I'm Still Too Scared To Try Contacts

$200 well spent, because I finally have a pair of glasses that I actually want to wear.

I've been wearing glasses for long-distance since 4th grade, and by "wearing", I mean only putting them on when I absolutely needed to see something clearly. Concerts, movie theaters, quick-service restaurants where I need to read a menu that's behind the counter. Other than that and just wearing them around the house, I've gone about the world with blurry vision because I never liked how I looked in glasses. I've been ruining my vision even more just because I have always felt that glasses ruined my appearance.

Up until a few years ago, all of the frames I had were from the small selection at the optometrist that were covered by my insurance. I appreciate that I was always able to get glasses for free, but as a kid/teen who already hated wearing glasses, I was incredibly disappointed being limited to the "uncool" styles. This is also partially why I never understood when those same "uncool", small-framed glasses suddenly became trendy a few years ago because of brands like Miu Miu and the "office siren" aesthetic, and even people with perfect vision wanted to wear bayonetta glasses that looked just like the ones I hated wearing in elementary school. It was very clear that anyone wearing those was not forced to wear them as a kid back when they were not considered stylish.

Not that Gabriette looks bad, but these glasses give me a visceral reaction.

 

In 2023, I decided it was finally time to buy the glasses I had wanted for years: Ray-Ban Clubmasters. I always thought they were so cool and that surely, if those were my glasses, I'd actually want to wear them, right? 

Wrong. I was happy with my new Clubmasters at first, they are very nice glasses and a massive improvement from any of my previous frames, but I still didn't enjoy wearing them. I still found myself mostly wearing them only when necessary and quickly taking them off whenever I was about to get my picture taken. I realised that I regretted getting this style that I had wanted for a long time instead of Wayfarers, or that maybe I will simply never be a glasses person.

One of the very few photos I have of me wearing my Clubmasters

I know at this point you're probably thinking, "Nicole, why not just try contacts?" and believe me, I have constantly asked myself this as well. This past August, even thought I knew that I still wanted to get Wayfarers regardless, I went into my eye exam fully ready to try out contacts for the first time. But after asking for information about it, I chickened out again. I know that so many people wear contacts without a problem at all, but I can't help but be freaked out about the thought of having something in my eyes. How does it just, STAY in place?

I may consider contacts again sometime in the future, but in the meantime, I'm stuck with glasses. I decided to drop another $200 on new frames, hoping that these would be the ones that wouldn't make me hate how I look. But I thought that about the Clubmasters, what if I'm just wasting my money?

Well, thankfully these were not a waste of money, because I love my new glasses! I obviously do, because I actually took selfies in them. I believe this is the eight or ninth pair of glasses I've had in my life. I guess it makes sense that I love Wayfarer glasses, because my Wayfarer sunglasses are my favorite sunglasses. There will still be situations where I will prefer a no-glasses look, but I am truly looking forward to wearing these as part of my look instead of just to be able to see something and then putting them away.