When I was at school...

Ignored 08 Aug 2018, 12:54

Ignored!

Eyestein 22 Jul 2018, 22:48

There was a nearsighted girl at my school who always sat at the back of the classroom where she would squint through her glasses to see the board. To sharpen her view she would often use both hands to push her glasses close against her face while having both elbows on the desk. When writing down something from the board she used the index finger of her left hand to push the bridge of her glasses hard into her forehead. As a last resort she would sometimes copy from her neighbour. She certainly appeared to be in need of a new prescription. She would have made life easier for herself by sitting at the front of the classroom but she appeared to be deliberately challenging herself. Outside the classroom she would sometimes not wear glasses but I never saw her walk around bare-eyed in wide open spaces.

She did eventually end up with a new pair of glasses. They had tinted lenses that apparently were not light-reactive. So I don't know if she wore anything different at night. I think the purpose of the tint was to take the brightness out of the power rings thereby reducing the impression of thickness. There was really no cosmetic benefit because the cut-in was still obvious. Amazingly I soon noticed that her behaviour in the classroom reverted somewhat to what it was before her upgrade. The only thing that changed was that she stopped depending on the eyes of the person beside her. She could now see everything but maybe with some effort - or perhaps it was just persistent habit that wasn't really necessary.

I saw the girl about 2 years after she left school. She still had tinted glasses but the prescription had obviously increased again. I wonder if her myopia was increasing so rapidly that her far point was always on the verge of failing. On XXX at 20:38 I posted a girl who looks like an older version of the girl above. The glasses look similar to what she wore at 16.

Josh 23 Jun 2018, 16:26

Hi Amber, i guess you´re not get used to glasses on your face yet, but it seems you´re eyes did, so tell more about how is your vision now, and how about other people comments with your new image, i´m sure your world changed a lot, and i will be here to support you.

Soundmanpt 22 Jun 2018, 08:17

Amber

Do you really find that wearing glasses is really all that bad? I would think that you would be thrilled to now be able to see things so much better than you have for years. Going around squinting at everything isn't a very good look and even worse the squinting will cause early unwanted wrinkles around your eyes. No woman wants wrinkles around their eyes. You found out that to get by in this world you need reasonably good eyesight to even get hired. Employers are very aware that if you're unable to see properly your quality of work won't be very good and will probably slow you down as well. It seems many places now require a physical before hiring someone. So even though you were forced into getting glasses and wearing them you were hired and now have a good job.

Once you started wearing your glasses at work for 8 hours a day it was sure to become more and more difficult for you to go without glasses after you got off work. Because you prescription was on the high side for a first time glasses wearer when you got your glasses your eyes were still badly strained when you got your glasses so that makes it nearly impossible for the optometrists to refract your eyes as much as they really needed to be. So after wearing your glasses for a short time your eyes became more relaxed and your true prescription came out making your glasses too weak for your eyes. Now the good news is that after this increase you should be good for the next 12 months and then you may only need a very slight increase in your glasses. If you would be happier if your glasses had thinner lenses you can always go on line and order your glasses with the thinner lenses and progressive lenses for around $75.00.

Since you have been wearing your glasses has wearing glasses had any effect on your social life? I mean you said that you're a single girl and 25. So do you have a bf or just playing the field and dating? Are you still getting asked out even though you're wearing glasses now? I have a feeling if you're an attractive young lady without glasses you're every bit as attractive with glasses. I honestly have never seen even one attractive young woman that didn't look just as attractive wearing glasses. Many guys, including me, find a young woman to even be more sexy if she's wearing glasses.

Brett 21 Jun 2018, 22:13

Amber, I'm sure its been a big change getting used to wearing glasses all the time. Believe it or not there are a lot of people of all ages that wear bifocals/trifocals or progressives. And its supposedly getting more common thanks to computers, smart phones, etc. You didn't mention, or maybe I didn't read back far enough if you have lined bifocals? Also, your prescription would be somewhat thick but with plastic frames a good portion of it would still be within the frame I would guess. You've probably realized from being on here that there are a lot of guys that think ladies wearing stronger prescriptions is very attractive. I bet your glasses look very good on you, good luck with the new Rx and don't let it get you down!

Amber 21 Jun 2018, 15:39

Josh

About six months ago when I got the prescription, I vowed not to get the glasses, despite what the eye guy said about how poor my vision is.

Then when I lost my job, and kept finding it hard to find another one, because the potential employers noticed how much I squinted.Then part of a job interview required me to have a physical with their company doctor.When he checked my vision, he said it was about 20/700, and ask me to put my glasses on, so he could see what it was with them.

I had not purchased them, but I wanted to get the job, so I told him that they had broken, and a new pair had been ordered.He said that I need to come back when they come in, so that he could cheek my vision with them.

I rushed to a place with one hour service,and had them made, went back to the employer, passed the test, and got the job.

I reluctantly wear them now for work, but after work find it now impossible to do with out them.

The eye guy wanted me to have another test six months after the last and.I thought about blowing it off, but my vision again was not really all that good even with my glasses,so I went back.

The new prescription reads, od sph -5.50, cyl -1.50, axis 43,os sph, 6.0, cyl -2.00, axis 145, add 2.50.

These glasses are so strong, and I could not afford the thinner lens, so they are very obvious, but now after wearing a prescription, my worst fears have come true, that now can not see anything far, or near with out these monstrosities on my face.

Josh 21 Jun 2018, 04:24

hi Amber! i´m glad you are wearing your glasses constantly now, can you share some experiences and what is your new prescription?

Amber 20 Jun 2018, 16:01

LeeHasang

Thank you for your kind words.

I must tell you that is a six month old prescription, and as of two weeks ago I received a much stronger one.

I don't think that you would find these new stronger bifocals ,that I now wear constantly, very attractive.

By the way I am single, and 25 years old. How old are you?

LeeHasang 20 Jun 2018, 07:02

Amber, I tell you, You must be more beautiful to me wearing your minus 4.5 spectacles If no one loves or marry you because of minus 4.5 spectacles, I almost wanted to marry you. Please have that thick but lightweight spectacles sliding downward on your nose at cinema, I can help you to slide your spectacles upward, embrace you. kissing you, saying, "you are the best girl for me because you wear the thick but lightweight plastic lenses " . I hate heavy glass, but I love thick lightweight plastic. "Please wearing the spectacles every day, if you think it is difficult to wear spectacles, I may place your lightweight spectacles on your nose comfortably"

LeeHasang 20 Jun 2018, 02:41

That thinling word is typo mistake. should be thinking not thinling.

LeeHasang 20 Jun 2018, 02:39

Hyperlink should work now.

http://scontent.fhkg3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/35796042_1960841823948450_2646526717144858624_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&efg;=eyJpIjoibCJ9&_nc_eui2=AeFv8ZHyjkTUbVGaHZzY9kwXLQtrAJxBwVdApjwsyAgk_kDIfXyD6LbG6QLy6NQfl-tcG3ZBM2hWbH3iWNV2izrK0V2wIKD8dM8xrlZvHQasXw&oh;=61abee6688f381d43deef16ee8161791&oe;=5BAD6AED

http://scontent.fhkg3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/35649150_1960885350610764_8274048822645096448_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&efg;=eyJpIjoibCJ9&_nc_eui2=AeHO3PajH4rCFdWiMiX--IDxepkYC5yEn4_Yx1I0piYvtL2ocwgF-5zB7YL9eu-Sclpld--PN1odt7FdUgSLcXp6orRc5A20hnW2a_v8H8DKOg&oh;=4146cd1ff7e9b7820a737a1bea7857ea&oe;=5BEB074A

LeeHasang 20 Jun 2018, 02:37

I am Hasang.ri

I think I have not remember this girl very often because she was not in the same year. Not in same class. She was younger than me by 1 year. But browsing old photos I find her image.

