Bye, Contacts! Why A Glasses Skeptic Is Finally Embracing Frames

 

I’ve been cursed with bad eyesight since I was a little kid. I remember vividly the day that my dad, an optometrist, gave me the bad news that I’d have to start wearing glasses. I was just 10-years-old, but already, fashion and image were everything to me; I hated the idea that I’d have to start wearing frames full-time. I felt glasses made people look deeply uncool and nerdy. And I was not a geek! I listened to Britney Spears, worshipped Vogue and Fashion Television, and delighted in taking bold fashion risks (like wearing leg warmers as bracelets). Basically, I thought I was the height of cool – and my new glasses were about to ruin all of that.

During that first visit to my dad’s office, I sulked around the room as he forced me to pick out a pair of frames. They all looked hideous to me. When we finally landed on a sleek, black rectangular pair, they went on to collect dust on my nightstand; I’d rather squint to see than wear those things, I thought to myself. This ambivalent attitude continued well into my teens. As my eyesight continued to worsen – to the point where I quite literally could not see without glasses or contacts – I began sporting the latter option, gleefully jabbing my eye with lenses every single morning, because it meant I could still go frames-free.

Even now, in my early 30s, I still resist wearing glasses. While I sometimes put them on at home, I rarely sport them out in public. My viewpoint on frames is beginning to shift, though – mostly, because the runways (and celebrities) are now embracing them. Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2024 show, for one, got me thinking about how glasses can be stylish; Miuccia Prada showed her elevated athletic looks with giant optical frames, and I felt the accessory added a cool sophistication to the collection. Ditto Kenzo, which also opened its show with big, black frames.