Thursday, September 9, 2010

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.

6 comments:

Garey G. said...

I might have a biased opinion, but I think they're badass and look good on you. They're keepers, and you need to wear them.

Kate said...

i really like the new frames, geek chic or no!

also, a tip: at least at my eye doctor's, you can take any glasses and they can tint them for ten bucks or something like that. they can also remove the tint if you don't like ti.

Kate said...

i love the new frames, geek chic or not!

also, a tip: at least at my eye doctor's, you can take any glasses in and they will tint them for like ten bucks (or less maybe). also they can remove the tint if you change your mind.

Kb_Mal said...

Garey - thanks, dude. I may have to wear these one night and get my hipster on.

Bug, glad you like! And good to know about adding tent or removing tint. I will ask my local Lens Crafters if they do that!

Erica O. said...

I love them...keep them!

K_Streams_Her_C said...

Thanks, Erica!