Contact lens wearers...do you hate to be seen in your glasses?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I wear contact lenses because I hate the way I look in glasses. I own several cute pairs of glasses, but they make me look dorky because of the way the lenses magnify my eyes. I look like that 60’s cartoon character Fearless Flea!

Nobody has seen me wearing glasses except my husband and closest friends in years. Recently, I was forced to wear glasses exclusively for several months. I couldn’t believe how much attention that caused! (Of course it’s always the thing you don’t want people to notice that they do.) The most common thing was people saying, “I didn’t know you wear glasses,” which was okay, but what made me want to bitchslap people was the: “Wow, those are really strong! You must really be blind…can I try them on?”

Am I alone in this?

2

No, you’re not alone. My prescription is a minus 10, so very strong. I have a pair of glasses, but I’d never wear them in public. If someone knocks on the door when I’m wearing them, I’ll take them off and just be blind opening the door. When I got an evaluation for LASIK, I was told I wouldn’t be able to wear contacts for 2 weeks prior to the surgery, so I can’t do it, because no way in hell am I wearing glasses to work and in public. No one except my children must ever see me in those glasses. While they don’t magnify my eyes, they are very thick and small and way dorky-looking.

3

I just wanted to jump in to let you guys know about some things that will make your glasses look better. For instance, high-index materials have been available for a long time, but the 1.74 index lens is fairly new to the US, and in my opinion, worth every penny. They are expensive, but the people who’ve bought them from me have all but burst into song over the appearance of them. I dispensed a pair of -11.50 last week that looked like a -4.00. They were beautiful.

A “high minus” prescription will make your eyes look smaller. A “high plus” will make your eyes look bigger. A thinner, flatter lens will help. Anti-reflective coating will also make the glasses more cosmetically appealing, as well as improve the vision through them. Some people like polished edges, some don’t. I do. There’s also “camoflage”, which means the lab will “paint” the edge of your lens to match your frame. If done well, it looks great. If done badly, it looks like hell.

I hate it when my patients tell me that they’ve never had glasses they actually LIKED. If you get an infection or injury, you gotta wear your glasses. You should love them, and your optician should help you find a pair to meet all your needs AND wants. Of course, the fancy stuff will greatly inflate the price, but, well, you do only get those 2 eyes.

I’m an experienced ABO certified optician with lots of experience in eyewear, including contact lenses. I also happen to do “LASIK talks” with people who are interested in corrective surgery. Yeah, 90% of my day selling you glasses and contacts, and 10% of my day trying to get you out of them :rolleyes: I’m here if you have any questions about stuff. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.

4

Nah, it doesn’t bother me at all. I usually wear my glasses, and break out the contacts for special occasions.

5

I used to hate wearing my glasses in public, but two years ago I became mysteriously and suddenly allergic to my contacts, so now I’m kind of resigned. I’m a -14, so they’re pretty major glasses. I’m hoping to be able to wear a new kind of contact lens that has come out recently, so maybe I’ll be bare-faced soon!

6

[QUOTE=WishIHadACoolName]
I’m here if you have any questions about stuff. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.
[/QUOTE]

Where do you practice? I need a good optician. The last time I bought glasses the optician talked me into a pretty poor choice, and now it’s time to buy a new pair. :frowning:

7

[QUOTE=WishIHadACoolName]
I just wanted to jump in to let you guys know about some things that will make your glasses look better. For instance, high-index materials have been available for a long time, but the 1.74 index lens is fairly new to the US, and in my opinion, worth every penny. They are expensive, but the people who’ve bought them from me have all but burst into song over the appearance of them. I dispensed a pair of -11.50 last week that looked like a -4.00. They were beautiful.

A “high minus” prescription will make your eyes look smaller. A “high plus” will make your eyes look bigger. A thinner, flatter lens will help. Anti-reflective coating will also make the glasses more cosmetically appealing, as well as improve the vision through them. Some people like polished edges, some don’t. I do. There’s also “camoflage”, which means the lab will “paint” the edge of your lens to match your frame. If done well, it looks great. If done badly, it looks like hell.

I hate it when my patients tell me that they’ve never had glasses they actually LIKED. If you get an infection or injury, you gotta wear your glasses. You should love them, and your optician should help you find a pair to meet all your needs AND wants. Of course, the fancy stuff will greatly inflate the price, but, well, you do only get those 2 eyes.

I’m an experienced ABO certified optician with lots of experience in eyewear, including contact lenses. I also happen to do “LASIK talks” with people who are interested in corrective surgery. Yeah, 90% of my day selling you glasses and contacts, and 10% of my day trying to get you out of them :rolleyes: I’m here if you have any questions about stuff. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.
[/QUOTE]

Aw, WishIHadACoolName, that is so nice. My last pair of glasses is actually very light and thin and has the anti-reflective coating, etc., etc., but at +4 something with +1.75 cylinder, they still magnify my eyes.

It’s not something that’s ruining my life, I can see great with my glasses, but, I’m glad to have well-fitted gas perm lenses.

You sound like my optician…he’s so kind and has a great attitude!

8

I hate my glasses. They feel like some weird accessory on my face, and they make my face look different. My two youngest kids are afraid of me when I wear them.

