Times are changing, especially at Lenscrafters.

[cassandra54]

I'm pretty much blind without my glasses. When I really started to get into it, I bought a pair from Eye Masters. At the time my girlfriend was somewhat embarrassed and didn't want to go back in with me.

A couple of years later, I went to buy a new pair. I went to a Lenscrafters store and picked out a nice pair of Oakley frames, that were also on clearance. I looked at some others, but they wouldn't work with my prescription. The lady pointed out that they were women's frames and I said yes I knew and that I just liked the shape. It was a little embarssaing.

Last week I went to get my eyes checked. Went to Lenscrafters and was going to get some new girl glasses as well. I put the experience off as long as I could. So after the exam, I picked out the guy frames, couldn't find the girl frame I was looking for and continued to look around. I found a pair that were to die for. They were obviously women's frames. I mean, violet DKNY is not for guys. I also had a pair of Anne Klein frames I bought from home that I wanted lenses with my prescription in. The guy that helped me was a younger, Hispanic. And what did he say?

Not a damn thing. Not about any of it. Now granted, just because someone buys women's glasses doesn't necessarily mean that they wear women's clothes.

So when I picked up the new girl glasses, he made sure they fit and said, "Let's check these bad boys out." I thought, they are more like cute girls, but nonetheless.
Maybe more guys are buying women's glasses or they are just oblivious. Or maybe they've had some sensitivity training along the way.

[Yoshisaur]

Yeah i'm in the same boat as you where I can't see without my glasses. Luckily though the pair of prescription glasses I have now can pass for both male and female styles.

I think that you will most often get that kind of nonchalant attitude from stores because, well they want your business and to make money. The big word there is professionalism

[~Joanne~]

I can see without my glasses but I certainly need them for reading. I wear regular over the counter reading glasses when I am online. When I went to buy my glasses, I had the intention to buy a guys frame and a girls frame but the cost of the guys alone really was out there. All together I spent $350 at Sam's club, lesson learned.

If I chose a girly frame though and the sales associate points it out, I would have most certainly said "so?" I am funny like that. I get what I want not what they want me to have.

[Genneva Lynn]

I went to WallMart, talked to three stores about buying fem frames not a word said, I did buy them in the end.

[marshalynn]

When looking for new glasses, go and get a new prescription, make sure they put your pupel distance size down for you, now order from zenni on line. That $350.00 pair of glasses will cost around $100.00, at these prices you can get several pair if you like. I have ordered three pair and I love them, especially the pink no frame with the rhinestone accents.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

I bought my female frames from a local store almost 10 years ago. When my prescription changes I get the lens changed but keep the same frames. My wife approves of my thriftiness. The "good old boy" who owned the store back then didn't bat an eye when I said I wanted another pair of "softer" glasses.

[grace7777]

The last time I bought glasses I got one male and one female pair. Over a year later I now only wear the female frames. The male sa who helped me never said a word about the female frames. Next time I plan to get 2 female frames.

A sales associate may point out to us they are female frames, not to condemn our choice, but because they think we do not know they are female frames, so in their way they are trying to help us. To me the best course of action is to politely say we know , but these are the frames we want.

[Eryn]

At the prices that Lenscrafters charges I don't doubt that they are very doting to their customers.

I switched to a optician that is associated with my ophthalmologist. Same quality, about half the price! The funny thing is that I selected a set of blue Carrera frames that Mimi thought were feminine. Actually, they were part of their men's collection!

I've had good luck with Zenni Optical. A nice set of femme glasses, including progressive high index lenses, runs well under $100.

[sometimes_miss]

The guy that helped me was a younger, Hispanic. And what did he say? Not a damn thing. Not about any of it.

Actually, there are those kinds of non judgemental people all over the place. They're called businessmen/women. They don't care about anything at all, just the color of your money, and will gladly help you buy whatever you want, and not think the worse for you no matter what you choose. After you leave their store, they will not consider you a fag or dyke, but they will remember what you like and when you return, will guide you to whatever styles they think you might like.

That said, there are several ebay cosplay merchants out there that will happily help us with custom fitted dresses no matter what our size or shape. Capitalism lives on, no matter what the political nuts want us to believe.