I think this was a minus 2 or 3. I remember she caused me many GWG fantasy . because for several years (more exactly 5 years) , I can see her walking . Also, travelling in bus or commuter trains. It was school of course there were moderately heavy homework workload maybe 2 hours to complete. Sometimes I can see her writing homework. That can be SEVERE attraction to me. In my impression her hobbies including reading books. With that I meant she was sort of a relatively frequent visitor in Library, browsing catalogues , Using books on several different desks inside Library , after school hours. Typically 100 books per year. That sort of persons there were maybe tens of such person. Not Abundant but i had some impression thinling about such girls.

https://scontent.fhkg3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/35796042_1960841823948450_2646526717144858624_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&efg;=eyJpIjoibCJ9&_nc_eui2=AeFv8ZHyjkTUbVGaHZzY9kwXLQtrAJxBwVdApjwsyAgk_kDIfXyD6LbG6QLy6NQfl-tcG3ZBM2hWbH3iWNV2izrK0V2wIKD8dM8xrlZvHQasXw&oh;=61abee6688f381d43deef16ee8161791&oe;=5BAD6AED

https://scontent.fhkg3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/35649150_1960885350610764_8274048822645096448_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&efg;=eyJpIjoibCJ9&_nc_eui2=AeHO3PajH4rCFdWiMiX--IDxepkYC5yEn4_Yx1I0piYvtL2ocwgF-5zB7YL9eu-Sclpld--PN1odt7FdUgSLcXp6orRc5A20hnW2a_v8H8DKOg&oh;=4146cd1ff7e9b7820a737a1bea7857ea&oe;=5BEB074A

 29 Jan 2018, 21:03

If it isn't that big a deal, as you say, then why do you keep insisting that Amber get glasses? Isn't it her choice? You must be wonderful at parties where a kid needs brtaces.

Soundmanpt 29 Jan 2018, 10:24

Amber

I am not going to lecture you but don't you think that was very wasteful of you breaking your glasses on purpose just so you wouldn't have to wear them. Your parents were no doubt trying to help your poor eyesight. Even with insurance glasses can still cost quite a bit out of pocket. If you want to walk around in your blurry world that's your choice.

Wearing glasses doesn't make your eyes as you say really really bad. Look how bad your eyesight is now and you don't even wear glasses. You can expect that your eyesight will likely continue to get worse no matter if you wear glasses or not. I think what you really mean is that you don't want to feel dependent on glasses. which honestly if you wore them you would get very dependent on your glasses. Yes and wouldn't that be terrible to see everything clear and sharp all the time? I'm sure it has to be so much better seeing everything fuzzy and blurry all the time. Don't you see that everyone already knows how poorly you see and they even make fun of it. Looking back when you were out with a few of your female friends and one of them was wearing a pair of what you even admitted wear nice looking glasses. At some point she took off her glasses and some of your friends started trying them on.of course your friends all found them too strong for their eyes. But you were able to see perfect wearing them. With her glasses on you everything became nice and clear. You must have enjoyed being able to see because toy tried her glasses several more times after that. That surely wasn't the worst thing being able to see so well was it? Wearing glasses isn't that big of a deal like you're making it out to be.

Amber 29 Jan 2018, 09:37

i think you guys are getting confused. i buried my eyes behind different pairs of glasses for a minute in life, but I always broke them on purpose so I wouldn't have to wear them. i didn't like how sharp everything looks when I wore them. i had glasses only because my parents would force me. i didn't want them.

omg the eye test. my blur level has blown up since my last pair! the doctor made it seem bad. you guys think I am blind! but It isn't as bad as everyone thinks. I think when I always see this way, it's what I expect. but some days if it is dark or the light is bad, i can only past a couple waves in a sea of blur.

when I wore glasses and would take them off because my eyes couldn't see. i think glasses make your eyes really really bad. i had to take off my glasses when i did my hair and the mirror got too blurry. i have some friends who get off seeing all the very tiny small details so they wear glasses. but notice they always get thicker glasses everytime they see the doctor. i don't want that.

some guys get off making jokes about my eyes watching me squint. can I read this. can I see that. lol. but I'll do anything to avoid getting glasses again. ok so I can't drive because I can't even come close to reading the signs. i take buses. i change my life around to make it work. but we do that for everything in life.

Hate me. I know.

Soundmanpt 18 Jan 2018, 09:20

Amber

"Plus Tony" has done a very good job of explaining what all the numbers in you prescription mean. But i'm not sure that you understand that the higher the numbers are the more things are for you without glasses. At -4.00 / -4.50 you're already in the moderate /strong range. If you're wondering they consider anything -7.00 or more to be "strong" glasses. Like "Plus Tony" stated the reason you were prescribed an add is because with these really being your first glasses and your distance being as much as it is your eyes would have a very hard time trying to read small print with your glasses on. So the add is just to make it easier for your eyes to read. comfortably. Now I know you're not keen on wearing glasses, but trust me as bad as must think wearing glasses I can tell you that your working so much harder trying to make out things than wearing glasses will ever be. Wearing glasses these days isn't a big deal anymore because nearly everyone wears glasses and or contacts. Many young women are even wearing glasses they don't need just because glasses have become a sought after fashion accessory. Like "Plus Tony" suggested you can and should order a pair of glasses on line. Personally I recommend Zenni (zennioptical.com) to get your glasses from. They have hundreds of really cute glasses that i'm sure you would look really cute wearing. They have prescription glasses starting at $6.95. (single vision) But if you were to choose a pair in the $13.00 range and add on the Ar coating (anti-reflective) which is $5.00 and since you have an add you would need progressives, no-line bifocal,which is about $34.00 more. and shipping which is $5.00 the total cost of your glasses would only be $57.00. Not too pricey. Then you could at least start off by wearing them around your house to get used to wearing them until you're ready to wear them in public. You need to face it, your eyesight is more than at the point where you need to start wearing glasses.

Plus Tony 18 Jan 2018, 03:46

Hi Amber,

That is a fairly high prescription so you have my respect for managing your life through the blur so far! Whether you decide to give yourself the option of taking the blur away is of course up to you but this is what you might expect if you take the plunge and get glasses.

I suspect your eye doctor/optometrist has given you the add (+1.50) to make it easier to adjust to wearing glasses all the time (which is obviously what the person who tested your eyes would expect you to do).

In prescription terms you've got a bit of everything going on there. You're shortsighted/nearsighted/myopic (depending on where you live). That is the -4 and -4.50 bit. There is a slight difference in your two eyes but nothing to get excited about. You also have astigmatism which means that your eyes are shaped more like a rugby ball/American football instead of a soccer ball. A lot of people have this. To be honest the amount of astigmatism in your prescription is probably enough for full time wear by itself. The effect of astigmatism is to make things unsharp at all distances.

