Building A Fashion Eyewear Wardrobe

My journey wearing glasses had been long and painful, well up until the last 10 years roughly.  I had to start wearing them in grade three, one of the few in my class that did. I was horrified when I FAILED to read the eye chart, and we were all tested in front of the whole class, so everyone knew.  Up until that moment I didn't know I had a problem.

Back then the choice of frames was pretty awful, and the fact my family was low income limited those choices even more. For years I word those awful black, thick frames so common at the time. Nerdy and ugly. The only fortunate things was I grew up without any exposure to fashion. Clothes were just what you covered your body with. You had one pair of shoes, one pair of glasses, we sewed most of what we wore or were given hand-me-downs from those with a little more money. 

As typical kid, I felt cursed for having to wear glasses when none of my friends did. Why me was obviously my first reaction and I continued be be embarrassed until my teens. When my dad managed find the money to buy my first hard contacts at 16, I was over the moon. They weren't comfortable, but you got used to them and I was determined. So what lay ahead was a lifetime devotions of contacts. 

I switched quickly to soft contact lenses when they became available. They were so much easier on the eye. I hardly owned a pair of glasses. I didn't have money for both, and couldn't stand to be seen in them.  Money for fashion was still a long way out of my budget. Clothes were still whatever I could get cheaply that looked okay. My aversion to spending what little cash I had a good eyeware led to dangerous situations. There were long days when the contacts needed to be taken out and I drove half blind. 

When I fell into interviewing in the fashion world and ended up co-owner of an online fashion magazine, things shifted. I still didn't have a lot of money, but slowly I began to buy a few better pieces of clothing, and worked with a stylist to try and what fashion drew me.  My wardrobe of garments improved, but shoes, handbags and glasses were extras.  It wasn't easy. 

One day I connected with Sue Randhawa, owner of The Optical Boutique.  She offered to help me find a different way of looking at things, one where glasses were not hated punishments, but a part of my fashion statement.  I actually got teary my first appointment.  Instead of trying on tons of frames and feeling totally lost, she sat me down with eight frames from conservative to edgy that each looked great on me.  The choice then was what style I loved on ME!  Shifting to that mindset meant letting go of years of negativity. It was an emotional transition. I was back 2 weeks later to get a second pair. 

From that time on, every 2 - 3 years I go in and select two new frames. The first  pair is for everyday use  - my workhorse pair. They must still look fashionably fab, but also be super comfortable and up to hard use. I will literally wear them out by the time I buy new ones. When my 2 new frames arrive, I throw my old daily wear pair out and switch to the new ones.  The second pair is a new fashion frame that adds a unique, new, and modern element to my eyewear wardrobe.  I take excellent care of my fashion frames so they will last a long time, mostly wearing them when dressed and heading out. I also update their lens to new prescriptions as needed. 

My fashion frame wardrobe now includes - a metal lace frame, a black/white graphic frame, a flat top stylish brown tortoise shell frame, a multi-colored rounder frame,  a new mottled white/tan frame, and an edgy unique black and gold pair.  This is in addition to my fab daily wear frames I still love. Why build over time?  If you're like me, you don't have the budget that allows you to go in and snag 5 pair of quality frames and lens in one visit.  

The other benefit of building over time is you are continually updating your selection with new styles as they come out. The most important element for this way of building an eyewear wardrobe to work is buying high quality frames and lens. If you don't, your frames won't hold up over time, and won't be strong enough for you to replace the lenses when your prescription changes. Quality matters here.

You also need to make sure you include a fabulous fashion pair that is wonderfully comfortable and can stand up to hard daily use. They will be the ones that hold up to the brunt of gardening, bicycling, gym workouts, falling asleep in front of the TV, exposure you skin's sweat/oils, and more. They still have to look great so you can still were them to fashionable events. They will need to be replaced as they wear out. For me that an every 2-3 years.  It is always a sad moment to toss my daily wear frames as they have often been some of my favourites.

While in my heart of hearts I know I would still love to have perfect vision, that isn't my reality.  Sue's guidance has helped me let go of my early dark thoughts about having to wear glasses. The shift is now which pair of frames will complete this look best.  Sometimes I even style a look around a pair of really fun frames. I am always fighting the desire to want to order more so I can have a larger selection. And I still rue the one cool pair I didn’t buy. I had second thoughts after, but when I called 2 days later they were gone.

Sue Randhawa and I - a fav photo

One of the trends I noticed in the last decade that intrigues me is the choice by those with great vision to wear glasses at times as a fashion statement.  The lenses in them are not prescription, and I have even seen them wear the frames with no lenses.  Growing up I would have killed to not wear glasses, so it is hard to wrap my mind around those who don’t need to wear them wanting to. Now that I have built a wardrobe of frames I am beginning to understand.  

As I just picked up 2 new frames last fall, I am a long way from getting any new ones. But I will eventually. Slowly but surely I will keep building my eyewear wardrobe. Somehow I have to find a way to be patient, but I am already dreaming of what fabulous frames will come next. From what I see putting all my eyewear side-by-side, I think definitely more color is needed.  What do you think Sue?