BLOGAHOMA

The priciest thing I owned as a child was my glasses. True they were clinic glasses those semi transparent orange-ish/ pinkish generic frame but most everything else in my little life was second hand. I didn’t hate them as when I finally put them on at age four because I was no longer walking into walls or tripping down stairs, however, once I hit school age I realize quickly that the kids that wore the same frame were marked as “clinic kids” or needy.  By high school I was going to a local ophthalmologist and able to choose my own frames keeping price in mind.

Contact lenses were never an option for my monocular, amblyopic, astigmatic, farsighted vision I then need to really like my frames. Before the Internet you had to trust that your eye doctor had interesting frames. That didn’t happen until I went to Dr. Robert Sunkle in 1978 that got in trendy eyewear for artists such as my husband and myself. And it didn’t hurt that Doc was friend and neighbor and would deliver the new frames to your home. One of my favorite frames of that era is the Silhouette steam-punk style frame I selected in 1980.  I wore them off and on for 8 years. I keep them for the time that I will put a new prescription in it. Then the wonderful world of eBay and e-market opened up a whole world of selection. The last four frames I purchased through eBay. One of my all time favorites was a rectangular matte silver pair by Prada and I would still be wearing them if it wasn’t for an unfortunate tumble I took that blackened my eye and broke the frame arm rendering them unwearable.

Three weeks ago I went completely madcap and purchased “new old stock” modified cat-eye shaped ORANGE frames on a “buy it now” on eBay. Aptly named “Vivacious” and made by the American Optical Co they are stand outs. No sense being timid at 66. Orange is my favorite color after all. They are bound to clash with some of my clothes but that’s the way it goes. I’d have a second neutral pair if I could but my lenses alone are over $250. A second pair is not an option for me. Going vintage has an advantage if you want to stand out in a crowd because you won’t see yourself coming and going. Today I surfed the net I found the oversized, modified cat-eye frame is back. These retro frames sell at 3 times what I paid from mine. Do I wish I had “good” eyes? YES, a thousand times, YES, but by being very choosy about my frames I have made the best of a less than perfect situation.