What they are saying with the add of +1.50 is that you need less power for doing things close up like reading (so if you had glasses for reading only they would be -2.50, -3.00). I'm not an expert but I don't think for sure that you need the add. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? That could make a difference.

Ultimately whether you get glasses is your choice. They might be a better option than contacts actually because of the astigmatism but I realise that you aren't keen on being framed. If you want to try glasses, your best option might be to order an inexpensive pair online. That way you can give glasses a try without breaking the bank (which optical stores will be very keen to help you to do). There are lots of people here with experience of that who will be happy to give you advice.

All the best.

Amber 17 Jan 2018, 17:52

oops i forgot to add something. my prescription also says add +1.5

Amber 17 Jan 2018, 17:50

okay here are my prescription numbers maybe you can read my future with them lol. tell me what it means. od sph 4.0, cyl -1.0, axis 43. os sph 4.5, cyl -1.5, axis 145.

NNVisitor 17 Jan 2018, 00:05

Amber

You can use your prescription to get contact lenses from a contact lens specialist. Your eyes will be checked to determine the shape of each cornea which will be used to determine the right contact lenses for your eyes. You will be given instructions for inserting, removing the lenses, proper hand hygene to prevent infections and which solution or solutions you need for your contact lenses. If you're able to follow the instructions this may be a solution for your situation. With proper contact lenses you will see clearly without wearing glasses. Of course when your contact lenses are removed the blur will return. If you decide to go this route follow the instructions. Do not overwear the contact lenses and never sleep with them. Best of luck going forward.

Tony 16 Jan 2018, 19:57

http://img.allw.mn/content/aj/oa/lh9d9_eyewear_glasses_hair_face_vision-care.jpg

Amber, i found this image for you, it´s about the same you will look with -4 -4,50 glasses, she has high index and small frames, what do you think?

Tony 16 Jan 2018, 19:51

Amber, you´re wrong, -4, -4,50 is higher prescription than -3,25, and of course much more than -2,00, you are very nearsighted, but i undrestand you because i was like you years ago, squinting didn´t work, and somehow i did hide my bad eyesight for years, what i used to do to see better is pushing a bit my right eye, (is my best eye) and things get in focus, but if you do that too much things start to have a little light around is annoying, but it works for emergencies, i spend almost 5 years since i notice my bad vision without glasses, but finally gave in, and now i´m very confortable in them, but it´s up to you, if everybody know that you´re blind, they won´t be surprised when you start to wear, or they maybe say... finally! an advice from someone who lived the same, get glasses now, you don´t know how much you are missing with that bad vision

Weirdeyes 16 Jan 2018, 16:13

Amber

Just list all of them. Sounds like you have astigmatism, which is also important.

Josh 16 Jan 2018, 15:43

Amber

i guess you´re wrong if you think when your eyes are -2 is worse, you are very nearsighted with -4 and -4,50, if you get worse you´ll get -5, -6, -7, etc. but when you decided to start to wear glasses maybe will be hard for the thickness of the lenses, your current rx is serious but not so thick, if i were you at least would buy the pair you´re prescribed and then think about wear them often or not... enjoy blurriness but enjoy glasses with shap and clear vision too

Amber 16 Jan 2018, 15:09

There are a bunch of numbers all over the place on the prescription. I have no idea which one is the most important so I'm going to pick the biggest one. I read the message from a guy here in December that thinks my eyes are really bad and -3.25. haha wrong. If I am reading these numbers right, my eyes are much better than that because they are only -4 and -4.5. I am not that blind yet!

Some days if it is rainy and cloudy everything feels like a fluffy blur and I can get dizzy. I make sure I am at home then. But I am not a girl for glasses right now. No way. Not happening to me. I really don't mind the blur. You sound like my friends calling me nuts, but I think I will probably wait to get glasses when I am -2!

I am sorry. please don't hate or judge me.

Maxim 11 Jan 2018, 10:32

Amber - I think that's a girl's name. Try some nice glasses from Zenni, you might get them at 6,95 US-Dollars + a maximum of 10,00 Dollars for postage. Try them, hidden, secretly, in front of a mirror. Forget everything what you thought about glasses. Look into the mirror, and say to yourself: What a good-looking girl I am!

How good, that I can see properly, everything crisp and clear.

Repeat that for 5 minutes, and then go downstairs, out into the street, and your family and your friends will say, how good you're looking! By the way, you don't have a friend or a collegue wearing glasses?

Obviously you should wear glasses, and I think it is your right to wear glasses! All the best for you ...

Weirdeyes 10 Jan 2018, 17:10

Amber

What’s your prescription?

Amber 10 Jan 2018, 16:36

i am sorry but i got caught up in other things for a minute and forgot about getting back here. so the eye guy said i needed glasses. i knew that. but the biggest mindblower for me was putting the flippy optic thing in front of my eyes and realizing how badly i need glasses! so he rattled on about how blind i am and how i need to see, but that all fell into background noise for me. i didn't care. i was so embarassed about my blurry eyes and how he said i need to be wear glasses for everything. things look amazingly different. when we ended our time, he told me to go next door and choose glasses. but there was no way i was getting glasses from this eye guy. omg he knows how blind i am.

it's been a few weeks now and i am used to my blur level again. i don't know why but i just realized today that i still have the glasses prescription in my purse. i thought i burned it lol. i'm going to stay blurry for another minute because i don't have enough money for glasses anyway. hey maybe that is a sign that i shouldn't get glasses? i can be honest here since i am anonymous and say that i think glasses ruin my face. mr eye guy and all his talk about how bad my eyes are makes me think i will have thick glasses falling down my nose all day long. no that is not for me.

i apologize that i did not get glasses.

Soundmanpt 09 Jan 2018, 09:32

I remember my first real crush. It really started in the 6th grade when I first started noticing girls. Of course like any boy tat age i was much too scared to even talk to her. My interest was always their though. She had 2 girlfriends and they seemed to always be together. One of them was Jeanie and she wore glasses pretty much all the time. but once in a wile she would take them off and sit them on her desk. The other girl was Mary Ann. She had only recently started at out school. And the girl of my dreams was Linda I even remember all of their last names which is odd since I have trouble remembering what I ate for breakfast most days. Anyway in the 8th grade Jeanie and Linda manged to be seated across from one another close to the back of the classroom. I was closer t the front of the classroom so it was harder for me to try peeking at Linda as much as i really wanted. But around 3 months into the school year I turned around enough to take a peek at Linda and I was shocked to see her wearing glasses. Of course now I didn't want to take my eyes off of her. She seemed to somehow look even better to me with glasses on. It didn't take long until I noticed that her glasses looked a lot like Jeanie's glasses. Then I noticed that Jeanie wasn't wearing her glasses and they weren't on the the corner of her desk like they sometimes were. Linda had the glasses on for quite a while and the next time I peeked back she wasn't wearing glasses and Jeanie was. Even being in 8th grade I quickly figured out that Linda was wearing Jeanie's glasses. But why? Did she maybe need them to see the board? Or did she just notice Jeanie's glasses sitting on the corner of her desk and she was curious what it was like to wear glasses. But as good of friends as they were she must have tried on Jeanie's glasses long before that. But from that day on Linda seemed to be wearing Jeanie's glasses more and more often. I even would see them walking home together after school and Linda was wearing her glasses them too. As it turned out after 8th grade Mary Ann, Jeanie and Linda all went to a different high school then I did so I pretty much lost track of her. But about 5 years later I was playing softball at a ballfield and I saw her with her boyfriend. At least by this time I wasn't too afraid to talk to her so i went over and said ho to her and she seemed happy to see me. She wasn't wearing glasses but it was possible that she might have been wearing contacts. She still looked amazing to me. I guess your first crush never goes away.

