I ordered eleven—ELEVEN—pairs of glasses from ZenniOptical.com. One reason I ordered so many is that they were $8 per pair and I figured if I ordered eleven pairs without trying them on I might get two or three good ones, and if I DID get three good ones they’d be less expensive per pair than the Walmart $38 special. I figured I could donate the extra pairs to one of those organizations that collects glasses and STILL be ahead.
But I like ALL of them. ALL. I like them in different ways, but I like all of them. LET ME SHOW THEM TO YOU. (Incidentally, I gradually discovered that head-on photos of glasses look a little odd, and slightly-turned-head pictures come out better, and also let you see the ear pieces. Perhaps you will notice this in the frequency of photos with that head angle.)
1. I am wearing these RIGHT NOW. Green glasses with black earpieces.
2. Purple metal tops, rimless bottoms, rectangular.
3. Pretty much the same as #2, but with the purple metal all the way around.
4. Yellow-green, WITH RHINESTONES.
5. Green and pink.
6. Gold metal on top, rimless on the bottom. Very similar in shape to my old glasses, as you can see from my relaxed, non-surprised expression.
7. Um? I am not sure about these, and they are not “right for my face” PER SE, and yet I like them anyway. They’re black in the middle, green on the sides. They emphasize the asymmetry of my face, so I should have done the semi-sideways photo for these.
8. I find these goggle-like pinky-purple ones AMUSING.
9. Green on the top, rimless on the bottom.
10. I love these green snowflake ones soooooooo much. Can you tell?
11. Purple tops, rimless bottoms, the oval version of #2.
Cost for all eleven pairs, including shipping? $100. OMG.
To order from Zenni, you need your prescription AND your “PD” (pupillary distance). It is a little embarrassing to ask for the PD: your prescription belongs to you and it’s easy to get a copy (my optician gave me that without me even asking), but the optician doesn’t have to tell you your PD. What I did was I ordered a pair of glasses at the optician’s office when I got the prescription, and then told them I’d seen a pair of glasses online and I would also need my PD. They were totally cool about it.
Apparently, I have a thing for green, b/c 1 & 10 are my favorites. I like all of them and pretty much agree with your assessments. I would definitely keep all of them. So much fun, choosing glasses each day! I now have to order multiple pairs for myself!
#2 and #10 are my favorites. I happen to love half-rim glasses. You look so hip.
I love all the thick green frames – awesome!
Wait. I’m still stuck on Zenni. So you’re saying you can order glasses? With your prescription? For $8? WHAT’S THE CATCH??
I love the rectangular shaped ones best, they look so fun! My favourites are … hmm (lots of them, hahaha) … okay:
1, 4, 5, 10.
And 9 looks great on you too, for a practical pair.
Wow, this was fun! I have trouble shopping for eye glasses because I can’t see myself in them when I try them on unless I go suuuuper close to the mirror and even then it’s hard for me to really tell how I look… so my mom has to come with me and help me pick them out, LOL.
OMG I pink puffy heart #5.
How FUN to be able to change glasses based on mood or outfit or a whim! I’m totally going to check out Zenni after my next exam. Yeah, I wear contacts 90% of the time, but I want fun glasses the other 10% of the time. Duh.
They are all awesome! I have been gunshy about ordering from Zenni but I don’t know why. I am going to do it for sure after seeing this.
(I pick my lips too.)
Hey pretty lady, what finds! I’m really digging #s 1 and 10 myself. (Also: I’m a lip-chomper.)
Superjules- I KNOW. The catch, I think, is that you can’t try them on first. And that you have to suffer the embarrassment of asking the eye exam people for your PD (distance between your pupils) and a copy of your prescription, which they will KNOW means you want to order online.
wow, these are fantastic. 1, 4 and 10 are especially great.
YAY! I love them all! But you’re right, especially the snowflake ones.
Wow. Fun! I wish I wore glasses a little. But seriously, the pink goggles, they are amusing, but not my favorite.
THANK YOU. I was on that site and I just couldn’t decide and now that I’ve seen YOU wearing them, I can make a better decision. AND I’ve been looking for green so – SCORE!
That first pair looks especially good on you. I can’t believe that price for prescription glasses. I guess that means I will suffer with falling off my face & scratched glasses no more!
Okay, first of all, I’m so impressed that you were able to ask the eye doctor for that information and all that…BRAVE.
Secondly, you look so cute in EVERY ONE OF THOSE PICTURES, glasses or not, your expressions are the best and I want to SQUEEZE YOU.
Thirdly, all the glasses rock, for real. Very nice work.
xo
1st pair is my favorite! Thank you for sharing all of them with us!
I like the third ones.
Additionally, I want to hug you for telling me about this site. I’ve had the same pair of glasses for six years now because I don’t want to pay the ridiculous cost of new ones. I’m going glasses shopping right now!
I think the perfect ovals look a bit dated there are shapes that suit you much better! I think you really really suit half frames, they look great! I’m jealous of the bold ones because I cant wear any of them lol.
