Where can I find big round wire glasses like Kat Dennings'?
December 6, 2019 5:48 PM Subscribe
I want glasses like the ones Ms. Dennings is wearing in this video, but probably with a thin black/brown wire frame instead of shiny (I'm open to shiny if necessary). I have a wide face and most glasses look kind of puny on me, so these are exciting! Where can I find them?
I think I need to purchase retail (Chicago) since I use a progressive prescription and really benefit from a professional fitting. However, if anyone can point me to a specific model, I can probably find it.
I've been looking in retail glasses shops for over a year and haven't found the right frame, so please, if you can, link me to specific models/frames. Thank you!
I think I need to purchase retail (Chicago) since I use a progressive prescription and really benefit from a professional fitting. However, if anyone can point me to a specific model, I can probably find it.
I've been looking in retail glasses shops for over a year and haven't found the right frame, so please, if you can, link me to specific models/frames. Thank you!
Dennings has worn Oliver Peoples frames before; look at Watts, or Coleridge? (In this recent eyeglasses-identification ask, Instagram was recommended as a possible resource for finding an actress's frames -- their stylists have accounts.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:34 PM on December 6, 2019
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:34 PM on December 6, 2019
Best answer: How strong is your prescription? Last year in Seoul I noticed all of a sudden everybody seemed to be wearing large wire frame eyeglasses, so I thought I'd give them a try. Sadly I was told it would be a no-go because of my prescription (I am extremely near-sighted). Even using high index lenses, because of the size of the lenses, the eyeglasses would be uncomfortably heavy, and also visually unattractive because of the thickness of the lenses against the thin wire frame. These would have been frames about the size of the ones in your linked video.
I don't have specific model recommendations, but I have found in the U.S., stores catering to Korean customers will stock wider frames than typically found in U.S. stores. Some of them will carry Korean or Japanese brands not seen in typical mall stores, and wider frame widths of more widely available brands. Some ways to find these stores are to look for eyeglass stores where there is a concentration of Korean businesses (e.g. next to an H-Mart), or check for advertisements in the free Korean papers often found at Korean grocery stores.
posted by needled at 8:30 AM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I don't have specific model recommendations, but I have found in the U.S., stores catering to Korean customers will stock wider frames than typically found in U.S. stores. Some of them will carry Korean or Japanese brands not seen in typical mall stores, and wider frame widths of more widely available brands. Some ways to find these stores are to look for eyeglass stores where there is a concentration of Korean businesses (e.g. next to an H-Mart), or check for advertisements in the free Korean papers often found at Korean grocery stores.
posted by needled at 8:30 AM on December 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
FTR, I am very near-sighted and have very high index lenses. I also have large wire frames - my current ones are probably 54mm across. They are not "too heavy"; in fact, they're considerably lighter than anything except a very small pair of plastic-framed glasses would be. (I know because I've had glasses of all sizes over many years of bad vision.)
The idea that the glasses are "visually unattractive" because the lenses are thicker than the wires is kind of stupid, IMO, and really only suited to people who are getting fake glasses for fashion. I only ever heard it from a young, impressionable staffer at a trendy shop and I overruled her. My glasses are great. They might look somewhat better from the side if I had better vision, but the only people who actually care about that are a small subset of fashion people.
I mean, if anything they look better than a very visually heavy pair of plastic glasses, because if you have bad vision, even high index frames are pretty thick - my previous pair was a smaller round plastic pair and the lenses were still slightly too thick for the frames - but only at the base, so they stuck out in one spot. If anything, that looked a lot worse than just having thick lenses in a wire frame.
Also, people have gotten wire frames where the glasses are thicker than the wires forever - consider all those fifties-style browline frames. You rarely see a vintage pair where the lenses aren't thicker than the wires.
TBH it's trendy instagram nonsense that results from the increased marketing of glasses as they've gotten cheaper.
posted by Frowner at 10:17 AM on December 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
The idea that the glasses are "visually unattractive" because the lenses are thicker than the wires is kind of stupid, IMO, and really only suited to people who are getting fake glasses for fashion. I only ever heard it from a young, impressionable staffer at a trendy shop and I overruled her. My glasses are great. They might look somewhat better from the side if I had better vision, but the only people who actually care about that are a small subset of fashion people.
I mean, if anything they look better than a very visually heavy pair of plastic glasses, because if you have bad vision, even high index frames are pretty thick - my previous pair was a smaller round plastic pair and the lenses were still slightly too thick for the frames - but only at the base, so they stuck out in one spot. If anything, that looked a lot worse than just having thick lenses in a wire frame.
Also, people have gotten wire frames where the glasses are thicker than the wires forever - consider all those fifties-style browline frames. You rarely see a vintage pair where the lenses aren't thicker than the wires.
TBH it's trendy instagram nonsense that results from the increased marketing of glasses as they've gotten cheaper.
posted by Frowner at 10:17 AM on December 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
I've been looking too! I got a pair from Amazon but they dont have the little screw to change put the lenses. I'm looking for 60mm, which is 2.36 inches.