Edit: For those of you who are reluctant to go to buy female style eyeglasses in a store, there are several online eyeglass manufacturers that make VERY reasonably priced specs in any frame you want. I get mine from www.zennioptical.com; they seem to have thousands of frames, ranging from $7.99 on up, with several hundred for that base price WITH THE PRESCRIPTION LENSES INCLUDED. You need to know your eyeglass prescription and pupillary distance, and that's it. The website conveniently tells you when you pick a frame that won't fit bifocals should your prescription require them. It's real easy to use, and has a flat shipping rate of about $5 no matter how many you buy. It takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to get your glasses depending on how busy they are; however, most of mine have come within 7 working days.

[cassandra54]

At the prices that Lenscrafters charges I don't doubt that they are very doting to their customers.

I switched to a optician that is associated with my ophthalmologist. Same quality, about half the price! The funny thing is that I selected a set of blue Carrera frames that Mimi thought were feminine. Actually, they were part of their men's collection!

I've had good luck with Zenni Optical. A nice set of femme glasses, including progressive high index lenses, runs well under $100.

I've been tempted to order glasses online. And you're right, Lenscrafters is expensive. I'm really careful with my eyes, since 1. My left is basically useless and if anything happened to the right eye, I think I would be legally blind and 2. I work with power tools and around things that could get in my eyes. Having said that, my two pairs of guy glasses, my prescription safety glasses and one pair of my girl glasses all have poly carbonate lenses. I know I could order them online, but I feel more comfortable with Lenscrafters.

The other thing that seems to work really well is that Lenscrafters measures the frame and sets the size and height of the bifocal in my lenses. I've noticed that when I switch glasses seamlessly. I've had different glasses before and sometimes one pair is better or worse than the other.

Actually, there are those kinds of non judgemental people all over the place. They're called businessmen/women. They don't care about anything at all, just the color of your money, and will gladly help you buy whatever you want, and not think the worse for you no matter what you choose. After you leave their store, they will not consider you a fag or dyke, but they will remember what you like and when you return, will guide you to whatever styles they think you might like.

That said, there are several ebay cosplay merchants out there that will happily help us with custom fitted dresses no matter what our size or shape. Capitalism lives on, no matter what the political nuts want us to believe.

Edit: For those of you who are reluctant to go to buy female style eyeglasses in a store, there are several online eyeglass manufacturers that make VERY reasonably priced specs in any frame you want. I get mine from www.zennioptical.com; they seem to have thousands of frames, ranging from $7.99 on up, with several hundred for that base price WITH THE PRESCRIPTION LENSES INCLUDED. You need to know your eyeglass prescription and pupillary distance, and that's it. The website conveniently tells you when you pick a frame that won't fit bifocals should your prescription require them. It's real easy to use, and has a flat shipping rate of about $5 no matter how many you buy. It takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to get your glasses depending on how busy they are; however, most of mine have come within 7 working days.

You are absolutely right. Professionalism always wins out. I need to keep that in mind and not worry about what others might think.

[ShannonDragon]

I just got new glasses. I got one pair for the guy self and just lens for me. I already had frames I like.

I really wanted a second pair but my lens are out of this world in price. So no go.

[Sarasometimes]

I look at the women's frames for two reasons. One I'm a CD and two I have a very strong prescription so if i get frames with smaller lenses the thickness isn't so noticeable. My first pair were from Lenscrafters and they were in with the men's frames (Anne Klein doesn't make anything for men). My current pair is from Walmart ($9 frames). I almost had a even more girly frame but when my DADT wife asked the female optician if they would work with progressive she said "What are you doing to the guy?" I missed seeing which frames they were.

[ArleneRaquel]

cassandra,
Its wonderful that you had a great experience at Lenscrafters. I will need to check them out. More that 10 years ago I attempted to purchase a pair of female frames from a national chain, not Lenscrafters, and the SA refused to show me any female frames. Nowadays I order Zenni online and/or purchase frames from a local optician, where I present female and I have no problems.

