glasses recommendation
October 28, 2024 10:28 AM Subscribe
I am brand new to the world of glasses and I would love help finding (somewhat) indestructible ones!
I recently got reading glasses (and I think they help astigmatism in one eye), so I can't just pick up readers at the drugstore.
My optometrist suggested Japanese-made glasses: OGI Red Rose are the pair I have now. He specifically told me they are very flexible so would be ok if I fall asleep wearing them, etc.
But! I have bent them so now they are crooked! And I'm mad at myself b/c they are expensive!
So do you have recommendations for glasses that can handle not-the-best care? Would like to try them on in a store but I would try mail order ones I guess... I have a Warby Parker and probably many other glasses stores.
I recently got reading glasses (and I think they help astigmatism in one eye), so I can't just pick up readers at the drugstore.
My optometrist suggested Japanese-made glasses: OGI Red Rose are the pair I have now. He specifically told me they are very flexible so would be ok if I fall asleep wearing them, etc.
But! I have bent them so now they are crooked! And I'm mad at myself b/c they are expensive!
So do you have recommendations for glasses that can handle not-the-best care? Would like to try them on in a store but I would try mail order ones I guess... I have a Warby Parker and probably many other glasses stores.
This won’t help choose, but if you got your present glasses at an optometrist, they’ll straighten them for you. If they charge you something for the service, go to a different shop next time.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 10:36 AM on October 28 [7 favorites]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 10:36 AM on October 28 [7 favorites]
I use Warby Parker and I'm not super gentle with mine. They seem to hold up just fine, and you can go back to the shop whenever you like and they can readjust them if they've gotten crooked.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:37 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:37 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
Ask about frames made for rough-and-tumble children that also come in adult sizes. I've watched a child twist their glasses frames into a pretzel and they sprang right back! I'm sorry I don't have brand names to offer you, but I'm sure if you gave that description, they would know what to point you at.
posted by epj at 10:37 AM on October 28
posted by epj at 10:37 AM on October 28
Any optometrist will straighten the glasses out for you. Probably free of charge. They have an amazing assortment of neat pliers they use .
Get your script from your examiner. You will need it for ordering glasses off the Internet.
posted by Czjewel at 10:41 AM on October 28
Get your script from your examiner. You will need it for ordering glasses off the Internet.
posted by Czjewel at 10:41 AM on October 28
Try drugstore readers; you might be pleasantly surprised.
posted by theora55 at 10:43 AM on October 28
posted by theora55 at 10:43 AM on October 28
I bend all my glasses and it's annoying. I've had good luck with the Ray-Ban brand at Costco (on the men's side) that are titanium. Optometrists will straighten glasses but in my experience they can only do it so many times before the glasses get stuck and can't recover. I'd look for titanium frames and frames that can bend out from inside (not sure what that's called). There's also a brand called Flexon that I haven't tried.
posted by JuliaKM at 11:07 AM on October 28
posted by JuliaKM at 11:07 AM on October 28
Zenni. I abuse the crap out of my glasses, and and they're cheap enough that when they do break, I'm not that heartbroken.
posted by straw at 11:22 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
posted by straw at 11:22 AM on October 28 [2 favorites]
Seconding Zenni! Not only are they inexpensive, but they are the best (clearest, sharpest) glasses I've ever had. Not "for the money", but period. My $35 Zennis are clearer, sharper, and fit better than the pair I paid hundreds for at the optometrist. They're inexpensive enough that I have felt free to experiment a bit. Prescription sunglasses. Prescription bifocal sunglasses! Dedicated readers! And if a pair does get lost or damaged, I've got backups.
posted by xedrik at 11:27 AM on October 28 [3 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 11:27 AM on October 28 [3 favorites]
As a contrasting experience, I’ve had glasses from Zenni and they stunk. Also they tried to get out of replacing them. I’ve heard good things about Costco and I’ve never had trouble with Warby-Parker.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 12:07 PM on October 28
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 12:07 PM on October 28
I third Zenni and add that you can pick up a couple of pairs of glasses for less than you would pay at a brick and mortar location. If you break them so what! You have three more pairs!
posted by Julnyes at 12:08 PM on October 28
posted by Julnyes at 12:08 PM on October 28
I would get multiple relatively inexpensive ones.
