Buying glasses to fit and suit... Kill me now (2021 Redux!)

octatonic

My objection to rimless is they are flimsy in comparison to rimmed (!!!) glasses.

My advice is to go for something sturdy and durable and you can definitely buy too cheap.

I've had several pairs of 'budget' frames and they last months, where my Starck Biozero's I've now had for 4 years.
I've replaced the lenses once and about to again.

They were £400 for the frames but if you don't have to replace them every two years like other brands then you are doing well.

thecolourbox

octatonic said:

My objection to rimless is they are flimsy in comparison to rimmed (!!!) glasses.

My advice is to go for something sturdy and durable and you can definitely buy too cheap.

I've had several pairs of 'budget' frames and they last months, where my Starck Biozero's I've now had for 4 years.
I've replaced the lenses once and about to again.

They were £400 for the frames but if you don't have to replace them every two years like other brands then you are doing well.

I thought I'd tried Stark in boots but having Google searched it, they were apparently Skaga or something like that, got my names mixed ip. I'll have a look but to be honest I've probably got better things to spend £400 on Haha

thecolourbox

thecolourbox said:

Emp_Fab said:

You have a bit of the Johnny Depp about you !

You can come again

It occurred to me this morning you might have meant I looked like a recluse with anger management issues. Damn

SteveRobinson

I have rimless specs. They look flimsy but have been sat on, stood on and I fell off a ladder with them on. They just bend back to shape. £160 for varifocals from Glasses Direct.

Modellista

While Specsavers are good at bread and butter work they won’t have the widest range of frames.  And in all likelihood you will be served by a salesperson with only basic knowledge of their products.

An independent shop will be able to talk you through all the available options from pretty much every supplier. 

Even though advice on here is good, I strongly recommended visiting an independent opticians with a fully qualified DO. They train for three years on how to fit specs. They should know a thing or two about it. 

octatonic

thecolourbox said:

octatonic said:

My objection to rimless is they are flimsy in comparison to rimmed (!!!) glasses.

My advice is to go for something sturdy and durable and you can definitely buy too cheap.

I've had several pairs of 'budget' frames and they last months, where my Starck Biozero's I've now had for 4 years.
I've replaced the lenses once and about to again.

They were £400 for the frames but if you don't have to replace them every two years like other brands then you are doing well.

I thought I'd tried Stark in boots but having Google searched it, they were apparently Skaga or something like that, got my names mixed ip. I'll have a look but to be honest I've probably got better things to spend £400 on Haha

Trust me, you don't.
What I mean is you will end up spending that, either in a few flimsy sets, or one really good pair that you have for a long time.
I'm not saying Starck are the ones for you- glasses are such individual things, but I like the sizing and the comfort plus they are durable as hell.
I've smacked myself in the face with drumsticks and generally treat my glasses pretty hard and Starck are the first that have bared the abuse.

thecolourbox

octatonic said:

thecolourbox said:

octatonic said:

My objection to rimless is they are flimsy in comparison to rimmed (!!!) glasses.

My advice is to go for something sturdy and durable and you can definitely buy too cheap.

I've had several pairs of 'budget' frames and they last months, where my Starck Biozero's I've now had for 4 years.
I've replaced the lenses once and about to again.

They were £400 for the frames but if you don't have to replace them every two years like other brands then you are doing well.

I thought I'd tried Stark in boots but having Google searched it, they were apparently Skaga or something like that, got my names mixed ip. I'll have a look but to be honest I've probably got better things to spend £400 on Haha

Trust me, you don't.
What I mean is you will end up spending that, either in a few flimsy sets, or one really good pair that you have for a long time.
I'm not saying Starck are the ones for you- glasses are such individual things, but I like the sizing and the comfort plus they are durable as hell.
I've smacked myself in the face with drumsticks and generally treat my glasses pretty hard and Starck are the first that have bared the abuse.