Georgie 07 Jan 2018, 14:05

I rest my case, your honour.

specs4ever 31 Dec 2017, 12:25

I have enjoyed your post Georgie, and I certainly hope that you go on with them. Thanks.

Georgie 31 Dec 2017, 07:44

Well Guest I didn't get much feedback. I assumed it was because I mentioned the "b" word. I've often found that talking about my blindness can be a bit of conversation stopper so I tend not to mention it unless someone shows an interest. People are, quite understandably, terrified of going blind and prefer to push the subject to one side. I'm very lucky, I'm a million miles away from what people tend to think of as blind, i.e. having no light perception. I cope well with my restricted vision and have developed strategies which allow me to do pretty much everything I could do before. The only thing I really miss is being able to drive, it restricts my freedom somewhat but I manage.

Guest 20 Dec 2017, 07:42

We have not heard from Georgie for over a month - if youre still out there, please post more stories

antonio 19 Dec 2017, 21:59

Hi Glass lens,

that would mean, she is in decent blur meanwhile or how to describe?

Best regards, antonio

Glass lenses 18 Dec 2017, 23:15

I will guess Amber needs -3.50, perhaps some cylinder thrown in for good measure.

antonio 16 Dec 2017, 01:27

Hi Amber,

wow sounds really interesting :-)

I´m curious, too.

What did they find out about your blur level as you call it ?

Please let us know.

As always all the best wishes for a great Christmas time

Antonio

Colin 12 Dec 2017, 00:23

Hi Amber.

What happened! Did you get an eye test? What was the result. Can’t wait for the next instalment.

Amber 11 Dec 2017, 18:56

i was on my own today, no one around i knew and the mall was quiet early in the morning for a weekday. so i sat down squinting to check my texts, and when i look up, glaring in front of me was an eye exam place. okay no one is around i thought, let me get a quick exam and see how messed up my eyes really are. i'm used to seeing blurry but i was curious. i wondered if they would take walk ins.

Antonio 01 Dec 2017, 15:54

Hi Amber,

yes dimmed light can be awful to us myopic people. I once had to find a house before it got dark after my glasses got broken while jogging and tumbling done. So I know what you mean :-)

A litte sorry,it feels like "someone reached into your head and dialed the blur level up", but really cool description of what all of us have experienced several times. Guess it's not your first time either ?

Besides I like your style of writing things :-)

Cu antonio

Antonio 01 Dec 2017, 15:45

Hi Amber,.

I.m pretty sure I won't get ever bored listening to your interesting blurred stories :-)

Welcome back here.

If you like visit some of us like me :-) at lenschat.com.

Cu. All the best, antonio

Amber 01 Dec 2017, 14:49

I haven't posted in a minute because of all the holiday things. I see someone tried to get cute and post as me down below. Rest easily it was not me. Thanksgiving was definitely different. My eyes were quite bad during dinner because my stupid sister decided to dim all the lights. I realized that I've reached a point where faces sitting directly across from me at the table can become just blurs if the lighting is bad. I think this is the point where everyone usually says it's time for me to get glasses. But I don't think so. They were blurry but it was okay with me.

I did make a fool out of myself when my sister and her friends went to our spot on Saturday night. I really couldn't see well. I mean really bad. I bumped into tables and people all night. I think someone reached inside my head and dialed up the blur level... lol. No glasses to borrow that night. None of her friends wear glasses. Well one needs glasses, but her eyes seems like angel eyes to mine. She was reading signs across the bar that were only smudges and blurs to me. Who does she think she is. I think she wears glasses to tell people she needs glasses not because she needs glasses. Does that make any sense?

Let me know if I am boring you. I could go on with silly stories of my blurry life, but I know some people get bored and upset when I say I'm not getting glasses.

 25 Nov 2017, 02:06

And you are a geeky lesbo who hasn't shaved her legs since the Carter administration.

Amber 23 Nov 2017, 02:45

Antonio is probably a creep jerking off in his mother's basement to my posts here. Meanwhile he can't talk to women in real life.

Weirdeyes 22 Nov 2017, 22:53

When I first got glasses at age eleven I was worried and confused about my prescription of R 0.00 L +1.25. As an optically obsessed kid I was worried about image size difference. That was the first question I asked. They assured me it would look the same size to me. I didn't know how it would be possible. I was also confused about the only one eye needing glasses situation. I thought my vision was off in general. Now with a 3.00 difference between my eyes I still don't notice an image size difference. Probably because things look tiny through my left eye. I think things look pretty small through both eyes which makes it hard for me to tell if I'm really seeing 20/20 or not. I think that's a sign I have some latent hyperopia. I don't think the vision in my right eye is all that great to be honest. It just looks good next to my left eye.

antonio 17 Nov 2017, 17:08

hi Amber again,

oh yes, I know how it is when squinting just doesn´t help that much as it did before !! Happened to me too,

I guess it happens if you reach the -2 region and above, I think today.

For me this led to get me some glasses only for such "emergencies" like sitting in a cinema on the last rows without a clue what was going on :-), imagine me there bareeyed :-) or in case to find my way through a big railway station or even an airport having to read signs, oh nooo :-)

but mostly carried in my pocket for yrs that pair :-)

have you also hated to put glasses on in front of people when you once had some ? how strong were they ? your first pair ? ...

but I understand your point loving the blur too a bit, for me I loved also the challenge to see about okay through my blur, do you feel the same ? :-)

Shortsighted life is full of surprises, isn´t it ? :-)

funny you saw that gal squinting for you :-), wearing hers :-)

best regards, antonio

antonio 17 Nov 2017, 14:28

Hi Amber,

thanks for answering, yes, I know that wow effect too

from my bareeyed shortsighted times when I tried on some minus glasses and suddenly I could see clearly and I even knew why :-), but I denied they helped me normally and sometimes even said, wow those are strong, my eyes hurt, although they didn´t ?

What did you comment on the pair you wore ? :-)

What do you usually comment in such cases ?

best regards, antonio

Amber 17 Nov 2017, 10:57

It's funny you should ask what is blurry at bars. The other night I was out with my gals at our bar and she had a friend in town who wears glasses. It was hard to see her well in the bar, but because they turned the heat up it was dripping hot inside. Our new girlfriend took off her glasses at our table because they kept sliding down her face in the heat. So my bestie picked up her glasses and tried them on because she said they look cute. I think they did look awesome on her, but she complained they were so strong only her friend from out of town and me could see through them. My other friends got a laugh on me over that and called them Amber strength. Yeah ha ha. So I reached over and put them on. Now it is one thing to know my eyes are blurry, but wow these strong glasses made everything like super HD and I could see everything. I think my eyes have become super blurred or I had too much to drink because it was a really big difference. I could see our new girlfriend squinting hard to see what I look like in her gorgeous glasses. It was very weird seeing all the facial expressions and details that I am so used to not seeing. My friends were all talking about me with her that I am so blind and how her glasses probably aren't even strong enough for me after all. One of my other girls tried them on and called them instant headache glasses. So when the the night was over, I had tried on her glasses a few times and got no headaches. I always talk to people that I think are other people because they are just too blurry to tell the difference. I think I got stupid trashed that night but the next day I am fine living in my blurry world. Yes my friends always say Amber is the blind one. My blur makes me feel comfortable and warm, so I am ok with that. I just squint alot when I need to see but that doesn't work as well as it used to.

oscar 17 Nov 2017, 04:58

One nice memory from school. There was a pretty girl-next-door in my class, bookish, with a lovely smile and a nice athletic figure that was just starting to fill out in a good way by the time she was about 16. Anyway, the thing was her glasses. They were attractive (especially the reflections from them) but nothing exceptional on first look. But then I realized that her medium plus lenses had a bifocal add. After noticing that, one of the sexiest things in English Literature class was when she read. Watching her looking through the reading segment like that was always such a turn on. And if we were sitting close together she'd sometimes look through the stronger segment during a conversation too. Wow. I wish crippling shyness hadn't stopped me from asking her out. She was gorgeous.

antonio 16 Nov 2017, 13:57

Hi Amber,

what was blurry for you at your school dances or when you hit the bars ?