You didn't say where your frame bent. I've only ever had metal frames, and being able to (gently, slowly) bend the nose parts to adjust them is a feature imo. Sometimes the front hinges where the arms attach might get bent out of shape, and those can usually be fixed (I've done it myself a number of times) - but that's not something that should happen too often in typical use. But things do happen, hence my preference for frames that aren't too expensive. Non-metal frames might be more solid, but I've heard of them breaking instead of bending.
I wore a single cheap rimless frame for well over a decade where the arms (or whatever they're called) were made out of a bendy metal coated in some kind of bendy plastic, and they just never broke. The front hinges* got bent out of shape a few times, but I didn't have much trouble just bending them back (slowly, gently). They had another feature that I think is a must for preventing breakage in any hinged frame: the hinges should be able to be pulled not only inward but also outward some distance (i.e. in the wrong direction, away from your ears). Because that is a stress they will probably be subjected to sometimes.**
*These days there are also hingeless frames with bendy arms, but my experience is that despite marketing pictures, the arms can't actually be easily folded up when you take the frames off, which means they have to be set aside unfolded, which (in my case) meant that they were much more easily knocked about than pairs I could just fold and set aside out of the way. According to these reviews (for an example pair I've never tried), they can also be fragile at the spot where the bendy part has to stop being bendy.
** But even pairs that can bend backwards at the hinges can sometimes have unexpected issues. For example, I had one of these and I found out, while taking off a mask that got caught in one of the arms, that the arm can actually be pulled so far out that it comes out of the loop that's keeping it in place and then good luck getting it back in. (I actually do still really like that frame and, since I'd ordered 2 pairs at the time because they're so cheap, am still using the other one a few years later.)
If you're new to wearing glasses, do give some thought to the most gentle ways to put the frames on and take them off - how to hold them and pull them so they experience the least stress. Also think about what they might experience on a regular basis - for example, if you have young kids there's a much higher than average chance of them getting knocked or pulled off your nose frequently, or maybe you're someone whose glasses get knocked off tables a lot - and where the stress on them is likely to happen.
If you buy online, do be aware that most online stores don't offer much or anything in terms of warranty.
posted by trig at 12:48 PM on October 28
You didn't say where your frame bent. I've only ever had metal frames, and being able to (gently, slowly) bend the nose parts to adjust them is a feature imo. Sometimes the front hinges where the arms attach might get bent out of shape, and those can usually be fixed (I've done it myself a number of times) - but that's not something that should happen too often in typical use. But things do happen, hence my preference for frames that aren't too expensive. Non-metal frames might be more solid, but I've heard of them breaking instead of bending.
I wore a single cheap rimless frame for well over a decade where the arms (or whatever they're called) were made out of a bendy metal coated in some kind of bendy plastic, and they just never broke. The front hinges* got bent out of shape a few times, but I didn't have much trouble just bending them back (slowly, gently). They had another feature that I think is a must for preventing breakage in any hinged frame: the hinges should be able to be pulled not only inward but also outward some distance (i.e. in the wrong direction, away from your ears). Because that is a stress they will probably be subjected to sometimes.**
*These days there are also hingeless frames with bendy arms, but my experience is that despite marketing pictures, the arms can't actually be easily folded up when you take the frames off, which means they have to be set aside unfolded, which (in my case) meant that they were much more easily knocked about than pairs I could just fold and set aside out of the way. According to these reviews (for an example pair I've never tried), they can also be fragile at the spot where the bendy part has to stop being bendy.
** But even pairs that can bend backwards at the hinges can sometimes have unexpected issues. For example, I had one of these and I found out, while taking off a mask that got caught in one of the arms, that the arm can actually be pulled so far out that it comes out of the loop that's keeping it in place and then good luck getting it back in. (I actually do still really like that frame and, since I'd ordered 2 pairs at the time because they're so cheap, am still using the other one a few years later.)
