How on earth do you choose glasses?

downshifter

I'm having my first eye test in 8 years today and am sure I'll need new glasses. But how on earth do you choose them?

Last time I went with what the woman in the opticians recommended but I hated them from day 2! However I tend to have the attitude that you can get used to anything in life and eventually I did - after all I don't have to look at myself much! Also back then there didn't seem to be the choice online either, as those from the opticians are so expensive and I don't want to spend a lot of money on a mistake again. All the frames I've tried just look like me in glasses, no difference between them.

I'm a practical granny, wear jeans/cords and jumpers most of the time, not glamorous at all, just aim for a neat and tidy look. So would want glasses the same. I've looked at all the stuff about face shape and considered taking my daughter along to help choose but it's not really fair to give someone else that responsibility.

So how do YOU choose?

DS

Tigsteroonie

The opticians generally recommend a style of frame to take the lenses (I am very shortsighted) and then my DH chooses them! I can't see them when I try them on, so rely on his opinion. He hasn't let me down in five years.

downshifter

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

The opticians generally recommend a style of frame to take the lenses (I am very shortsighted) and then my DH chooses them! I can't see them when I try them on, so rely on his opinion. He hasn't let me down in five years.

Is he free this afternoon at about 4.30? I wonder how he decides.

Alikay

I find it hard too - tend to stick with very plain ones in a shade that tones with most of my clothes and blends with my hair and skin. I hate wearing specs (can't wear contacts anymore though) which probably goes back to having been a shy awkward kid in those 1960's glasses with upswept wings.

Hermia

I go to D&A and they put pics of you in each pair of glasses on the computer side by side. I find this useful because once I see all the pics together I immediately can spot which ones look best. When I just see the pics on their own it is much harder to judge. The problem I have is I always forget how different the glasses will look once the lenses are in them.

missbiggles1

I buy several pairs cheaply on the internet and try them on - the ones I don't like I send back for a refund.

clarryd

I normally go with the frames the assistant say you look lovely in, I have many bad experiences of frame picking. I can't see what I look like so I go really close to the mirror and get a rough idea. Everyone have different ways, some like the picture taking like Specsavers do or take someone you trust with you that often helps .

downshifter

Thanks all. Well after 8 years my eyes have scarcely changed at all so I could bob along with this old pair for another couple of years.

The last pair I bought were the ones recommended by the assistant and I wished I hadn't so I don't have a lot of faith. I would like some that flatter me, and I really wouldn't have a clue what is modern and what isn't. To me the ones the girl was wearing were heavy great things like my grandfather used to wear and they're presumably modern so wouldn't make me feel good one little bit. The others she showed me that were 'designer' had a dame edna look about them I'm sure!

I've looked on a couple of websites and see you can get several to try out at home and as missbiggles1 suggests, I might give that idea a shot. I'll still just look like me in glasses whichever I go for, so it probably doesn't matter.

Can anyone recommend an online supplier above another?

Thanks

DS

torbrex

Advice given to me when getting my first pair of glasses was "square face - round specs, round face - square specs"
I have stuck with that advice for nearly 40 years

I have just realised why I am still single :rotfl:

Rolnagraten

go to a pound shop and you can try on lots of different styles of reading glasses as see which ones you
feel suit you, at the end of the day it does not matter much.

I got one pair which I disliked the style off but had the best lens in (probably because they were the least tried on), however I quite like them now.

thistledome

I recently chose frames after an eye test and although I liked them at the time, I felt a bit rushed in there ( it was very crowded) and a few days after getting them home I realised I would never grow to like them. Big dark and heavy and at £110 for just the frames, not very good value for something I won't wear. Also I never realised that bridges and arm lengths differed so much in size, also frame depth etc.

A few weeks ago I picked some frames on Glasses Direct's web site to try at home. I took the measurements from the ones that fitted the best (i.e., most comfy) and then picked out a few more to try on at home that matched those measurements.

After 3 home trials (12 pairs) I found some I really liked and they're great. The lenses were every bit as good as the opticians and I got 2 pairs for less than the cost of 1 pair at the opticians (£260 for opticians pair and £188 for 2 pairs of Glasses Direct's).

I've ordered another 2 pairs now from the low priced range, just for keeping in my bag or car or whatever. They're in Quidco too, so I've got nearly £14 cash back for this order.

I wouldn't choose frames in the opticians again, it's so much easier to try them at home in peace and quiet and in your own time. (bear in mind you have to return the trial frames within 7 days though).