9

I hate wearing them mostly because I haven’t bought a new pair since 1996 so they’re looking really outdated. If I had new updated ones, I wouldnt’ mind.

10

I used to hate wearing my glasses, but I got two new pairs recently that are stylish, flattering, and thinner-lensed than the old ones. Now I wear my glasses at least two days a week. Of course, part of the reason is that I’m running low on contacts and can’t buy more right now.

11

I haven’t had glasses since high school, just the contacts. Too coke-bottleish, although I’ve been meaning to get a pair for the house anyway. The ones WishIHadACoolName are talking about sound pretty cool.

12

[QUOTE=pravnik]
I haven’t had glasses since high school, just the contacts. Too coke-bottleish, although I’ve been meaning to get a pair for the house anyway. The ones WishIHadACoolName are talking about sound pretty cool.
[/QUOTE]
Um.. “is” talking about. :o

13

I don’t hate the way I look in glasses. However, I feel that my eyes are one of my best features, so when I want to look nice, I want to use makeup to accent them. It’s really hard to do makeup while wearing glasses, and even harder to do so without glasses or contacts, since I can’t see what I’m doing. Also, no matter what I do, my glasses always manage to get smudged. Plus, contacts don’t get rain drops on them when the weather is bad.

14

I like wearing my glasses. I used to wear them all the time but they’re so scratched up I can barely see out of them and I’m a poor college student and can’t afford new lenses. They’re the kinda thick rimmed black ones that everyone (men and women) seem to be wearing.

Also if I let people try them on, they ALWAYS say that I must be blind without them. Uh, yeah. That’s what they’re for.

15

I hate glasses so much I didn’t own a pair for six years. I finally broke down last month and bought a pair for watching TV late at night. There exist no pictures of me wearing my glasses, and I do not wear them out in public.

I think I actually hate glasses more though for comfort reasons than for cosmetic ones. Always needing readjusting, sliding around, bad peripheral vision, etc. I just don’t like having them hang off my face.

16

I wear mostly contact lenses, but I have no problem wearing my glasses out in public. I am just really weird about periphrial (sp) vision. I don’t feel that I have enough of it in glasses, and I’m legally blind without some sort of vision correction (I don’t know offhand what my prescription is, but it’s bad. I got those new lenses and they’re still kind of huge). But I relied on contacts as my ONLY vision correction for so long that it’s actually been detrimental to my eyes (when you wear them for 15-16 hours a day or more every day for six years…well, no matter how kickass your lenses are, it’s going to hurt your eyes) so it feels great to take them out after I’m done with my moving around during the day and am in the nice familiar comfort of my place.

I don’t mind pictures of me with or without glasses. I look weird no matter what.

And WishIHadACoolName, you sound a lot like my doc. He’s a great guy. Because I’m poor and have no insurance, he absorbed the cost of my frames and gave me my lenses and contacts at cost so I could afford both. Long live Dr. Palozollo!

~Tasha

17

To those of you who have very poor vision and only have contacts and no glasses: If you don’t sleep with your contacts in, what would you do if you had to leave the house quickly in a fire in the middle of the night? That scenario is what my eye doctor used to convince me to buy glasses, at least just to have them there.

18

Funny you should ask!

I pretty much only wear my glasses when I’m alone, such as late at night after I’ve put my contacts away and want to watch a video etc. (I would say “to read”, as that seems to be the standard thing people who don’t otherwise wear them like to put glasses on for but since I’m nearsighted, I read just fine without them).

But…

It recently occured to me that I wore my latest pair a bit longer than I’m supposed to, and my eyes are good and dry with bloodshot. So tomorrow, in order to give them a break, I intend to wear my glasses to work for the first time ever - in plain view for all to see.

I fear it yet at the same time, I fully intend to rock them with pride. I’ll let you know how it goes.

19

One day while I was in my first grade in college, we were in the cafeteria and one of my friends remarked on how many four-eyed girls than four-eyed guys we had. We all nodded glumly.

Next year, we had labs for the first time. Contact lenses are strictly and absolutely forbidden (I’m talking “go home and come back when you’re not wearing that” forbidden); huge glasses were in at the time, so they were accepted in lieu of six-eyes if they were large enough and the glass fulfilled certain specs.

Turns out that we had as many four eyed guys as gals… but most of them had horrid glasses and were more worried about physical appearance than we were. Once we’d stopped laughing our ass off at how many guys had Buddy Holly glasses, some of us would point out “those would probably look good on you” when we walked from class to the bus stop.

People who ask to try your glasses on are absolutely rude. Would they ask to try your dentures?

20

I wore contacts for years and didn’t like wearing glasses- not for vanity, but simply because I thought the vision was better with contact lenses. I started to get problems with the lenses (I have this theory that you can only wear them for so long - based on no science whatsoever) and now constantly wear glasses. Bother me? Nope- but I’m at an age where such things don’t. So, I’ll never wear a bikini again?

Conversely one of the young ladies at work wore her glasses a few weeks back - I had never seen in her without contacts. I think they gave her face a somewhat softer look.

On a somewhat different tone I had a friend who lost an eye due to a not properly clean contact lens. But that is like the Tale of The Giant Rat of Sumatra.