For My Eyes Only

Remember when I turned into an outright diva? Yeah, I thought I would put my diva days behind me for at least the next little while, but then I decided to get new glasses and prescription sunglasses. So back out I went - barely settled from my first foray - to become a spoiled brat yet again.

I was due for an upgrade anyway. I bought my current pair of Tiffany & Co. glasses six years ago, and my Coach sunglasses even longer before that. At that point in life, I was still trying to figure out exactly what my personal style was.

So I have been looking for new glasses for a very long time. My Tiffany & Co. frames are not atrocious, but they are quite ubiquitous. I've seen more women on the streets than I would like with the same or similar pair of Tiffany's. And while the robin egg blue on the inside of the frames was a fun touch, I wanted something more professional and refined now that I'm a working adult. As mentioned once before, I fell in love with browline glasses years ago. In particular, I developed a bottomless obsession with havana/gold Ray-Ban clubmasters. Yet every attempt I made to own a pair was met with failure. With such high prescription, I was told my lenses would end up being noticeably thick. The distance between the nose pads also didn't fit my flat nose. And, last but not least, they just fundamentally didn't complement my face shape as well as I had hoped.

So I tried other browlines. I dabbled with cat eyes. I thought of surrendering and succumbing to typical plastic frames. I even emailed Tom Ford at one point asking if they could please design a browline for women - with gold metal instead of silver, and a gold bridge instead of black...sorry for being picky... (I never did get an email back, but I saw Tom Ford came out with a pair of black/gold browline glasses for women this season). I initially wanted havana frames because I thought they looked softer against my dark hair, though over time I started to realize I should probably stick to black. Havana seemed to wash me out.

On the streets, I became jealous of women who could pull off browline frames. And of those with black and gold frames in those glamorous, quirky styles which are particularly trendy right now.

So it was quite an unbelievable feat when I finally managed to find my own pair.

It came to me swiftly and unexpectedly. A pair of Dolce & Gabbana browline frames. I was just messing around with different glasses while waiting for my mom to choose her own pair of new frames (she, ironically, settled on Tiffany & Co.), when I tried on these:

When I saw myself in the mirror, it was like being struck with an awakening and finally seeing the light of day. Because these frames just felt so right. There is a special soothing feeling I get when I try something on and I just know it's the right one. These frames made the stars align on my face, and to boot, it was a black and gold browline. It wasn't necessarily unique, but it was polished and refined. Here's how it looks on me:

What I find especially fateful is that I used to own a pair of Dolce & Gabbana frames before I switched to Tiffany. And guess what? I also ended up choosing a pair of Dolce & Gabbana frames for my prescription sunglasses. I guess Dolce & Gabbana and I have an inexplicable sartorial bond, and it was simply calling me back to my roots.

My search for a pair of prescription sunglasses was much more...last minute. I hadn't paid any thought to what I would want in new prescription sunglasses, so I was really going in blind (pun not intended). In an act of desperation, I went to the mall and tried on as many pairs of sunglasses as I could. What naturally caught my eye (oh man, I'm punning it up today) was of course gold detailing. I also knew I wouldn't want another pair of sunglasses from Ray Ban, so I started narrowing down my options. I came across a couple frames with gold trim along the brows, which were interesting, but for some reason didn't feel right. And now I'm grateful I trusted my instincts because I have ended up seeing more than enough people with those exact sunglasses on the train.

I ultimately ended up debating between these Tom Ford Penelope sunglasses, and the Dolce & Gabbana 4268 frames pictured above. However, as much as I liked the cylindrical gold arm on the Tom Ford sunnies, I knew the frame was simply too large and thin for it to look good with prescription lenses. So I went with Dolce & Gabbana. I asked for the darkest lens possible with no gradient colouring. I've learnt from past mistakes and didn't want any risk of my lens coming out more transparent than they needed to. Here's how it looks:

I didn't fully Jekyll and Hyde into a diva this time, but I did disregard a lot of opinions from others on what frames I should get. I was met with a hesitant pause from my parents when I showed them the frames I wanted. They worried the frames would be too big, too thin, too round, etc. And the sales assistant at the eyewear store warned my lenses would be thick, and the lack of nose pads on my sunglasses would affect proper fit. Yes, my lenses are visibly thick and I do have to get used to wearing sunglasses that sit lower on my nose, but I've come to realize the only choice that will make me happy is the one I want. As a wise saleslady at Nordstrom once told me, "Don't listen to what other people tell you. Don't even listen to what I tell you. Get what you want - because you're the one who's going to be wearing it". And she's right. These glasses are, after all, for my eyes only.

Image Source: Pinterest, Visio Factory, Jenn Im, Shenny Violet Kaplan