Best regards, Antonio

antonio 16 Nov 2017, 13:24

Interesting story, Amber

I too went to school for some years needing glasses , but not wearing them, so I can understand how you feel in some ways. But I always tried to hide it and when my eyes got to a point where it got obvious I couldn.t see far i started wearing them.

Interesting story, if you like you can discuss with us on lenschat.com.

Welcome here and best regards, antonio

Amber 16 Nov 2017, 12:22

I was the girl you always saw sitting in class squinting hard to see through the blur and read the board.

I always needed glasses but never wore them. The teachers made me get an eye exam because I couldn't read things far away. But I still avoided wearing them as much as possible. I know some people here will hate me for this, but I likeed the way I look without glasses. And blur makes me feel comfortable. After awhile I would have a hard time recognizing people far away. But I always liked that. That probably makes me an enemy on this website because I think everyone wants to see us ladies wear our glasses as we are told. And people tell me I am crazy. lol.

My eyes did get worse, but my gals helped me out because they knew I couldn't see. Things were very blurry at our school dances and when we hit the bars, but I never tried to hide it. I just tell everyone that's too blurry for me to see.

I would always lose or break glasses when I got them. Sometimes on purpose. But I feel that my blur is part of me. I like seeing this way. I avoid things where I would need to see clearly becuase like I never got a driver's license. There is no way I could see good enough.

I don't know if there are other women like me. So I am posting here to find out. I've watched this website for awhile but never had the courage to stand up and say this. But today I finally decided to tell my story.

Georgie 14 Nov 2017, 04:40

Davey,

You misunderstand me, I have no desire to be blind whatsoever. It was a phase I went through when I was very young. Since then I've been terrified of going blind and unfortunately my worst fears were confirmed in my mid forties when I was assessed as having "low vision" after a couple of retinal detachments and other complications associated with very high myopia. My situation is currently manageable and I cope quite well but I live in daily fear of further deterioration in my vision.

I've been extremely myopic since birth but my vision was always well corrected and I derived enjoyment from not being able to see well but was always grateful that with glasses my vision was pretty much as good as my glassesless peers. To give you an idea of my vision now, my optometrist refers to what I see without glasses as "count fingers at two feet". With glasses it's 20/200 but my field of view is restricted, more so in my right eye than left.

Please don't do anything to inflict permanent damage to your eyes. You have no way of knowing whether the novelty will wear off and you'll come to regret it and there'll be no going back. I'd give anything to have my old vision back.

Weirdeyes 14 Nov 2017, 01:33

Back when I was in my dumb phase of making fun people who wore glasses(I was jealous) this kid defended himself by saying he only needed it because of one bad eye. I pitied him. I thought it would suck to have bad vision in one eye. Karma bit me in the ass after that. I'm guessing the difference between my eyes is far worse than his.

 09 Nov 2017, 13:43

To those of you who supposedly wanted to be blind, you should have become a sports referee.

Davey 09 Nov 2017, 13:04

Georgie, I,ve been following this post with keen interest, I share like you the same interests in strong glasses and the need to be blind. My own eyesight is alas quite good, only slightly short sighted but I,ve always wanted to wear thick myodisc glasses, I do glasses over contacts and my glasses are -27.50 ,I also go blind simming and use a white cane and have used blackout blind contact lenses, I,ve also thought of ways I could cause myself to go blind, and experimented with strong prism lenses, my best times are when I,m out in strong glasses and white cane ,and love the feeling when I,e been helped to cross a road or assisted by a nice lady while trying to shop with poor vision, I,m also fascinated and attracted to ladies in glasses ,the stronger the better. D

Colin 09 Nov 2017, 06:54

The post dated 30 Nov was from me! I was trying to address it to Calcat! Sorry for the confusion.

This correspondence has triggered more memories from my school days.

As I’ve said it was the 60’s and I wore the round wire NHS kids glasses with cable temples. My prescription has always been approaching plus 30. The lenses weren’t quite an inch thick but one of my mates measured them in science with a micrometer and they were over 3/4”. They were extremely heavy. Both other kids and teachers seemed fascinated with them. The woodwork teacher borrowed someone’s glasses and peered through them in my direction waving his arms saying “Baldwin, I’m over here”.

Other kids were always asking to “try them on” sometimes they didn’t ask just lifted them off my face. I secretly loved all this!! It was never done roughly, I think perhaps because they looked quite delicate.

Once when play fighting a boy had me pinned to the ground sitting astride my chest with his knees on my arms. He reached for the glasses, put them on and raised his arms in triumph. Kind of like they were the trophy.

Weirdeyes 09 Nov 2017, 02:26

When I was in school I always thought I was slightly nearsighted. I didn't have the sharpest distance vision, but I could still read the board. I thought I maybe had a very low prescription like -0.50 that didn't quite need glasses yet. I expected to maybe get my first glasses when I was around -1.00 or something. Instead my first glasses were R 0.00 and L+1.25. I didn't understand why I was farsighted if I had distance vision issues. I later got a prescription to correct astigmatism which explained my "mild nearsightedness".

30 Calcat 09 Nov 2017, 00:49

Probably only style. I’ve had several glasses over the years with cable temples and you’re right they do keep the specs on snugly. However even they weren’t up to the weight of the heavy thick glass lenses that I wore before plastic lenses were available.

Was constantly pushing them back up. Fell off completely once when I jumped over a vaulting horse in PE!

30calcat 08 Nov 2017, 16:48

I have always wondered why cable temples that hook around the ears fell out of popularity, even among full time glasses wearers. They are so effective in keeping glasses snug on the face. Was it for some style reason that they fell out of favour?

Colin 08 Nov 2017, 12:48

Wow Georgie,

Our experiences in many ways seem similar. Even when quite young I loved the feeling that I needed strong glasses and was also fascinated by the glasses that other people wore. It definitely turned into a sexual fascination as I reached puberty. I was scared that anything might happen to my glasses but that thought also excited me as well. The thought that at any moment I may be almost blind excited me. I deliberately never carried a spare pair with me. I was able to do games and PE although I was never much good! The teacher was definitely concerned about their safety, this was the 60’s and my glasses were the round wire NHS kids ones with wire hooks round the ears. The lenses were glass and very thick and heavy. They jumped around if I wasn’t careful when I ran. I always wore glasses for swimming but handed them to the teacher if we had to use the diving board. I seemed to get special attention from other teachers too, some made me sit at the front so I could see the board. I didn’t really need to but loved the attention. I also loved it when anyone wanted to try them on.

