Friday, June 22, 2018

Warby Parker's 5 Frames for 5 Days

Since the first grade, I've had glasses. Walmart was our cheapest and only option, and I never had a problem with them. But now I need newer ones. A friend told me about Zenni. Lo-and-behold the online market for glasses + extremely cheap lenses.

With only recently experimenting with what frame shapes suite my face (before, I only had tiny frames), I want to try out larger ones. But which? I went to a specialty eyeglass store to get my prescription, and asked to try on a few pairs.

I wrote a post on how to determine your frame size + compare it to the sizes online.

Online sites have a wider range of styles than in-store. To find out what tiny details I liked, I tried Warby Parker's 5 day home try-on. It's free; you pick 5 frames from a selection, and it ships in a few days. (Completely free!!!) If you have a physical store near you, it might be better and easier to just go there to try on more than 5 frames.


Each frame has 3 measurements printed on them: eye-bridge-temple. Since the bridge size isn't the easiest (in my opinion) to measure, I experimented with it (ranging from 17-20) to see which was the most comfortable. When the frames arrived, I took note of the fit and feel of each frame.

Yes, high quality photo right there

Shipping was quick.
Returning was so easy. They include a return label, and you just use the same box to ship out. I spent nada on all of this.

5 days to thoroughly examine eyeglass frames might be too much or too little, but I was able meet up with friends and ask around for opinions.

After summing up all of my findings, I used a cheaper site to purchase my glasses (firmoo.com). I wrote a post on my experience of that site here.

Here are some examples of my findings after trying on a few frames:
  • frames were big, I liked the recent big-glasses trend
    • I realized since my prescription is so high, these frames will not suit me because I end up with alien eyes when they add the prescription
  • they actually fit my face and did not look too small
    • doesn't actually matter because after the prescription lenses are in, my face will still get distorted lol
  • did not cover my eyebrows (except the light brown one)
    • important for me, my eyes look even more alien without eyebrows
  • got a feel for whether I liked more square/rectangular/round frames
    • I realized for my face shape, more rectangular and sharped-edged frames suited me best
  • found a good frame fit for my face
    • check out the post on that, but I found out 54-17-any was best for me! The arm lengths were long and short, but I didn't really care if they poked through my hair
  • the most important part of the frames (as mentioned above) is the bridge. It took all 5 frames to find that size 17 for the bridge was probably my best bet. 
    • turns out an eye doc can extend the nose parts a bit if the bridge is too big. For plastic frames, the extension is a few millimeters, but metal frames have the most flexibility in my opinion
Perks about this 5 Day Try-On:
  • freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  • you get to experiment with frame shapes+sizes
  • get a feel for what frames suit you
  • honestly, if your prescription is low (or you've bought glasses online before), you can just buy the frames+get prescription from Warby Parker!
  • get to try on frames without having sales associates staring at your back
  • arrives quickly, and easy to ship out without any hassle
Overall:
Would I recommend Warby Parker's service though? Yes! The service was lovely, and I had absolutely no problems while using it. 

Rating: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Convenience: 5/5

My main reason for trying Warby Parker out was to experiment with frames. If I wasn't as blind as I am, I would have bought one of them. However, my prescription is just too high to get frames thin enough to not look like bottle caps (my current glasses are already halfway there though). 

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