I’ll be checking out Zenni next. But first, I must say that I really dislike #8 because they really do look like goggles. They will come in handy the next time you have to paint a ceiling and don’t want to get paint in your eyes or on one of the other 10 perfectly sweet glasses.
I need new glasses. I’m totally going to check out Zenni Optical…see what kind of schawingin’ deal I can score.
#2 are the cutest!
Love the first ones so much. Really. Little hearts are popping out of my head.
I think I will have to try this soon!
Thanks for taking photos and showing us!
Oh so cute! I am in love with the first pair. They look awesome on you.
I too love 1 & 10 the most… so that means that green is your color? Or something? They are all really fun though.
I’d love to copy you and do this too, but I really can’t imagine asking for my prescription. This town is TINY and my husband does business with our eye doctor and it all makes my tummy squiggly.
Which is to say, I’ve very impressed that you WERE able to buck up and ask for it, since I know that these things are not usually easy for you. (You didn’t do it over the phone, did you????)
Swistle, loving them all dear! Of course, you know I would comment on the PREP-PAY pair – pink and green heaven! You are so beautiful in your new specs XO
Picture #10 looks like it should be in a magazine ad for eyeglasses-Pretty!
They are all so cute!
How is the fit? Anytime that I’ve bought glasses I’ve sat there for a long time while they tried to get the fit right. Little adjustments here and there until they finally feel comfortable. I was fascinated by Zenni but concerned because I prefer plastic frames which can’t be bent to fit.
So how’s the fit?
WOW. Okay. I think this is exactly the motivation I needed to hit up the eye doc so I can order a whole bunch of different! ones! for! different! outfits!!
I’m a lip picker too, I’ve always had ridiculously dry lips because I’m also an incessant licker of lips. Ah, nervous tics. Carmex has been my only saving grace. You put it on before bed and there is nothing left to pick in the morning, and all the dead skin literally just washes off in the shower.
I also really, really like the green snowflake ones. They really compliment the features of your face, and make you all cheekbone-y and trendy but soft and god your skin is so nice and milky. Green is your color, all those green ones are awesome
It’s great that you get so many pairs, I always thought it would be a horrible bore to wear one pair every day.
Now, we must see pictures with glasses and hair down, because that makes a difference
I am absolutely in love with that green snowflake pair!
I LIKE no. 7. Also- thanks for the tip on cheap glasses. I need to get new ones….well ,more importantly I need to get my eyes rechecked, the last time I had it done I was a sophomore in high school so….14 yrs ago? My correction is minor but the last time I wore my glasses I felt like I was in a fun house.
The New Girl- It helped that I ALSO bought a pair at the eye doctor, which I did mostly because I felt so awk. While I was placing the order, it was pretty easy to say, “Oh, and I saw a pair online I wanted too—this is the info they said I needed.”
Marie Green- It was pretty hard! One thing that helped is I had my exam at Walmart, so it felt less personal than if it were a long-term doctor. Then, I did order a pair there, and as I was finishing up the order I said something like, “Oh, and there’s a pair I saw online that I wanted to order, and they said I needed this info” and gave them a list. That made it seem way less awk, I think because they’d only expect me to order one pair after the exam anyway.
2forgetful- The fit is good. I wore the green and black ones yesterday and the green snowflake ones today, and they feel good.
Are you kidding me?? $8!! I’m going to order some right now. mwah!
I WISH I had a low prescription so that my glasses would only be $8. Sadly, I AM BLIND BLIND. My husband’s scrip will mean that his would only be $8, so at least we are good there.
I am still excited to save $100 per pair (over what I pay at Costco) but I will not be able to get anywhere near that many pair *cry*
I want the snowflake glasses too! Only I want the red snowflakes. I picked out a red pair and a purple pair.
Oh and as for asking for the scrip, I got my contacts through my Dr via insurance and they know that insurance only covers one or the other each year so I just told them that I was going to need the scrip for my glasses as well.
It’s really easy when you are using insurance for things like that at a Dr’s office because then they know exactly what you’re going to be spending with them.
Also, I love the half rims on you!
I love this because I finally went to the eye dr last week (i’ve had 2 kids since I saw her last. heh) and I was going to order new glasses (already got contacts) when I go back next week. But, maybe I can save myself a few hundred dollars and get a BUNCH of glasses to choose from! Woohoo! I love the snowflake ones best!
I like ALL of them! I’d heard of Zenni before, but I had no idea that they had such cute choices! I will definitely be checking them out, because like someone said above, my insurance only covers contacts OR glasses each year and I always pick contacts. This is a great option. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Zenni rocks. I lurve them. However, because my eyes are terrible and annoying the cheapest I can get glasses from them is about $60. Which still blows the socks off of the $450 I would pay at my optometrist. And I am only about 10 years away from probably needing bifocals. Wahh. My Dr has never given me a hard time about asking for the prescription, but that may be because I order my contacts through them. (Contacts which are $350 for a year, after insurance covers some. Blind? why yes I am.)
This post almost—almost—makes me want to wear glasses.