I did find these:
Sunglasses.la
Walmart
posted by ananci at 11:13 AM on December 7, 2019
I did find these:
Sunglasses.la
Walmart
posted by ananci at 11:13 AM on December 7, 2019
You can bring any set of frames to almost any optician* and they'll fit them for you. You don't have to buy the frames they sell. Independent opticians will usually be much friendlier about it than Luxottica-subsidiary ones, but it's unusual for one to flat-out tell you "no".
*(Yes there are rare exceptions, as well as in-store optical shops like at Costco or Walmart where they are only able to sell packaged lens/frame sets.)
It's the way the lens appears to distort the shape of your face when people face you that dictates the apparent thickness of your lenses. You could wear 70s-style butterfly frames with rhinestones and pink and purple plastic a quarter inch thick but it wouldn't hide how thick your lenses are to people talking to you because the lenses would be HUGE and the shape of your face around your eyes would be distorted like a funhouse mirror's.
So the height and width of the lens, not the thickness of the frame, has the most effect on how thick lenses appear to observers. When you're myopic (nearsighted), the lens is thinnest at the center and thickest at the edges, so the bigger the lens, the thicker the edge gets. When you're presbyopic (farsighted), the lens is thickest at the center but if the lens has a lot of surface area the lens itself has to be even thicker so that it doesn't taper to nothing before reaching the edge of the frame, leading to a similar sort of distortion at the extremes.
I had severe myopia in both eyes, so to avoid the coke bottle bottom effect I would simply get smaller frames; ultimately a pair of daily wear frames with 38mm width lenses. Fortunately I have a narrow face so these work for me anyway.
The glasses Kat Dennings wears in that video clip looks good on her. Kat's lenses look to be about 55-60mm wide and roughly as tall. If you have a strong eyeglass prescription you should still have a lot of options for similar styles with lenses that are 48-52mm wide and complement a wide or round face well. Wire or thin polycarbonate frames will work fine and can be more flattering than thick plastic frames regardless of lens thickness. Progressive lenses tend to be a complicating factor only if the lenses are less than 40mm tall, which won't be a problem for the size of frames you're considering. If all else fails, rimless eyeglasses can be an option, which opens opportunities for any size and shape of lens. Any good optician will work with you on this. You absolutely should window-shop for eyeglasses and don't feel self-conscious about bothering the staff on duty with questions; for what they charge you, the store can afford to spend time on you.
posted by ardgedee at 12:26 PM on December 7, 2019
*(Yes there are rare exceptions, as well as in-store optical shops like at Costco or Walmart where they are only able to sell packaged lens/frame sets.)
It's the way the lens appears to distort the shape of your face when people face you that dictates the apparent thickness of your lenses. You could wear 70s-style butterfly frames with rhinestones and pink and purple plastic a quarter inch thick but it wouldn't hide how thick your lenses are to people talking to you because the lenses would be HUGE and the shape of your face around your eyes would be distorted like a funhouse mirror's.
So the height and width of the lens, not the thickness of the frame, has the most effect on how thick lenses appear to observers. When you're myopic (nearsighted), the lens is thinnest at the center and thickest at the edges, so the bigger the lens, the thicker the edge gets. When you're presbyopic (farsighted), the lens is thickest at the center but if the lens has a lot of surface area the lens itself has to be even thicker so that it doesn't taper to nothing before reaching the edge of the frame, leading to a similar sort of distortion at the extremes.
I had severe myopia in both eyes, so to avoid the coke bottle bottom effect I would simply get smaller frames; ultimately a pair of daily wear frames with 38mm width lenses. Fortunately I have a narrow face so these work for me anyway.
The glasses Kat Dennings wears in that video clip looks good on her. Kat's lenses look to be about 55-60mm wide and roughly as tall. If you have a strong eyeglass prescription you should still have a lot of options for similar styles with lenses that are 48-52mm wide and complement a wide or round face well. Wire or thin polycarbonate frames will work fine and can be more flattering than thick plastic frames regardless of lens thickness. Progressive lenses tend to be a complicating factor only if the lenses are less than 40mm tall, which won't be a problem for the size of frames you're considering. If all else fails, rimless eyeglasses can be an option, which opens opportunities for any size and shape of lens. Any good optician will work with you on this. You absolutely should window-shop for eyeglasses and don't feel self-conscious about bothering the staff on duty with questions; for what they charge you, the store can afford to spend time on you.
posted by ardgedee at 12:26 PM on December 7, 2019
Chloé have some sunglass frames that are similar in style to what you link to, which should be able to be fitted with rx lenses.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:14 PM on December 7, 2019
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:14 PM on December 7, 2019
Per Needled's comment, they look like they could be from the Korean brand, Gentle Monster.
posted by cazoo at 5:35 PM on December 7, 2019
posted by cazoo at 5:35 PM on December 7, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
I also have a giant head and wire frames and and am looking into getting a pair of these for variety. (I currently have some very happening wire frames.)
posted by Frowner at 5:52 PM on December 6, 2019