I could have 16 pairs of the ones I've bought to be fair though!

thecolourbox

I may have chance to go to an old fashioned style glasses shop on Saturday so I will do so, but I remember the last time I looked the ones I went in like that might have been good at fitting them, but style-wise it was like being advised by a social worker from the 1970s. Which is a shame as I generally do like to support the non-chain end of things but the only two I've been to this time around that had anywhere near the selection of Specsavers/Vision Express/Boots quoted me £600 and £550 respectively, and they were still too small and didn't suit!

sev112

I feel your pain
a +8 prescription and need for varifocals means that even Boots’ cheap range costs more than £600 a pair
then I have the opposite which is a narrow nose which means the glasses slip down too far

barry2tone

thecolourbox said:

Thanks @barry2tone and sorry to hear of your struggle, some perspective certainly gained, one of the most frustrating things is how het up I've got about what is effectively a vanity project facial decoration when clearly there are others with worse problems to face.

I find it a recurring theme that my experiences may seem too extreme for others to relate directly.

However, I reckon on having enough clinical experience of body watching to see myself more as part of the broad spectrum. Which tends to include the musically/mathematically inclined, plus no great shakes at sport segment of the population..

martin8708

Short of your prescription being incredibly complex , I don't understand why you would only get 80% correction of your sight though contact lenses . 
Looking at your specs in the photo , it looks as if you are low/ moderate myopic .
There is a huge array of contact lenses on the market which cater for most prescription's , and modern lenses are pretty good at dealing with prolonged wear time and dry eye issues .
Unless you have serious dry eye issues ( Sjögren's syndrome ? ) most people can be fitted , even if it's for limited wear time .
Sure , contact lenses can cause eye infections ,if you abuse them and disregard all the cleaning and disinfecting rituals , but most people who look after their lenses have no problems at all.
I find it amusing that you have seen two "proper " opticians , Im not aware of any imposters in the profession .

Perhaps you need to find an Optician who will listen to your needs , who has good knowledge and experience of fitting difficult cases ,and who will not fob you off with some old hat excuse .

Feel free to PM me , maybe I can help you further or just give you more advice on Specs / contact lenses / laser corrective surgery .

thecolourbox

In looking for another thread I'd seen recently about where to purchase new spectacles, I came across this dogs dinner of a rant from me...

My last struggle with glasses ended up with me re buying the ones I'd had from Vision Express for less than a third of the price and the seller did not give me a display pair which was good. However my prescription has now changed so it's shopping time again.

I thought it was bad enough last time. Obviously now Covid has made the process worse, you can only book appointments to attend to browse glasses, and great they are only open during work hours. I managed to blag five mins in Boots earlier today but as the Mrs had spend 90 mins smelling perfume, I couldn't be arsed as I needed the loo. But the whole process now is even more painful - obviously you have to limit how many you try on as they have to clean them afterwards, but you can't look at the measurements without picking them up either. Add to this the mask wearing and the air con still being set to heating mode, and it made me just want to go home and be blind.

I didn't order any glasses when I had my test as a) it was Specsavers and they are not very nice glasses, but also because b) it was in the last lockdown that I went so I had six months worth of uncut hair and therefore nothing would have looked right to go with my intended hairstyle and my big fat face. So I got mugged off for £40 to reglaze the cheap NHS £25 glasses I got as a temporary fix last time (they are still going because I hardly wore them, given they make me look old).

Got some arriving in the post for home trials this week, but just wanted to warn you all off the pain of glasses shopping in these Covid times!

EricTheWeary

I have a very overdue eye test in the next few days but choosing frames will still get put off for a while. In many ways I wish they’d just have more forceful sales ‘ I know exactly what would suit you’ and as long as they fitted I’d be fine. 

My son’s girlfriend has some reactolite type glasses that actually work in the car; the last time I had some the polarisation of the windscreen meant they wouldn’t go dark when driving so were a bit of a waste of time. So I want one pair of them and one pair that make me look like it’s the 1950s and then I’m happy. 

thecolourbox

Those colour changers are a pain in the backside in my experience, they always seem to be in sunglass mode even on a full cloudy day so you end up just looking like a glaucoma patient rather than cool James Dean in shades type.