If you're new to wearing glasses, do give some thought to the most gentle ways to put the frames on and take them off - how to hold them and pull them so they experience the least stress. Also think about what they might experience on a regular basis - for example, if you have young kids there's a much higher than average chance of them getting knocked or pulled off your nose frequently, or maybe you're someone whose glasses get knocked off tables a lot - and where the stress on them is likely to happen.
If you buy online, do be aware that most online stores don't offer much or anything in terms of warranty.
posted by trig at 12:48 PM on October 28
I also wear mine in bed while reading and fall asleep.
Titanium all the way!! Most of the time I can straighten out a minor bed, but eventually I will have to take them in to have them adjusted for reals. Costco or in a pinch Walmart have always adjusted them for me for no charge without questioning where they came from.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:00 PM on October 28
Titanium all the way!! Most of the time I can straighten out a minor bed, but eventually I will have to take them in to have them adjusted for reals. Costco or in a pinch Walmart have always adjusted them for me for no charge without questioning where they came from.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:00 PM on October 28
Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions! I emailed my optometrist too. I won't go to Costco or Walmart. I will try Zenni and am open to more suggestions too!
posted by bookworm4125 at 3:12 PM on October 28
posted by bookworm4125 at 3:12 PM on October 28
JuliaKM and BlueHorse are right: get titanium frames. I have a titanium pair originally bought when my now 30s kids were toddlers, which can be almost tied in a knot and they just spring back into shape. They've had new lenses as my eyesight has changed, but they're virtually indestructible.
posted by anadem at 4:46 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
posted by anadem at 4:46 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
I got some miraculous titanium frames many years ago—probably around 1993. My optometrist showed me how you could bend them 90° in the center and they just spring back. So I had to show everyone too.
Well, one day I had the kids at the Science Museum in St. Paul (30 miles away) and showed the lady in the dinosaur lab how they bend and spring back … and they snapped right in the middle. Since I had 20/800 distant vision, the lady kindly gave me enough tape to hold a dead man on a horse and I managed to get back home with the kids—with a softball-sized lump of tape (it might have been smaller) riding on my nose.
When I took them to the optometrist and told him what happened, he replaced them without charge and told me maybe I shouldn’t show anyone that trick with the new pair. I offer this as a cautionary tale so no one else suffers a similar equipment casualty. Maybe it was a bad pair, but maybe they work harden with each extreme bend.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:38 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
Well, one day I had the kids at the Science Museum in St. Paul (30 miles away) and showed the lady in the dinosaur lab how they bend and spring back … and they snapped right in the middle. Since I had 20/800 distant vision, the lady kindly gave me enough tape to hold a dead man on a horse and I managed to get back home with the kids—with a softball-sized lump of tape (it might have been smaller) riding on my nose.
When I took them to the optometrist and told him what happened, he replaced them without charge and told me maybe I shouldn’t show anyone that trick with the new pair. I offer this as a cautionary tale so no one else suffers a similar equipment casualty. Maybe it was a bad pair, but maybe they work harden with each extreme bend.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:38 PM on October 28 [1 favorite]
I've got a Starck pair with double-jointed hinges on the arms. They cope with my habit of occasionally sitting on them very well.
The strangest experience I've had with specs was during a visit to Houston. It was really hot that summer, so I was constantly moving between sweltering sun and ice-cold air conditioning. After a few days of this they snapped right in half at the nose bridge.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:45 AM on October 29
The strangest experience I've had with specs was during a visit to Houston. It was really hot that summer, so I was constantly moving between sweltering sun and ice-cold air conditioning. After a few days of this they snapped right in half at the nose bridge.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:45 AM on October 29
I go Zenni, but I've also tried Goggles4U, which specialize in acetate or (same style) frames. G4U is even cheaper. Zenni is decent, but they will nickel and dime you if you want anything beyond the bare extras.
posted by kschang at 2:08 PM on October 29
posted by kschang at 2:08 PM on October 29
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posted by notjustthefish at 10:35 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]