spec me online spec stores

asim · 1 Dec 2006 at 10:41

Hey there.

I've recently noticed that even though I have contact lenses sitting around I barely wear them. They deprive my eyes of oxygen, I'm always rubbing them, they itch, they twitch. I've tried monthlies and currently use dailies when necessary. Its really quite annoying though.

I've worn glasses since I was 10 and I've just gotten use to waking up in the morning and throwing them on. I use to buy designer frames but being an active teen I broke every pair I ever owned so I bought those flexi style frames and they've lasted a long time. But now I feel like since glasses are my most important accessory I might as well buy something I like.

Here is where you guys come on. I was hoping some of you or even one of you knew of some decent online shops to buy prescription glasses from. I have my recent prescription from the optician so thats not an issue, plus I have my frame sizes and know what I like. I'm looking for plastic/acetate style frames. Not too thick. Pretty plain and simple black frames. I dont want them to stick out, only work as part of my features.

Any ideas of online stores that supply frames like that?

Thanks
Asim

Loki · 1 Dec 2006 at 11:10

Designer Optics

Good service, wide range of frames that are competitively priced

D4VE · 1 Dec 2006 at 11:49

Personally, Id go into a real shop and try them on. You could always get them online once you've chosen.

checjb · 1 Dec 2006 at 12:05

I'm not sure it is what you're after but I bought a pair of bog-standard, black metal framed glassess with single vision, anti-scratch coated lenses in a nice hard case from MyOptics (www.myoptics.co.uk). They cost me £15 in total and were delivered in 5 days. I originally bought them as an emergency pair but they are so comfortable I now wear them full time. Crazy price really. A certain high street retailer charges more than £15 for the coating alone!

C.

GarethDW · 1 Dec 2006 at 12:29

We used Glasses Direct once for my wife's specs... but they weren't anywhere near as good as we had hoped they would be. The choice of glasses available was pretty naff (although I think they have increased their range since), the lens thickness wasn't as interesting as that offered by our standard optician, and you had to hope that the glasses would fit you based purely on the Pupilary Distance - which isn't always the case for lots of people.

We ended up sending them back, and instead went to Boots. We paid much, much more than we would have paid using GD. My missus's eye sight isn't great (hence why she's with me... I tell her I look like George Clooney really

) so the service we got from a true optician was invaluable.

If your eye sight isn't that bad, or your prescription is fairly standard, then YMMV. My eye sight is better than my other half's, so when I replace mine, I might give them another try, because they are a lot cheaper. But sometimes, you get what you pay for.

If you do decide to go with them, you might want to do the free trial thingy... they send you a pair of frames without lenses in it, so you can see if they look OK on you, then you send them back in the pre-paid envelope after 3 days. Think they don't do this for the designer frames, cause of the obvious risk of parcels "going missing", so if you were planning on getting fancy frames then you'll have to hope they look OK in real life.

asim · 1 Dec 2006 at 12:33

checjb said:
I'm not sure it is what you're after but I bought a pair of bog-standard, black metal framed glassess with single vision, anti-scratch coated lenses in a nice hard case from MyOptics (www.myoptics.co.uk). They cost me £15 in total and were delivered in 5 days. I originally bought them as an emergency pair but they are so comfortable I now wear them full time. Crazy price really. A certain high street retailer charges more than £15 for the coating alone!

C.

I understand what your saying. I've always bought designer frames but because I'm looking for acetate/plastic style that I want to be extremely simple there maybe no point in going the designer route. I've looked around. The frames will be quite cheap 20-50 so if they ever break its an easy replacement. But its the lenses that cost. Thin, anti scratch, anti reflective. It adds up.