Good luck with your test and choosing. I prefer the staff to leave me alone as it's impossible to say you don't like their style without causing offence

EricTheWeary

Had my eye test today. Wearing a mask it took five minutes to stop steaming up the test spectacles thing. 

thecolourbox said:

Those colour changers are a pain in the backside in my experience, they always seem to be in sunglass mode even on a full cloudy day so you end up just looking like a glaucoma patient rather than cool James Dean in shades type.

Had a quick look at some frames, but it’s not the best circumstances. I found a pair that looked sufficiently like FBI surplus from 1957 and some modern ultra lightweight flexi go climb a mountain ones that I can have the colour changing process on and use mostly for driving so I’ll probably go back and get them at some point. 

I had some reactolite ones years ago that stuck in dark mode and haven’t bothered since. But I am assured that the current ones are better. 

thecolourbox

It's quite a flustering experience isnt it.

My first four "try at home" specs arrived today and none of them are wide enough, but I've got another four from a different seller arriving tomorrow so I have to wait so o can send both back at the same time to save post office trips. What a palava

LastMantra

The ones that cut your ear, could you not fix them or wrap a bit of sticking plaster/tape round where they're digging in? 

thecolourbox

LastMantra said:

The ones that cut your ear, could you not fix them or wrap a bit of sticking plaster/tape round where they're digging in? 

I didn't want to look like Jack Duckworth, mainly. I'm not old and care about how I look .. The problem was solved by not buying them from Vision Express, they'd given me the display pair for £300 and were unable to fix them after multiple attempts with their little heating machine. I bought them only for less than a third of the price and they were fine.

However that was 2018 - I need new ones now

hywelg

I have almost the same glasses as you and have had similar problems over the years.

I now always go for spring loaded side arms. So my frames are identical to yours for the front piece but have metal arms in a dark blue colour. This means the arms can spread a little on your head. I get them because I am quite rough on glasses and when I have rigid arms I break them far too easily.

Now, I have always had a problem with the ear loops. The distance from my face to the tops of my ears is further than  normal. In days gone by you used to be able to get different arm lengths to accommodate this but no longer it seams. 

Whenever I get new glasses I always have to go back and tell them how to adjust them. The cusp where the arms starts to curl round your ear has to be moved back. Most juvenile optical shop workers do t understand this, so I tell them to straighten the arm then rebend it with the cusp much further along the arm and make it a gentle curve not a sharp bend. 

Funnily enough the most comfortable glasses I ever had were those provided by British Coal back in the 80's . Extra long arms and a curved bend. I could hang upside down in a dreadful sweaty state and they wouldn't fall off. Ugly as shit though...

EricTheWeary

hywelg said:

I have almost the same glasses as you and have had similar problems over the years.

I now always go for spring loaded side arms. So my frames are identical to yours for the front piece but have metal arms in a dark blue colour. This means the arms can spread a little on your head. I get them because I am quite rough on glasses and when I have rigid arms I break them far too easily.

Now, I have always had a problem with the ear loops. The distance from my face to the tops of my ears is further than  normal. In days gone by you used to be able to get different arm lengths to accommodate this but no longer it seams. 

Whenever I get new glasses I always have to go back and tell them how to adjust them. The cusp where the arms starts to curl round your ear has to be moved back. Most juvenile optical shop workers do t understand this, so I tell them to straighten the arm then rebend it with the cusp much further along the arm and make it a gentle curve not a sharp bend. 

Funnily enough the most comfortable glasses I ever had were those provided by British Coal back in the 80's . Extra long arms and a curved bend. I could hang upside down in a dreadful sweaty state and they wouldn't fall off. Ugly as shit though...

The glasses I have on don't have spring loaded side arms, something I've usually had in the past but didn't think about. I've had to have them adjusted multiple times and they still fall off my head with any sweat. Definitely spring loaded on the next ones.