It’s hard to find THE perfect pair of glasses. You can go in a store and try on every single pair they have, find a pair that looks fantastic, but you wear them for a few days and suddenly every time you look down your glasses are sliding off your face. Does that make you nervous about finding the perfect pair online, despite those great advertised prices? Fear not, we’ve got a few tips to help you get the right pair.
Firstly, did you know that there is now a software that helps you get glasses that fit perfectly? It uses some interesting computer wizardry to make sure your glasses are comfortable (and stay on).
Getting Frames That Fit
It all starts by measuring your pupillary distances (PD), which is just the fancy scientific term that optometrists use for the distance between your eyes. It is best if you measure from the center of your pupil to the center of the bridge of your nose, for each side (this is called the “monocular pupillary distance”). Apparently one of the reasons your glasses may not fit comfortably is because the distance between your left eye to nose, and your right eye to nose are slightly different. It’s all so logical once someone points it out!
If you check out the Payne Glasses website, they give you easy to follow instructions on exactly how to measure your PD. Once you’ve got these measurements you can continue to shop online to buy your frames.
Understanding Lens Types
So, you’ve chosen your frame, it’s a thing of beauty (if you’ve got a bargain, maybe get a couple to suit your different moods), next comes the lens. At least there are usually fewer options for lenses than there are in the frame range, but it can still be dizzying! Single Vision, Progressive, Bifocal, Active, High Index, 1.61 lens, Digitally surfaced, Invisibles UV, Crizal Prevencia, Photochromatic, Transition, Crown Glass, CR-39 Plastic, 1.57 index, Polycarbonate, 1.74 lenses… Where do you start?!
I confess that I normally cheat and let my optometrist sort it out for me, but if you’re ordering online some of the websites make you work it out for yourself! My advice is to make sure that you’re looking at buying your glasses from a website that either has an online contact form where you can get advice while shopping, or uses software to work it all out for you (again, I didn’t know such software existed until I stumbled across the Payne Glasses website). If you want to increase your personal knowledge about the different types of lenses you can also have a look at the WebMD website, which has a nice, easy to read, overview of lens types – it’s not in-depth and doesn’t cover ALL the different types, but does give a useful summary that will help you understand what your chosen online store offers: https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eyeglasses-eyes#1
Price
While you can spend $400,000 on a pair of Chopard diamond encrusted sunglasses if you really want, most of us are more interested in finding glasses that look good AND don’t break the bank. Even more so if you’re buying a pair for children, who not only outgrow them, but lose them, scratch them and break them with an alarming frequency. If you shop around you can find lovely frames (with standard lenses) from $5.95, with a pretty reasonable price seeming to be set at around $19.95.
So what else do you need to look for when buying glasses online? Frames, Lenses, Price – these are the main things I consider when looking at shopping for glasses. Companies that donate to charities, have programs that assist low income people to access prescription glasses or that are involved with organizations like The Fred Hollows Foundation (they work to prevent and/or cure blindness in developing countries) are also more likely to get my dollar.
So, my cheat sheet for buying great glasses online:
- Measure your Pupillary Distances to get an awesome fit.
- Find a company that makes it easy to get the right lens.
- Find a great price and get more than one set of glasses to suit your moods and lifestyle.
We’re very proud to bring you this feature in association with Payne Glasses. For more accessories inspiration, please pay a visit to our fashion page.
