Why do glasses cost so bloody much?
This morning I discovered that my prescription sunglasses had gone missing. Perhaps I’d left them at Modesto last night … and it is a serious truth that I cannot go outside in bright sunlight without my sunglasses because, well, it really HURTS my eyes.
So stopped by my usual opticians to see if I could find something I liked and I found a great pair of glasses that, unfortunately, wouldn’t work well as sunglasses as the inner bright green rim would be lost with a dark lens, which was the reason I liked them in the first place. Just as well as those ended up being Prada glasses and costing 200 euros.
Then I saw these really cool dark purple ones … tried them on. They were AMAZING. Fit my face perfectly (not an easy thing to do, given the SIZE of my face) looked cool and also sturdy enough to last a few years. Also liked the silver doohicky on the side. Turned out these ones were Bulgari and cost 300 euros! Like, WTF?
Why???
Why do these glasses cost so much? And why are the only glass frames that I ever like and suit me end up being these outrageously expensive ones? Because I couldn’t give a fiddler’s fart about designer brand names. Yet it always ends up the same. Though my tastes seem to be going rather ‘up market’ without my permission.
Last glasses I bought eight years ago were cute Benetton red wire frames for every day and some Armani clones by a company called Vogue for my prescription sunglasses. And they weren’t cheap either, just not quite as expensive as Armani’s would have been.
I’m honestly not interested at all in buying a designer brand name. In fact, it would be kinda embarrassing to wear glasses saying Bulgari on the side because people will snigger and think – what a dork for paying way too much for a pair of purple sunglasses.
Except there aren’t any other possible sunglasses. That fit. Are comfortable. Look nice.
Basically something that I’d want to put on my face.
And there is no way I can afford them anyhow, except Manolo is offering me a deal to pay them off over six months with no interest …
casa azahar 
I don’t know about you, but I have the ability to walk into any store no matter what I am shopping for and the thing that is perfect and that I really like is probably the most expensive thing in the store.
I found my citrine dragon that way, and I had to put it on layaway and it took 18 months to pay for it.
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I’m convinved that my purpose here in life is just to annoy you az – at any rate, I think you’re going to seriously regret inviting me to your blog.
I love my style of glasses, I’ve has them since 14, they really improve my appearence and they look like they’re designer and cost about 100 quid.
They actually cost 42 quid, of which the wonderful NHS pays £35-something. I get them with Reactions lenses(the ones that change in sunlight, meaning I don’t have to get sunglasses) and as a result I have to pay the princely sum of £17. Which is great.
This current pair have lasted 3 years, the pair before about the same, though I’ve had to replace screws and get them bent back into shape once or twice.
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Yeah well, bully for you. 😛
But you see, I honestly don’t go looking for designer specs. I’m not interested at all in brand names. It just turns out that when I find a pair of glasses that I like they always end up being stupidly expensive. And it usually takes me months of shopping around before I even find anything I like.
Meanwhile, my last two pair have lasted quite fine for eight years now, except the red enamel (or whatever it is) on my clear glasses has started chipping off in places and I’ve had to replace the lenses.
So if I rationalise spending 300 euros on frames by dividing the cost by eight years it comes to about 40 euros a year, which doesn’t sound too unreasonable. And I might be tempted to do this except part of me just feels like I’m being ripped off, because I honestly can’t see how any frames could actually be worth that much.
Meanwhile, I’ve never liked those lenses that change in the sunlight. I just find them annoying because they don’t change quickly enough when you go indoors and they are always still a bit tinted even after they’ve changed to ‘normal’.
And last night Nog and I stopped by Modesto – as soon as the barman saw us he started waving my sunglasses in the air – so now I don’t even have a proper excuse for buying new ones. Well, except that since I’ve put on weight my old ones look even smaller on my chubby face and I look like I should be selling pencils on the street or something … 😕
Perhaps I should do a better job of losing them next time. 😉
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Ha! I broke my glasses at the end of last year. I picked out a replacement style, only to discover that with the hi-index lenses I’d need to prevent them being milk bottles, they’d cost me £279. Since then I’ve been using daily disposable contacts. £25 per month – dearer in the long term, but more affordable in the short.
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When Blues came here three years ago for his first visit I had previously warned him that his glasses would have to go! – and as he agreed with me he was quite happy to let me take him out shopping for new ones.
Ended up with fabulous Armani (natch 🙄 ) metallic midnight blue wireframes but in fact the lenses cost even more. His old glasses had the coke-bottle bottom lenses and my guy here told him that they didn’t even work with those anymore, and besides, the new frames wouldn’t support them. And so he got the thin really expensive ones and two days later he was a man transformed!
He did the same rationalising thing that I mentioned earlier and decided that dividing the cost over a few years made the price seem quite reasonable. And of course, you can’t put a price tag on looking super cool! 😉
It’s a shame you have to go the disposable contacts route, Edward. This is why it’s somewhat tempting to take up my optician’s offer to pay for those ones I like over six months without interest (about 50 euros/35 pounds a month). It’s too bad you couldn’t find a similar offer.
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I can’t use contacts any more, and thankfully I don’t need my vision corrected all the time. When I did wear contacts, I was stuck with hard lenses and with heat-santizing them daily. I wish I could’ve used disposable. They’re not that expensive over here.