[devida]

Last pair of sunglasses I bought at my favorite glasses store See, in Orlando. My SO was with me and she and the sales assistant both first directed me to the men's shades. When I scowled at those we had a happy time trying on all the women's sunglasses until I found a large retro pair that I and every one else loved on me. The SA said she thought it was a very dramatic look. Really though, I didn't see a lot of difference in most of the frames between men and women's, except at the obvious extremes. I know that manufacturers are desperate to divide and conquer by gendering everything from baby food to automobiles but unisex fashion seems to be getting larger and larger.

[Jean 103]

I just left lensCrafters with my new glasses , one men's and one women's.I had to wait two weeks for them because of the coatings .it has been two years since I have had my eyes checked so I had the full exam. during the exam she ask whatI was looking for , and I told her one. pair of men's and one pair of women's. She was very help full. I ended up picking a pair of prada frames off the discount rack., I love them.

[jaye_cd]

I recently had a similar experience buying new frames after an exam. The gentleman in the retail frame store asked me what I liked, and I simply replied "purple!" and he came back with about a dozen frames from the ladies section to choose from. He spent time helping me make sure they fit right, and I ended up picking a pair of Guess frames.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Cassandra, I only need reading glasses #275 I get feminine glasses off the racks.

[MelanieAnne]

That $350.00 pair of glasses will cost around $100.00,

Gotcha beat. "39 Dollar Glasses Online". Been ordering from them for 10 years. Excellant quality and selection. The "PD" is simply the distance between your pupils, in millimeters, so the lenses can be centered on your eyes. They have a paper chart you can use in a mirror, to determine the distance between your pupils. Bout 4 days and you will have them. Sometimes they even have a BOGO sale. At $39, I order a new pair when they get scratched. I have both guy and fem frames, with no questions asked!

[Beverley Sims]

On each visit to Asia,[I]get a supply of both mens and womens reading glasses.

Luckily I only have old peoples syndrome.

Reading glasses off the shelf or lenses fitted to frames I like..

[sometimes_miss]

Maybe more guys are buying women's glasses or they are just oblivious. Or maybe they've had some sensitivity training along the way.

Or maybe they're really hurting for sales. Costco sells glasses, and the online sellers are selling glasses made overseas for pennies on the dollar. I get mine from zennioptical.com, both men's and woman's glasses. Single correction for distance, $7.95 a pair, lenses and frames, hundreds to choose from. Go up two dollars, and you have hundreds more different frames. And up the scale. Each time you go up a few dollars, you get lots more frames to choose from. They even have the titanium frames, ones you can twist into a pretzel and they spring back, too. All for less than $50. And flat rate shipping, last I ordered was 4.95. and yes, they have bifocals and trifocals too, tinted lenses, polarized lenses, everything that the store has. When simple frames at lenscrafters going for upwards of $100, I can buy ten pairs for less than that. Yes, the eyeglass folks are losing business hand over foot, they're hurting.

[charlenesomeone]

Just got my online female progressive lens and frame, delivered for $68. Just
make sure to get your prescription and email it. They fit great and look good too.

[Claire Cook]

Here is a post I sent to the TS Forum earlier in the week:

"I'm with Barbara and Diane on this. When I first approached my optician about getting femme glasses, it was a bit awkward. I found trying on female glasses in male mode with lots of folks in the store a bit daunting. But Janet was great, said "Let's try some playful ones" and I settled on my first pink pair. Of course later Claire had to show her how they looked. Since then I've found it's a lot like trying on women's clothes -- it's much better to do it as me. I can try on things (and glasses) to see how they really look on me. Since then Janet has become one of my closest GG friends. And of course has great advice about frames!"

... and she is organizing the Halloween party the girls are going to. Only downside is that her fashion frames are on the pricey side.

[EllenJo]

Cassandra, thank you for the very timely post. I need to get my eyes checked and was thinking that I would get both a guy pair and a girl pair. I have never bought feminine frames before but really want some. All of this advice is just what I needed to hear. It is kind of funny how I have no problem trying on dresses or girdles in a clothing store but have been worried about going to the optometrist and asking for women's frames.
Hugs
Ellen Jo