyDeleteI wear gasses nearly every day (read: 355/365 days a year). I technically only need them to drive and read from a distance, but it's easier to leave them on my face when I get some place cause I know I'll just end up loosing them. I also have astigmatism, so most things aren't quite crisp without my specs. At home I only wear my glasses when I'm watching tv. Since I don't really need them to see I'd rather not rely on them. That all being said, the main reason why I don't just wear contacts is vanity. Say what?! Yes,believe it or not, I actually wear glasses cause I'm trying to cover up my obnoxiously ever-present under eye circles. As far as fake/hipster glasses go, I went through my own black plastic frames phase while I was in high school and am SO over it. I'll never understand how something ridiculously unnecessary has become so "cool".
ReplyDeleteLfe long glasses wearer who discovered the wonders of contacts when 15. Since then, I NEVER am caught dead in public in glasses beyond running out to get the mail.
ReplyDeleteThe lenses are just too thick and distort my eyes and face when I wear the glasses. Yet, I have designer frames...Burberry...and love them. I just don't like how they age me and make me look nerdy when I try wearing them while dressed for leacving the house. Plus it is impossible to put on make-up and do my hair without them on because I am so short-sighted!
I've been wearing glasses for quite some time now.. well, only because I have no choice. I've got really poor eyesight, and i'm not yet 'responsible' enough for contact lenses. so for those past few years, i loathed them. but this year, i got these really nice ones, and just love them. they're like some part of me. :)
ReplyDeleteI always wanted glasses when I was little but I never got prescribed any until 17/18. So now I have glasses that are the very minimum strength that I am supposed to wear when using the computer (like I do all day every day for my job) but I forgot a lot. I can still see fine but I often get headaches by the end of the day without them. I love them, they're fairly slim black frames but with secret surprise leopard print on the inside, raawwwrr!
ReplyDeleteApart from that I do have some non-prescription hipster-wayfarer-nerd glasses that I wear occasionally around the house (mostly when mucking about playing drinking games on chat roulette)
Wow, it looks like you really hit a nerve with this topic! I've worn glasses since the third grade, when I noticed that from my desk, it didn't look like the teacher was writing anything at all on the board, just moving her hand over it in a writing-like motion. I too went through a great early-90s glasses phase, but I've stuck with glasses to the present day. I tried contacts in eighth grade, but found the upkeep tiresome; I like that with glasses, I can just put them on my face and forget about 'em. I've had them so long that I've never really seen my adult face without them, and I think I look kind of "naked" without my specs. So, I totally did the glasses+braces thing, but since I was already a super-nerd, it wasn't like adding braces could diminish my cool factor any further. :)
ReplyDeleteMy parents got Lasik a few years ago after a lifetime of wearing glasses, and for a while it was really weird for me and I couldn't get used to it. But now, when I see pictures of them with glasses, I'm like, "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that!" So maybe it would be the same with me if I ever did the surgery.
Steff Metal, that was a really awesome story! Thank you for sharing! I hope that those glasses continue to bring you much joy!
ReplyDeleteFor a very long time, I dreaded having to get glasses. My mom is almost blind and my dad is quite near-sighted so I knew I would have to wear them eventually. When I finally gave in, I was scared because I had finally just started accepting how I looked. Unfortunately, my first pair didn't help much. But I got a new pair last year. And recently, I started consistently wearing them and realized something amazing - I look much better in photographs with them on! In all of my old photos, I would squint or have my eyes open way too much. I hated my old glasses, but my new ones that are hipster-like fill out my face nicely. So while I sympathize with blindness, I'm incredibly grateful that I found ones that work for me.
ReplyDeleteI wear glasses 90% of the time and I love them! I have pairs in zebra, brown with flowers and lime green. I also recently splurged on prescription sunglasses and cue angels singing because- LIFE CHANGING! I love my glasses and even more so in the summer, they are indispensable! I can't jump into a lake or pool with contacts so it's all glasses all the time :)
ReplyDeleteyou know, i love my glasses but i don't like wearing them all the time because they hurt my nose.
ReplyDeletebut if i do wear them, under duress like an eye infection or scratch or something (which makes me feel gross to begin with), but i style it right- my rate of getting hit on/complimented increases at least 120%.
it's quite bizarre.
