Quest for New Glasses
8 August 2008 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dime_novel_heroI have worn pretty much the same style of glasses since I got glasses. I don't even know how long that's been. Thirty years? I've been toying with the idea of getting something different but last year when it turned out that my 5 year old prescription hadn't changed, the incentive to replace what I already had somewhat evaporated. Besides, I didn't see anything that I particularly liked that was substantially different.
But the idea that had been germinating in my head was something round. And this year, as I became more interested in doing something Victorian/Scientific Romance/Steampunk, the idea of new glasses gained more traction. So, the search began.
Unfortunately, round glasses seem to have gone completely out of fashion. I went to one shop and the "vintage" glasses were from the 1950s, those round, plastic frames like Cary Grant wore as the distracted paleontologist in "Bringing up Baby," or disco glasses from the 70s.
"My idea of 'vintage' is about a century earlier than your idea of vintage. 1870, not 1970."
There was even a style of glasses called "John Lennon" which didn't look anything like the actual round glasses that he wore. The popular style closest to being round is somewhat flattened on the top and slightly more pointed on the bottom. Closer, but not what I was looking for.
The alternative was to get something that was rimless and just substitute a round lens for an oval lens.
"We can't do that."
I was shocked to hear that they couldn't do that. It's not a matter of design, it's a matter of "quality control." You see, when the order is placed, the automatons and worker drones at the factory aren't bright enough to do anthing outside the standard so they simply can't do it as a matter of policy.
But the guy at Morgan Optical downtown said that he could do something about that. He wasn't sure quite how he'd do that and not have me paying twice for the work that they would do and that he would then fix but his willingness to work with me on this was encouraging. As I looked at rimless glasses, I was a bit put off by the price and the fagil nature of rimless. Essentially the bridge and arms are attacked to the glasses through holes drilled trough the lenses. These points are more fragile. I don't want them to break and have to start all over again.
I was drifting back towards the not-quite-round glasses that had full rims, thinking I would have to settle for that when he took a pair that I was looking at, popped the lenses out and bent the oval into a circle.
Brilliant.
He found another pair that I though looked better except for the tortoise shell fronts. He popped the lenses out of those, took it in the back and stripped off the plastic coating.
Perfect.
Well, perhaps not perfect, but still pretty damn good, I thought. So, the plan is that I go back next Friday for the exam, he'll order a pair of round lenses only and bend the frames to fit. I have a pair of Girl Geinus shop goggles as well that I'll have him order sunglass lenses for as well.
But the idea that had been germinating in my head was something round. And this year, as I became more interested in doing something Victorian/Scientific Romance/Steampunk, the idea of new glasses gained more traction. So, the search began.
Unfortunately, round glasses seem to have gone completely out of fashion. I went to one shop and the "vintage" glasses were from the 1950s, those round, plastic frames like Cary Grant wore as the distracted paleontologist in "Bringing up Baby," or disco glasses from the 70s.
"My idea of 'vintage' is about a century earlier than your idea of vintage. 1870, not 1970."
There was even a style of glasses called "John Lennon" which didn't look anything like the actual round glasses that he wore. The popular style closest to being round is somewhat flattened on the top and slightly more pointed on the bottom. Closer, but not what I was looking for.
The alternative was to get something that was rimless and just substitute a round lens for an oval lens.
"We can't do that."
I was shocked to hear that they couldn't do that. It's not a matter of design, it's a matter of "quality control." You see, when the order is placed, the automatons and worker drones at the factory aren't bright enough to do anthing outside the standard so they simply can't do it as a matter of policy.
But the guy at Morgan Optical downtown said that he could do something about that. He wasn't sure quite how he'd do that and not have me paying twice for the work that they would do and that he would then fix but his willingness to work with me on this was encouraging. As I looked at rimless glasses, I was a bit put off by the price and the fagil nature of rimless. Essentially the bridge and arms are attacked to the glasses through holes drilled trough the lenses. These points are more fragile. I don't want them to break and have to start all over again.
I was drifting back towards the not-quite-round glasses that had full rims, thinking I would have to settle for that when he took a pair that I was looking at, popped the lenses out and bent the oval into a circle.
Brilliant.
He found another pair that I though looked better except for the tortoise shell fronts. He popped the lenses out of those, took it in the back and stripped off the plastic coating.
Perfect.
Well, perhaps not perfect, but still pretty damn good, I thought. So, the plan is that I go back next Friday for the exam, he'll order a pair of round lenses only and bend the frames to fit. I have a pair of Girl Geinus shop goggles as well that I'll have him order sunglass lenses for as well.
