SunglassesFilter - How do I make this pair of aviators into clip-ons?

December 5, 2014 4:51 AM

So I fell in love with these wicked heart shaped aviator sunglasses last year. Only problem is I already wear glasses like these.

I figured I could pick up a pair of cheap clip-ons (the ones that flip up and down, like dad used to have) and glue the clippy part to the bridge of the sunglasses, remove the arms of the glasses and voila, perfect pair. Alas, it seems it's darn near impossible to find any clipons that still have that flip clip feature. All of them now have a size-adjusting spring in the middle and no longer flip.

So what's a girl to do? How would you go about turning these awesome heart aviators into a wearable pair, given I already wear prescription glasses?

I do know that I can get prescription Ray Bans, and that might be the next step. But I'm a Macguyver, so there MUST be a way to make my heart shaped ones happen!

posted by Meagan to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Do your normal glasses contain enough iron for magnets to stick to them? If so, you could superglue some of those tiny rare earth magnets to your sunglasses (after chopping the arms off).
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:08 AM on December 5, 2014

Response by poster: Unfortunately they do not contain any iron whatsoever. Not even a rare earth magnet will stick to the bridge. But great idea :)
posted by Meagan at 6:03 AM on December 5, 2014

It might be a longshot, but have you taken in the heart shaped aviators and asked if your eye doctor or optometrist or whatever can fit them with prescription lenses?

Also, are contact lenses not an option? If you really want to wear these heart shaped aviators, and if they aren't compatible with prescription lenses, that might be your only option.
posted by J. Wilson at 6:24 AM on December 5, 2014

Darn, those magnets would have been way cool, if they had worked.

It seems that the flip-up version still exists in the UK. Also in the US. They're also alive and well on E-bay. So maybe you could source them there?
posted by Too-Ticky at 6:36 AM on December 5, 2014

Magnetic clip-ons usually have magnets on both the regular glasses and the sunshade portions, generally not at the bridge but at the hinge of the earpiece. Depending on how well the superglue holds, you'd want either 4 tiny magnets or 2 magnets and two metal plates.
posted by aimedwander at 7:45 AM on December 5, 2014

The picture shows lenses that are quite transparent, so even if you were to make them into clip ons it would be pretty obvious that you had another pair of glasses on underneath.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:21 AM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would look into finding someone that will put prescription lenses into the heart-shaped frames, if at all possible. Otherwise... You know you can get contacts like one little box at a time, right? I like to have some on hand for occasions such as this. But this kind of thing is a priority in my life (those glasses are pretty great).
posted by jeweled accumulation at 8:43 AM on December 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: How desperate are you? You could order a cheap set of glasses from one of the discount sites (Zenni, Goggles4U, etc.) , remove the lenses, and use a tiny drop of epoxy in the corners to attach your lenses to the back of the sunglasses. Goggle4U appears to have a re-lensing service at http://www.goggles4u.com/re-lens-service.html (no affiliation, no experience).
posted by Muted Flugelhorn at 1:57 PM on December 5, 2014