I think my lenses must be similar to yours but a high plus, having a circular Centre section that bulges out.

Let me know if you’d like to know anything more. My email is colinanthonybaldwin@gmail.com

Georgie 07 Nov 2017, 05:25

Hi there. That’s interesting Colin, I thought I was exceptionally unusual in feeling an attraction for someone with strong glasses while needing such glasses myself. I assumed obsessions were born of something you wish for but have no direct experience of and can’t actually have. Seems you enjoyed your poor vision and others’ reactions to it just as I have always done. I’ve done a lot of thinking and soul searching on this over the years and I think it may stem from the attention I got as a child because I couldn’t see. I was always protected and treated differently and this extra attention became something I craved. I was always prevented from doing sports that involved physical contact or ball sports where the ball could hit my eyes. Swimming lessons were out too as I just couldn’t see well enough in a pool full of kids. It was a double edged sword really, I did at times feel I was missing out but also felt good as a result of the special attention I received.

I still wear myodiscs today, I’ve had them for around 40 years. However I’m now registered blind. This was the point of my story really, the irony of me wanting to be blind when I was a child isn’t lost on me. I’m not totally blind of course but my visual field is somewhat restricted and my vision isn’t completely correctable with my glasses which are over -30 dioptres in both eyes. It’s hard to describe what I see because I’m quite used to it and get around fine. Driving is out of course but I can walk down a crowded street without bumping into people, I watch TV, albeit sat very close to the screen, I can type on a PC and phone held closer than normal. It’s amazing how the brain adapts and I just use coping strategies without consciously being aware I’m doing anything out of the ordinary. Without the glasses I would definitely describe myself as blind though, there’s light perception and colours and movement but no shape to anything, particularly in poor light. I have a cane but rarely use it, for one thing I can get about perfectly well without it in good light, although I have admittedly tripped on many occasions as I can’t really see my feet while walking. The thing about the cane though is that it advertises my vulnerability which I certainly don’t want to do if I’m travelling alone at night.

I can write more later. There are numerous instances where my eyesight has brought me pleasure but occasionally embarrassment and even downright fear. My life followed a particular route in no small part because I have never been able to see well but also because I’m attracted to others like me and I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I had been born with normal vision.

ric 07 Nov 2017, 03:03

First time i Heard about “myodiscs” was in my late teens. Parents take me to the eye doctor, to check my eyes and prescribing me new glasses. Doctor told us that my visión got significately worse and needing change glasses. I asked her if i could get any glasses not as thick as i was wearing, and she told me i should order lenses called Lentilux. Next day, i was with a friend to the optician to order the glasses. I gave the prescription to the optician and told him that doctor said. He told me that this lenses were supposed for myopia i the -15 ranges, and mine were -9. He told me that visión field would be pretty reduced, etc…

 07 Nov 2017, 02:45

First time i Heard about “myodiscs” was in my late teens. Parents take me to the eye doctor, to check my eyes and prescribing me new glasses. Doctor told us that my visión got significately worse and needing change glasses. I asked her if i could get any glasses not as thick as i was wearing, and she told me i should order lenses called Lentilux. Next day, i was with a friend to the optician to order the glasses. I gave the prescription to the optician and told him that doctor said. He told me that this lenses were supposed for myopia i the -15 ranges, and mine were -9. He told me that visión field would be pretty reduced, etc…So i ended this time getting the glasses with usual lenses.

Puffin 04 Nov 2017, 12:11

I remember my fascination with what I now know are called "myodisks" started when I saw them on TV; there was this unused bit of lens near the edge. It wasn't just that they were strong, it was that they were strong enough to not fit the frames without adaptation.

That fascination hasn't changed.

Colin 04 Nov 2017, 00:33

Hi Georgie,

Love your story, I hope you’re feeling better now. I too wear strong but plus glasses and am attracted to anyone else wearing glasses, male or female the stronger the better! I also revelled in any attention about my glasses at school. ( Other people trying them on, the PE teacher shouting out “mind Baldwin’s glasses” if games got a bit rough and handing them to him to hold when we used the diving board etc)

There were several other kids at school with strong glasses which fascinated me!

Can I ask what your prescription is? Any glasses stories would be great.

Thanks so much for posting.

lentifan 29 Oct 2017, 13:54

Wow, Georgie, myodiscs!

I don't know when or where you were in school but if I had been there I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off you.

Please, please tell us more when you feel able. I do hope your recuperation is swift.

Best wishes.

Georgie 29 Oct 2017, 10:38

Thank you for your interest guys. I’ve never felt comfortable articulating my feelings, particularly on this subject and so doing so anonymously on here to an audience with similar leanings seems like a godsend. I would have written sooner but I have been unexpectedly detained in hospital for the last few days. I’m recuperating but don’t feel great so this will have to be short for now.

When I said my obsession waned over time I was referring to the desire to be blind. It seemed to morph into a strong attraction to people with higher end glasses prescriptions like me by the time I hit puberty. When I look back, the desire to be blind and the pleasant feelings it gave me to simulate blindness probably only lasted for two or maybe three years at the most, from about the age of nine to twelve. By the age of twelve, as is usually the case I had started to become very sexually aware. My friends all had boyfriends but I, at that age, mostly had crushes on girls, specifically those with glasses. Back then, myopia wasn’t nearly as common as it seems to be now so there were only a few girls with glasses at my school and even fewer with prescriptions that meant they needed glasses full time. The number of boys was even lower and while they interested me too, I felt more attracted to girls. Again I knew that having this interest in myopia was at best highly unusual and at worst downright “wrong” so of course I kept it to myself. Couple that with finding people of my own sex attractive and a lot of confusing and stressful feelings were being bottled up inside me. Another thing happened at twelve. I had long since been the girl with “bottle bottom” glasses and I was OK with that, I liked being different and people knowing that I was as good as helpless without my glasses. However I was then given my first pair of what I now know to be myodiscs. My glasses lost their “bottle bottom” appearance which disappointed me somewhat but they also looked unlike the glasses that anyone else I knew wore. Without knowing anything about optics all my classmates knew I was now wearing “special” glasses that meant I was very very short sighted and probably blind when I took them off. Everyone asked about them and wanted to try them on. There were the usual “what can you see” and “how many fingers” am I holding up questions. I feigned exasperation but inside I was delighted with the attention and also sexually excited.

I will continue my story at a later date, feel free to ask me anything in the meantime.

Colin 20 Oct 2017, 15:52

And me!

Soundmanpt 20 Oct 2017, 10:47

Add me to that list as well

specs4ever 20 Oct 2017, 07:55

I would also be very interested in hearing more from you Georgie.

Zakalwe 20 Oct 2017, 07:30

Really fascinating story, Georgie. I for one am very interested in hearing you continue. I'm especially curious about how you said your interest in your obsession has waned over the years. This isn't something I've seen on this forum before, even though I'd wager a significant portion of the contributors here are actually on the same side of 50 as you are.

Please, do go on with your "ramblings."

