Out Of Sight
My friend Veronique looked a little different when she turned up to dinner the other night. She was wearing glasses – her optometrist had told her she would have to stop wearing contacts and switch to glasses – and she was devastated about it.
“Who is going to find me attractive with these on all the time?” asked this stylish, beautiful woman. “No one notices women in glasses!”
After talking her off that ledge, I promised I would take her shopping for a pair of new all-day-every-day frames that would make her feel confident. This is not a shopping trip you should take solo – you might end up with a purchase like Seinfeld’s George, who ended up wearing women’s glasses.
But choose the right pair and you can actually enhance your facial features and look even more striking.
Before heading out in search of her perfect pair, I consult an optometrist friend. “What you need is multi-focals,” she says firmly. “Things have changed so much with the technology in the last 10 years. You can have just one pair of glasses. Nothing ages you quicker than fumbling around in your bag when you need to switch to your other [distance or reading] glasses.”
Another friend of mine, make-up artist Annette McKenzie, agrees that glasses can be an asset. At 57, she is a long-time glasses girl. “I’ve worn glasses for 45 years, they are a part of who I am. They also hide a multitude of sins, like fine lines and saggy eyes.”
I also love my glasses, although apparently, I have a hard face to frame – it took me a trip to NYC to find the frames that I like. I still love trying on new shapes and colours and there is more choice than ever with companies such as Oscar Wylee and Bailey Nelson offering fast frame fashion.
Eyewear is booming – no wonder, since so many of us are slowly going blind from our screen addictions! – and as the price point is more affordable, you don’t have to commit to one look and one mood. And who doesn’t love an excuse for another shopping trip?
If you need more convincing, researchers for a project undertaken by Indiana’s Purdue University photographed 20 men and women with and without glasses and asked 200 people to evaluate their appearance – and the subjects wearing glasses made a better impression than those barefaced.
So wear your glasses with confidence: no longer geek, they are now totally chic.
Glasses from top, left to right_ Givenchy blue $370; Kate Spade Valencia green $290, Briwok Seychelles pearl earrings $120; Jimmy Choo round rose gold JC261 $460; DiorSoStellaire 1 red $490; Givenchy tortoiseshell $460; DiorSoStellaire 5 transparent pink $590.
Words & Photos_ Carlotta Moye
Model_ Kirstie Penn
Glasses_ Safilo, 1800 252 016
Earrings_ Briwok