Staying Confident with Frames || Cecelia Puckhaber

When I was in fifth grade, I was directed to bring home a yellow doctor’s note to my mother and along the way I beamed with excitement. My enthusiasm was alarming because that note meant that I had not passed the annual school eye exam when we left class randomly to walk down to the nurse’s office to read off a chart of letters from a distance. Unlike past years, I performed poorly at this one, straining my eyes to read the last few symbols on the chart as they became smaller and smaller. While a concern for my family, it was a victory to me.  

In fourth grade, I wrote a Christmas list for Santa Claus. And among the list of toys that were popular that year, I said I wanted my own pair of glasses for the third year in a row. After “Santa” again failed to honor my request, I took matters into my own hands; taking an old pair of cheap, black sunglasses my best friend let me have and poking the shaded lenses out of them. I began wearing the frames at school, genuinely believing I looked like the “coolest and smartest” kid around. Until a librarian yelled at me to take them off, that “costumes were not allowed in school.” After that, all I could hope for was that I’d eventually fail the eye exam and get a real pair.     

After delivering the note to my mother, we went to a local eye doctor to get my vision officially checked, and I ended up leaving with a stylish pair with a square purple frame. Looking back at photos from that period instantly made me regret my decision to get purple glasses. Over the years, my eyesight only worsened, meaning new pairs of glasses in different shapes and colors depending on the trend. After the purple pair, I obtained several pairs of black and brown frames that were thicker and angular, a trendy glasses shape given the name “nerd glasses”. As I got older, I started loathing the glasses and wished I never had to get them. It was rooted in insecurities, but I began to curse my obsessive manifestation from when I was ten years old.     

My younger self may have just been ahead of her time because the Vision Council of America conducted a survey that found that more than 19% of adults have worn eyeglasses just for fashion purposes. Only 17% of people between ages 18 and 24 who need corrective lenses use contacts, meaning the overwhelming majority choose to wear glasses. That might have been a comforting statistic to learn about back in 2020 when the hatred of my glasses reached its peak. Some reasons why glasses have become more fashionable and reasonable include a longtime stereotype that those who wear glasses are more intelligent than those who are not. 43% of adults have this perception, while a third perceive those with glasses as more professional.  

Some also believe glasses can make one look more approachable and trustworthy. Some defense lawyers reportedly have their clients wear fake glasses to appear “less menacing” to the jury. According to lawyer Harbey Slovis: “Glasses soften their (the defendant’s) appearance so they don’t look capable of committing a crime. I’ve tried cases where there’s been a tremendous amount of evidence, but my client wore glasses and got acquitted. The glasses create a kind of unspoken nerd defense.” Even outside of the courtroom, the glasses strategy can make someone seem more personable in everyday life. I find in my everyday life people are friendly when approaching me, and I never thought to associate my glasses with their positive attitudes towards me.   

The current trends on the Hollywood red carpet also impact people’s choice to wear glasses even if they don’t need them. Many celebrities use glasses to stand out and define their personality and style. Also, eyeglasses are thought to increase facial symmetry through different geometric frames that complement certain facial features. The growth of online shopping within the past few years has made it easier for those who use glasses to find pairs that are currently trendy as opposed to going to a Costco optical shop, as I did for several years. Online sales of prescription glasses spiked from around 9 million in 2020 to about 12 million in 2021, which is predicted to grow. Along with preferring a quick and contactless method for choosing a new pair of glasses, many like these online stores because they allow people to upload images of themselves to find a pair that suits their face shape and features best.     

As opposed to people who use glasses to make a fashion statement, 61% of the population, or 177 million people in the United States, need some vision correction, whether for “nearsightedness” or “farsightedness.” An estimated 45 million people wear contact lenses, and about 59% of people aged 25-39 make up that number.     

When I entered college, my insecurity over how I looked with glasses only worsened as I started being around a newer and much larger set of students. During my first semester, I visited the eye doctor for an annual visit and explained my interest in trying contacts. After several failed attempts to get my tiny lens to stick to my eye rather than my pointer finger, it was evident that I would be stuck with glasses. Even so, I was not the only one who felt that contacts would have been a better choice for my appearance.     

Two-thirds of contact lens wearers are female, indicating that there may be a similar concern of appearance with glasses, like mine, that explains that number. Many might choose contacts because they think they look better without glasses, strengthening their confidence. Those with both contacts and eyeglasses may reserve the glasses as their “lazy day option.”  

Although I tried to make contacts a part of my routine, my current pair of glasses are my “everyday option”, whether there’s an occasion or if it’s a lazy day. I joined the large number of people who purchased glasses online in 2021, ordering a pair of clear frames to replace another pair of brown ones. My self-doubt about wearing glasses has dissolved over my time in college, especially since I found a pair I feel confident wearing.