Georgie 20 Oct 2017, 04:03

I’ve visited this site a number of times over the years but never posted until now. I just thought I’d write a little about my own experiences as a child. I’m a woman the wrong side of 50 and I’ve always worn “coke bottle” glasses and been “as blind as a bat” since before I can remember. Myopia is my normal, I had glasses before I started school and so never had to go through the awkward stage of suddenly appearing in them one day. For 50 odd years I’ve reached out for my glasses each morning before getting out of bed and left them on my nose until after turning the light out in the evening. A fairly typical high myope on the surface really. However, kept locked away inside I have always had an obsessive interest in my own eyesight and those of others. I remember a phase I went through as a child of actually wanting to be blind. My sight was very poor even at that age and I used to leave my glasses off for long periods when alone to try to simulate what it was like to be blind. It didn’t really address the obsession though as poor though my vision was, it wasn’t really on a par with total blindness. I could still see well enough to function around the house and often went out without glasses, just walking around or maybe buying something from the local shop. It was something I kept to myself and was quite terrified of getting caught by someone I knew. I managed my life well though, I somehow knew that this wasn’t normal and that it should be kept hidden and I managed to compartmentalise my obsession quite successfully. At the back of my mind though there was always this need I felt to actually be blind and thoughts of ways of achieving this goal occupied a lot of my time. I couldn’t actually go through with any direct action to damage my eyes but I tried ways of making my myopia worse, in fact I was always told that I must wear my glasses all the time or my eyes would get worse so this was actually rather convenient. My eyes did get worse, I was receiving stronger prescriptions every six months at around the age of 10 upwards but my vision was so blurry that a dioptre here and there was essentially unnoticeable. I did do a rather reckless thing with my eye health when I was about 11 however. I stole a pair of my mother’s contact lenses and proceed to colour in the centres with indelible marker pen, my theory being that they would be opaque and I could wear them to give me blindness. When I put one in it stung my eye like someone had thrown bleach in it. Rather stupidly, I also tried the other eye for some reason expecting a different outcome. Obviously I couldn’t wear them, both eyes went very red and tears streamed down my face and it took several hours for my vision to return to normal. At my next eye exam the lady examining me told my mother I had some pitting and scarring on my corneas and asked how this could have happened. Obviously my mother had no idea and I pleaded ignorance too. My advice therefore is don’t try this, kids!

I have a lot more experiences I could write about if anyone is interested. I started jotting down my “memoirs” some years ago as a way of coming to terms with this obsessive side of me. It goes into my sexual awakening, the development of my obsession, the waning of my interest in blindness, how my obsession has affected my relationships and directed my life and musings on how my life has turned out and whether it would have been different had I not been born with a propensity towards extreme myopia. I’ve rambled on for long enough now though.

EyepatchGirl 16 Oct 2017, 04:01

When I was at school:

I have always had strong plus lenses and my left eye turned in when I did not wear them. It was embarrassing when other children took off their glasses for sports lessons and asked why I kept on wearing them. I only said that I did not see enough without them.

When I was 16 I needed to cover my right eye in order to strengthen the left. The first weeks were pure horror. I could not see enough to read the board, reading and writing was difficult until I got bifocal lenses with a +1.5 add. I bumped into things and was not allowed to attend sports lessons.

But my eye got better with the time.

I had to wear an eyepatch and bifocals until I finished school, and I still wear it today, 4 years after finishing school. My prescription is now R +6.5 add. +2 and L +9.5 add. +2. Without the patch my eyes turn in very much, and believe it or not, without the patch I feel naked!

 13 Sep 2017, 04:45

seeing murky beaten up by a bunch of women, delicious.

murky 13 Sep 2017, 00:06

My taste at school was in corrupting a girl or transforming an uptight bespeckled female bookworm into a wild, crazy nymph because eyes are the windows to the soul,and glasses frame its desires.

While the glasses are a turn on for me, I like several sources for arousal these days including:

watching women struggle - either with losing their glasses ( as I have hidden them) or adjusting to a new pair, as they cruise the supermarket aisles.

spectacles slipping down the nose, then getting a push back up.

the cleaning of smudged lenses, because i have smeared them, delicious.

seeing a person wearing or manipulating high quality glasses

Andrew 06 Sep 2017, 15:08

After the fight she put her glasses on and said to her friend. It's ok I can still see. One lens looked very cracked on the the outside half but the cracked pieces stayed in the frame. After a few days the broken pieces had disappeared and only the intact half was in the frame. She said her brother had taken them out to protect her eye from splinters.

Most teachers asked her if she could manage ok but this only seemed to annoy her.

Andrew 06 Sep 2017, 12:36

Soundmampt.

That's very perceptive of you. I wish I'd taken more notice of her at the time but I was infatuated with Debbie (the tall blonde)! I think neither would have given me a second glance at the time.

Pat, the tough girl who had the fight wore her glasses all the time. I think even some teachers were afraid of her. I don't think it entered her head that someone would dare to break them. It was the only time I saw her without them and her eyes looked very small. She was short with fairly muscular legs, broad shoulders slim hips and massive boobs. She beat the s**t out of the other girl after they got knocked off.

They were clear plastic NHS glasses with wire springy sides that curled round her ears. The hinges were bent so the lenses always sloped slightly backwards.

To be continued.....

Galileo 06 Sep 2017, 12:34

And that last post reminded me of yet another school incident. A guy who had a really high prescription, he must have been well into the teens if not nearing -20.

He didn't look much, flabby even, but he got into a fight with a really muscular guy who also wore glasses around -6.

They both took their glasses off and gave them to their seconds before hammering each other. The guy with the really high Rx just didn't stop pounding at the other until Mr Muscles just crumpled with a bloody nose and what turned into a load of bruises on his face over the next few days.

Afterwards they both retrieved their glasses and life went back to normal. Neither seemed to find being blind a problem when fighting.

Soundmanpt 05 Sep 2017, 16:02

Andrew

Since she knew she needed her glasses to function you would think she would have first taken her glasses off to fight. She clearly didn't need her glasses to fight the girl she was fighting with. Would I be right to assume that even without her glasses she scored another win? If her lens broke that easily shes lucky that her glasses got knocked off her face and they were broken while she still was wearing them If the lens had shattered in her eye she could have been blinded. You didn't say how she looked without her glasses? You pointed out her nice legs and big boobs pretty well.

Andrew 05 Sep 2017, 14:54

Again I thought I should complete the story. The "tough" girl's name was Pat. She wore clear plastic NHS glasses with wire handles that hooked behind her ears. The lenses had a circular lenticular section that magnified he eyes which you could only see if she looked straight at you. If she turned her head slightly you only saw reflections from her lenses. She had a kind of 6th sense that people with poor eyesight have and kind of knew if you were looking at her. She'd turn her head and stare straight back. She usually screwed up her face and peered through her glasses. She wore a very short mini skirt and had big boobs. Her friend picked up her glasses and said "I've got them" as she continued the fight. She didn't stop to find out how badly they were damaged.

One lens was cracked at the side but she seemed to still look through the undamaged section. She wore them like that for several weeks but returned to school with new ones next term.

Andrew 01 Sep 2017, 23:19

Galileo

Its true that in those days certainly in the UK people had to wait for glasses. I saw Debbie during the time she was without her glasses standing alone at a bus stop! I couldn't help her as I was on a bus going the other way! She was just standing there staring down at the ground. I don't know how much she could see but must have had to ask if it was the right bus and where to get off!