I've been wearing specs since I was three-years-old. Admittedly, back in my kidhood/teenhood I was pigeon-holed in the Geek Group for them. From 14 to 17 I also had train track braces, to boot. It weren't fun.
ReplyDeleteBut the thought of putting bits of plastic stuff in my eyes? Bleurgh!
And besides, the Geek Group is the best.
In adulthood, I get really tired of hearing people complain about being seen in specs I'm afraid. What's so wrong with 'em? Get to Specsavers and get some classy ones that frame your face just lovely.
Jxx
I wore a pair of average-prescription glasses for two years, but one day I decided to update the prescription and get new frames. It turned out that I'm much more blind than I thought and I had to get a custom-made lens for my right eye. I actually like my glasses, and opted to not go for the popular thick, square black frame because even if they are popular now, they won't be forever!
ReplyDeleteI'm 20/450. My eyesight started degrading in 7th grade, but it wasn't *that* bad, so I waited until it got to the point where I couldn't see the white board in 10th grade before finally getting glasses. I hated them so much. First of all, I apparently have a weird face shape, because a good 90% of glasses look terrible on me. So it took forever to find a pair that was suitable. The one pair I found is the only one I ever wore, for five years, before they finally got broken. But yeah, they just got in the way, and made me feel unattractive, and all that jazz, and point is, now I freaking love contacts. I'd love it even more if my eyes worked, but I can't have everything, I guess.
ReplyDeletelmao! I wore glasses and had braces during my senior year in high school to sophmore year in college. I was NOT a hip kid in time I was supposed to be most hip. I think I still have a distorted idea of what i look like with my glasses on, but I feel OK with them on in public. :D I like my contacts, but I can't bear with them for the whole day.
ReplyDeleteI've worn glasses (and, for a short while, contacts) since I was 8 or 9. I had the large tortoiseshell round ones for a few years. (ugh! what were my parents thinking?)
ReplyDeleteNow I wear small- as tiny as I can find- frames that are much better looking on my face. (well, relatively)
The biggest problem with glasses for me isn't the frames: It's the fact that my prescription (extremely nearsighted with astigmatism) shrinks my eyes to 1/4 of their normal size!
Trying on glasses sucks because 1) I can't really see what I'm trying on, and 2) It doesn't look like that anymore when the prescription lenses are in.
As a result, I tend to resent the non-prescription "fashion glasses" wearers because they'll inevitably look way better without miniscule pinpoint eyes. It's so not fair *sigh*.
I don't wear contacts mow because of the inconvenience (and the fact that they made my eyes painfully dry and itchy) and cost.
Someday...some wonderful day... I plan on getting laser eye surgery. But until then I 'endure' the glasses because I really have no choice. I can't see without them.
I wear perscription glasses because im nearsighted. I found that if I was willing to splurge a little on the right pair, I want to wear them all the time. My spare pairs are hideous, but that just makes me that much more nervous about losing my gorgeous ones.
ReplyDeleteI wear glasses and don't mind them so much. I just need to find a pair that fit my face properly. I love the last picture. I like thick frames!
ReplyDeleteI had to stop wearing contacts last year & now wear glasses all the time. I've got a nice rimless pair & I like how I look in them but I find the constant pressure against my nose & ears uncomfortable. I do a lot of physical activities & although I've been told my frames should be strong enough for most things it just feels awkward playing sports in glasses Also its annoying not being able to wear sunglasses- I've tried the prescription ones but couldn't see properly out of them. On the other hand I'm constantly being told how good I look in them- I wish I'd got a pair earlier so I'd have a choice between glasses & contacts & be able to switch between looks when I felt like it. I hated my glasses as a teenager so between the ages 15 & 20 I wore contacts pretty much all the time until last year when they started causing me really bad eye irritation & I had to switch back to specs. I'm thinking of getting a couple of other pairs- try out a few different looks.
ReplyDeleteRachel
I'm the same way. My problem is that I'm so blind that my glasses seem to be about an inch thick, not kidding... and there's no way the cute glasses that are in style right now are as thick as I need them to be. So, I'm a contacts girl. But, maybe there's hope for girls like us with laser surgery (although I'm skeptical)
ReplyDeleteI'm too lazy for contacts. ;)
ReplyDelete