I need new glasses. Can you help me pick some out?

July 18, 2011 9:28 PM

I need new glasses. Can you help me pick some out?

I'm in dire need of new glasses but am not sure what to get.

A bit about me: I'm a twenty-something-year-old male with black hair, pale skin and a round face. What color, size etc. of frames do you think would suit me? Can you recommend brands/models of glasses that I should check out?

Something interesting that I just learned about is that glasses can be purchased online which makes me want to look around online to see if I can find anything for a reasonable price on the net. I live in the middle of nowhere and would have to drive far away just to look at glasses in person, so if anyone can recommend good places for Canadians (I live in Canada) to buy glasses online it would be appreciated.

Thanks. I await your responses.

posted by GlassHeart to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 answers total)

I feel for you. I've recently been buying lots of reading glasses since I suddenly needed them after eye surgery. Honestly, the best reading glasses I've got so far are from the drug store and eBay. The ones from the optometrist are just high-priced but really no better. The trick is getting an accurate prescription. Then you can mail it anywhere.
posted by markhu at 9:43 PM on July 18, 2011

Warby Parker

Cheap, fashionable, they will ship you free 'try-on' frames. If I weren't making the switch to contacts, I would have ten pairs of these by now. It says they 'may' ship outside the US, but it's a good bet that one of those maybes is Canada.

Now if your face is round, go for a roundish frame as well. Sharper edged frames look better on sharper featured people. Maybe something like these.

Good luck!
posted by greta simone at 9:44 PM on July 18, 2011 [5 favorites]

Re: Buying online: I've said it before and I'll say it again: Zenni Optical is the absolute best place to get glasses, ever. They start at about $7 a pair, they deliver everywhere (at least to the best of my knowledge), and the glasses I've bought (about eight pairs of them) have been of shockingly good quality. I've sent literally every glasses-wearing friend I have over there, and the experience has been universally positive.

I think that only you can answer your question about glasses shapes. For example, I strongly disagree with greta simone, above me--both my partner and I have roundish faces without sharp features, and both of us feel that we look best in slightly squared-off frames. My suggestion, really, is to set aside fifty bucks and order half a dozen different styles of frame. One of them will almost certainly suit you, and then you'll have the other less-preferred pairs for backup...and you're still spending less than you would to get a single pair from WalMart or the equivalent.
posted by MeghanC at 9:57 PM on July 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

I have a lot of pairs of glasses, and I am hard to fit (huge head!). I've bought a bunch of pairs off of Zenni and was pretty happy - very inexpensive, certainly, and decent quality. I recently bought two pairs from Warby Parker and while I like them a lot more (more stylish, better made, better customer service), I've been pretty happy with both companies.
posted by rossination at 10:01 PM on July 18, 2011

MeghanC: "Re: My suggestion, really, is to set aside fifty bucks and order half a dozen different styles of frame. One of them will almost certainly suit you, and then you'll have the other less-preferred pairs for backup...and you're still spending less than you would to get a single pair from WalMart or the equivalent."

Great idea.

My glasses tend to get bent out of shape eventually so getting a few back-up pairs shan't hurt.
posted by GlassHeart at 10:07 PM on July 18, 2011

If you need to get your eyes checked first and want to get glasses online, make sure to have your eye doctor measure your "pupillary distance". However, it is good to know going in that many places that give eye exams and also sell you glasses will NOT want to give you this measurement. They know that if you have that, you are probably buying them online and they will lose that money.

I just went through this with an eye doctor and thought I was in the Twilight Zone. There is a blank on the prescription for it, and when I asked him to fill it in, his whole attitude changed and he referred me over to someone else in the store that tried to charge me a lot extra for this. It is just the distance between your pupils and not rocket science.

So, just be aware of that going in -- you can do it yourself, but if they can give it to you it will make things a lot easier.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 11:40 PM on July 18, 2011

Unless you want to make a round face look rounder, go for the opposite shape. So yes, squarish and/or angular is better.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 1:39 AM on July 19, 2011

1- Don't get glasses that are super-duper trendy. You'll want them to be able to last until they wear out, rather than be forced to buy a new pair next year or risk looking like last-years' news.

2- I bought some Zenni Optical glasses. They were horseshit- poorly made, floppy, the PD wasn't right, etc. The lenses themselves were fine. However, they are great for backups and for trying different looks that you aren't so sure about.
posted by gjc at 5:27 AM on July 19, 2011

I'm seconding Zenni! I got a pair from the mall store and a couple pairs from Zenni at the same time. I wear the ones from Zenni more often, and the ones from the mall just broke.

Zenni also has a new feature where you can upload your picture and "try on" the frames you like. I went on and played with it and the glasses I ordered look just right when I try them on my picture, so I think it's a pretty accurate representation.

And yes, round faces look best with more square shaped glasses.
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:23 AM on July 19, 2011

Seconding Warby Parker. I tried a few different online glasses vendors last summer and Warby Parker is the only one that provides a better experience than both inexpensive web stores and brick & mortar shops. The home trial period allows you to spend more than a few minutes with the frames on your face and gather a good amount of opinions from friends & family. I was really, really sure of my choice by the end. The quality of the lenses and frames is better than any pair I've gotten for 2-3x the price. Customer service is great; they even provided me with a custom, itemized receipt for my insurance claim.

My experience with Zenni was pretty poor, but that seems to be the exception. My order was processed twice for some reason, customer service was surly, shipping took a good long time and the prescription isn't quite right. Glasses Shop worked out well for me on the cheap, buying-blind end of things. Excellent customer service—I entered my prescription wrong and it was corrected immediately upon contacting them—and quality seemed very good for the price.
posted by popculture at 11:29 AM on July 19, 2011

I just ordered 4 pairs of glasses this morning from Zenni. I ordered 4 last year and 4 the year before that. My family and friends have all ordered from Zenni as well. Basically; ZENNI ROCKS! Also, I've ordered from Goggles4U and GlobalEyeglasses. All with good results. Zenni is just my favorite. I think they all allow you to upload a picture of yourself and "try on" any glasses you'd like. NOT as good as actually trying them on in person, but it'll do.

I'd say definitely squarish, NON-rounded glasses.
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 2:40 PM on July 19, 2011