Cheap Shades and Rx Glasses

I've been pondering ordering a pair of eyes from Zenni Optical* for about 8 months.

Zenni offers prescription glasses and sunglasses for $10 to $40. They have fashion-forward frames, traditional frames, funky frames — no lie. Considering I paid about $300 for my prescription glasses at a major eyeglass retailer, I've been damn curious about their offerings.

My glasses have been great — but since I need my glasses especially for distance and driving — a pair of sunnies have been in order.

I have no idea why, but I put it off and put it off...

I finally bit the bullet about a month ago, anticipating a trip to sunny Santa Barbara, California. I ordered a pair of glasses for $9.00 plus shipping (totaling around $20).

Well, dum dum me forgot to check the box for "80% tint - amber" to make them sunglasses — so instead of a pair of retro funky sunnies, I ended up with some geek chic (okay, maybe that's stretching it...) googles. Whoops!

I feel a little Kanye West up in this piece...

And for reference, my regular Donna Karan glasses:

If you're wondering how to read your prescription, see below. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law used to work for Lens Crafters and was able to translate for me.

My RX:

OD -0.25 -0.25 x100 -- Right eye

OS plano -o.75 x80 -- Left eye

pd or pupillary distance is 59 -- this is the distance between my pupils and is needed for glasses

(Click to enlarge my prescription write-up)

Considering the prescription was write-on, I recently RE-ordered the glasses and remembered to fill in the lenses tent field so I can get sunglasses this next time. :)

But what's the verdict on this pair?

- So nerdy they're cool

- So nerdy you should throw them away

- Meh

*Hat tips to my girls Megan and Olivia for recommending this site.