I like the purple with metal all the way around. Or maybe I just like that picture of you. I don’t know, I think you look pretty. But I also LOVE the green snowflakes!! I’d totally wear those around!
oh, they all look so great! i LOVE the dramatic ones though – the chunky, colored, CHECK OUT MY SWEET GLASSES ones :-)
I immediately sent this to the husband so he can buy glasses, tooooo. I am in awe of your shopping prowess! Rahr!
Ok, now am sending this to everyone I know who wears glasses. This is a freaking public service, girl. :)
Tell them to get their PD (pupil distance?) measured, too! They’ll need that with their prescription!
Oh I love love #1 and #10 on you!!
Also – HOLY GOOD DEAL BATMAN!
Number 10 is certainly my fav, look great on your face, very flattering and modern.
Super smart and cute, like a sexy librarian!
Ok, my favorite are the green snowflake ones! Not because of the snowflakes (but, HOW CUTE?!), but because they just look great on you!
I agree with just about everyone–#10 are the best! There are a lot of good looks in there, though!
My favorites are #s 1 and 10. And I also got the pupil distance from the optician guy from whom I bought a pair because of the whole “awk” thing; I couldn’t bring myself to go in and say, “Yeah, can you measure my pupil distance? No, I’m not buying glasses here.” I have yet to order my zenni pairs though.
You totally scored! Number 10 is especially cool.
We got play glasses at Zenni for my son, and I just told the optician that we needed some cheap glasses that we didn’t mind baseballs flying at. We had to get his main glasses at the office though, because he has a fiddly bifocal that he needs for school work. He is a very special snowflake.
You look awesome in all of those glasses! #8 is perfect for your next rave. :)
I totally need to order my glasses through this site. Much better than Vision World’s 2 for $100 deal I usually do.
I like pair #1 the best on you. And can I say that I LOVE your hair up? You look absolutely beautiful!
The green snowflake ones are awesome.
But how does this work? I swear my glasses cost something like $400 last time. And I think that was mostly lenses, as I am very, very blind. And you got 11 pairs for $100? Clearly I am doing something wrong.
Hillary- I DON’T GET IT EITHER. The ones I bought at Walmart—WALMART!—cost $215, and I didn’t choose an expensive frame or anything. So how can I get 11 pairs for less than half that price? I DON’T KNOW. I don’t get it at all. I assume they’re discontinued frames. Also, I have a super-simple prescription: more complicated prescriptions cost more. Plus, you can’t try them on. Plus, I don’t think they do much advertising? But still. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
The glasses are all nice but that’s not why I’m writing today.
You pick your lip? Holy crap, ME TOO! I’ve done it since I was 3. I just turned 44. Who says that habits can be broken? LOL!
I LOVE the snowflake ones. LOVE.
I am totally baffled by this Zenni thing. The last pair of glasses I got were about $600 (and I wear contacts most of the time!!). Granted, I am totally blind AND I have astigmatism, but still. AH MY GAH. I will ask for the PD! Whatever! This is crazy! I could wear a different pair of glasses every time I get pinkeye! Which is a lot! Thanks Swistle!
Number ten is hands down my favorite. And I am totally getting glasses from Zenni now. Mine are not even my right prescription anymore, and one of the nose pieces is broken off, but I hate glasses-shopping so much I have just been avoiding getting a new pair since I wear then so rarely anyways.
Toddler meltdown, so sorry if I’m echoing (no time to read previous). I super love #5’s frames. Very “current,” as Simon Cowell would say. BUT, I think #9 is AWESOME because it almost looks like you’re not wearing glasses, and you become a slightly different looking Swistle without glasses. I think it’s so interesting! I love how tiny changes can alter a person’s entire look. IE: re-shaped eyebrows (me) or new frames (you). Go you!
OMG! DS broke my glasses a couple months ago, and then my backup glasses today. I am going to order half a dozen at that price!!!!
OMG! DS broke my glasses a couple months ago, and then my backup glasses today. I am going to order half a dozen at that price!!!!
$8 glasses? Are you freakin kidding me! this could be a very bad thing. I need new glasses, my old ones are scratched and I probably need a new prescription, but Oh.My.Goodness I think I could spend a fourtune on this site! Thank you for the link!
#4 = Yahoo
Green snowflakes are capital A-Mazing. And what a smokin’ deal!! I love them all, though.
I was so excited by this, & I went & looked and
darn! I need progressives, or at least bi-focals, those aren’t $8. :-(
well, I might get a couple pair of either driving or reading glasses. Or perhaps bifocal sunglasses for when I’m not driving & my husband is driving/lost & I have to read the map.
OMG – #10 FTW!!!!!! LOVE them! (and FWIW, I think #2/3 look like good “professional”-looking glasses)
Okay. So I’ve been spending the last THREE HOURS reading your blog, and I have decided that I adore you.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you’re gorgeous, both inside and out, and a true inspiration for all the mothers out there.
Thanks for being you and for your documentation of your life.
Abigail- !!! What a very happy way to start my morning!!