I last bought glasses in 2001. Black plastic frames, some name brand I can’t remember, at about $400. They’re not quite Buddy Holly frames, but they’re a little more square than the cat’s-eye type frames. I don’t like the way wire frames look on me, because I have always had chubby cheeks.
Fortunately, until recently, I’ve been able to get the optician to insert replacement lenses in my existing frames. But I accidentally cracked the top of one of the frames, and because I like the way these look on me so much, I crazy-glued the crack together and there’s no way to remove the lens now. So, when my eyes finally deteriorate so much that I can’t use these any more, I’ll have to buy new ones.
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You spent $400 on frames five years ago! 😯
Hmmm…so maybe I’m not being so silly about the 300 euro ones.
Thing is, I don’t actually wear my clear glasses much, other than when I watch tv or go to the cinema, etc. But I always have to wear my sunglasses when I go out because of how sunny it is here. My eyes really are very light sensitive. Well, and it’s also nice to see who that person waving to me from across the street is. 😉
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You wouldn’t want eyes that weren’t light sensitive would you? 😉
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I desperately need new glasses – but will defer buying anything until I come to Seville so that az can be my personal eyewear adviser.
They never seem to have anyone in opticians over here who can reliably advise one about what looks ok and what doesn’t.
I think I’m going to be heading for bi-focals – it’s increasingly difficult to perform taks which involve me looking at things closely and then needing to focus on something more distant – eg doing embroidery while I’m watching tv.
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I am definitely worth the wait, honey. 😉
I have quite a long list of happy and satisfied ‘clients’ … it’s some kinda gift or something but I really can pick out perfect eyewear for people (except myself of course).
And no, you won’t be getting bifocals. The newer progressive lenses are much better. Don’t worry … we’ll talk. 🙂
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Disposable contacts are dead easy. The only problem is getting over the conditioning that says you have to treat contacts carefully, no matter how drunk you are. At first, when you peel them off your eyes it’s difficult to convince yourself to throw them away!
Anyway…they’re extremely comfortable.
I’m half considering laser surgery, mind.
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I need new glasses really bad. I wish I could afford laser surgery. But even if I could, I’m not sure they use if for people my age.
I’m glad you have your old glasses back az, even if they aren’t what you’d like right now.
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Contacts would only partially solve my problem as I’d still need sunglasses.
And what about reading? I usually have to take my glasses off to read – how does that work with contacts?
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If you can hold off till spring, Hyp, then I can take both you and Teuchter out shopping for new glasses. 🙂
Yes, I’m also glad to have the old sunglasses back – otherwise I walk around squinting like that mole-thing on Deputy Dawg.
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I need to get me some prescription lens sunglasses too. I meant to do it before we went to Portugal in the summer and spent the whole holiday squinting and cursing.
Would it be best if I got an eye test here az – and brought the prescription with me?
Don’t think my Spanglish is up to the rigours of an eye-exam.
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Well, both Nog and Blues had their eye tests done here so you should be fine too.
Meanwhile, I think I’ve talked myself out of the Bvlgari sunglasses because of the little silver & rhinestone doohickeys on the sides. I mean, I think they’re really cute now but I might get tired of them after awhile – plus one of the rhinestones is sure to fall out before too long.
So now how do I keep myself from wanting the Prada ones, cos I really don’t need new clear glasses. But these ones are extremely groovy – Nog says they make me look like a sexy librarian 😉 – and they only cost 200 euros, or about 30 euros a month for six months.
Btw, both frames look way better in person. The Prada ones I like are black in front and bright green on the inside, with the green showing through around the outside of where the lenses fit in – really cool. And that’s what would get totally lost if I had them made into sunglasses.
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Turns out it was all just a temporary fantasy – dangnabbit! Since I got my old sunglasses back I really can’t justify buying new ones.
Though this didn’t stop me from going back to the shop this morning and have them switch the rhinestone doohickeys for clear ones on the frames I liked … just wanted to see how they looked. And they really looked fab! So I had ‘my moment’ thinking how great it would be if I could splash out on fabulous glasses like this …
Now back to the REALITY of making my tired out old glasses – both pair – last another couple of years … snore. 😥
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I’ve only started wearing shades relatively recently…since I got cobtacts. I got my current pair in a £1 shop!
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Ah but you must be very careful about buying cheapo sunglasses, Edward, as they probably won’t have a UV filter. Apparently without this sunglasses can be dangerous to use because the pupil will dilate wider open wearing dark lenses and without a proper UV filter in the lens eye damage can occur. Or at least, so I’ve heard.
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ZZ Top must be worried, then.
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Doubt it … 😉
Do they look like they worry???
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If you have a problam with the glasses costing so much. Just look at the cheaper ones till you find one you like. That’s what me and my friends do. Don’t get mad get cheap. What’s better? Come on!…..cheap of corse.
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You know my friend (Menacing Jam) is right. But when you glasses break and they wear-out you should get new ones. But remember chocolate make everything better. 😉 If you don’t have chocolate you might be cheap and :(. Glasses will always cost alot no matter what!
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“Don’t get mad get cheap”.
Hey, I like that slogan and think it could work in quite a few situations.
Meanwhile, it turns out that the price of those gorgeous Bulgari prescription sunglasses is slightly less than double of what it’ll cost to fly to Lisbon …
Anyhoodle, thank for reminding me – I’d almost forgotten about those damned glasses!
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