There was another girl in my class with strong plus glasses with lenticular lenses. She was a kind of "bad girl". Always in trouble with the teachers and bad mouthing them back. I thought she was great!

She had a fight in the corridor with another girl (possibly over a boy). We all crowded round in awe of this and she had the other girl bent forward holding the back of her bra and pulling it up. The other girl reacted up and slapped her on the head several times. Her glasses went flying hitting the wall before falling to the tiled floor. One of the lenses got broken.

She wore those glasses wilt one lens cracked for the rest of the term.

Galileo 01 Sep 2017, 00:41

This was a feature of the 60s and 70s when it took a long time to get new glasses.

There were three girls a couple of years below me at school who had noticeable prescriptions. During the course of a year all three went through periods where they had no glasses which lasted up to several weeks.

The one with the highest script was an attractive blond who was without glasses for more than 3 weeks. She could be seen standing staring blankly into space or walking with one hand lightly touching the corridor wall or, outside, the railings alongside the path in and out of the school. Seeing her through a classroom window she also had her nose buried in her books when reading or writing and on one occasion when internal exam results were published on a glass fronted notice board I saw her standing on tip toes on a large book with her nose actually touching the glass trying to find her results on the list behind the glass.

I also took advantage of her limits to take a close look at a great pair of legs. The days of the miniskirt.

Andrew 31 Aug 2017, 23:12

The NHS pair she got were kind of pink skin colour. Later she got a more fashionable round tortoiseshell pair which had the bridge much lower down the frame and they seemed designed to sit on the end of her tiny nose which looked very small just sticking through the frame. Her glasses really suited her and seemed part of her face and personality. The weekend she was without them she looked really strange and you could see that her nose had been really squashed flat. She must have worn glasses as a baby. Just the very end and bottom of her nose looked normal. The thick lenses rested on her cheeks.

Andrew 31 Aug 2017, 15:59

Wow. She did really well for such a long time without her glasses. I don't think Debbie (the girl in my class) would have managed for long without hers. She had to hold books so close to one eye to read and put her eye really close to the pen as she wrote. It looked very difficult for her. She said "stay close to me" when we walked to the next class and mostly held on to her friends arm. She kind of held out her other arm as she walked so as not to bump into things. This was the 60's and her very short skirt showed off her lovely long legs. I couldn't help staring cos I knew she couldn't see me! Her small nose must have been squashed by constantly wearing heavy glasses, it seemed to slope straight down but the end was slightly up turned. Even her new glasses always seemed to rest on the end of her nose despite her constantly pushing them up. They slid down almost instantly. Sometimes she'd walk along holding them up with one finger.

NJ 31 Aug 2017, 10:53

Andrew, when I was in college I befriended a pretty Asian girl who wore fairly strong minus glasses. Not quite double digit, but still thick because they were big frame drop temples. She used to complain after long hours of studying that her eyes 'were permanently focused up close,' by which she meant with her glasses. I had wonderful fantasies of her progression over the next few years.

One day she appeared without her glasses, and told me they broke and she didn't have a spare pair. Somehow she finished out the semester, which was over a month, without any correction. She seemed to do ok, other than reading the board, and oddly never complained.

Sadly, she disappeared after that semester, dropped out, and I never saw her again.

Andrew 31 Aug 2017, 10:43

It seemed wrong to leave this girl without her eyesight so I thought I'd continue the story! She had to manage without glasses for about a week until an emergency NHS pair were rushed through. During this time she was able to read and write (just) but said she couldn't see who we were although she could see that someone was there if we came close. She attended all the lessons but couldn't see the board. At PE and games she just sat on the side sometimes reading or just staring ahead. Long shapely legs crossed under her short skirt.

She seemed to quite quickly get used to very little vision and joined in whatever we were talking about easily. She was a very confident girl and usually the centre of attention she never hesitated to say what she thought.

Her new glasses when she got them looked even stronger than her old ones.

Andrew 30 Aug 2017, 22:12

A girl in my class wore very strong minus glasses. Im not sure of the prescription but the front of her lenses were slightly dished in and although the edges were bevelled there was a lot of ground glass both in front and behind the frames. The lenses seemed to consist almost entirely of power rings. They got looser over time and were always slipping down to the end of her nose which seemed too small to support her thick heavy glasses.

She was tall with long curly blonde hair and by the 5th year a very nice figure.

One day she came to school without her glasses which had got broken. She stayed very close to her friend sometimes holding her arm as we walked between lessons and in the classroom held the book about an inch from her eye. She was able to write with her head practically touching the page. Felt so sorry for her but the sight of her gorgeous hair tumbling over her face and book still remains with me.

281 29 Aug 2017, 23:36

School holiday. In brief. I remember once in year 2001 when we were the graduating class of the school. A girl that was normally having minus 1.25 at one eye minus 0.75 at the other. That was the rx she told me. She only wore these to see the board. Her prescription was dated from year 1997 , it was used for 4 years, mostly part time usage. But things changed at the graduating trip I noticed her wearing her glasses full time . Attracted me.

She ended up a high achiever at later years after year 2001. Most likely, she will get her contact lenses . She was Not a very special prescription for my year 2001 class , but I did wish her a good future, since I and her, certainly have almost no chance to meet again. I have not meet her afterwards, but I know her ended up in a good grades at school, ended up a high paying occupation .

lentifan 29 Aug 2017, 13:11

PUffin

Your holiday memory prompted one of mine.

I would have been in mid to late teens, holidaying in Devon or Cornwall with two or three male friends. One evening we were in a crowded bar and had to share a table with a middle-aged couple and their teenage daughter who you just felt was their only child. The girl wore glasses with black plastic frames which were then (as now) ubiquitous, with a very obvious minus prescription - thick outside edges and lots of power rings. I would guess over 15 dioptres. Naturally I thought she was gorgeous and couldn't keep my eyes off her. If you ignored the lenses of her glasses, I think most people would have said she was pretty. Unfortunately my friends were not prepared to ignore her glasses and made a point of stressing her (to them) unattractiveness as soon as they were out of earshot.

Sadly, i had not the courage to stand up for her.

Soundmanpt 29 Aug 2017, 11:52

Puffin

I often wonder how often with identical twin girls if one of the girls is prescribed glasses if mom makes the other girl also wear glasses to keep them looking identical. Years ago back in my dating days I dated an identical twin. Honestly they looked so identical that I couldn't tell them apart. They both wore identical glasses black plastic frame cat-eye glasses which were popular at the time. They were really very pretty girls. To this day I don't know for sure if I was only dating one of them or if I might have been been dating both of them. The only problem dating them was that they lived about 70 miles away from me.

Puffin 29 Aug 2017, 08:40

I've just been reminiscing about a holiday in Cornwall in 1982. Technically it's not a school memory, but it was during my school holidays.

In the guest house we stayed at the couple who ran the place had teenage twin daughters: they both wore glasses, although I think only one of them full time.

I just remember them because the glasses made my holiday: they weren't very strong nor were the girls much more than averagely pretty, but it sure was something to look out for a meal times because they helped out.

There was one occasion where there was some event on the beach - something to do with swimming or with water sports - and we saw one of the girls taking the other's glasses back to the hotel so they didn't get broken. I'm not sure that makes much sense, nor did it at the time.

I cannot recall any other GWG's working in hotels that caught my eye.

281 20 Aug 2017, 23:20

School was a place, where girls wears similar uniforms.

But glasses was an item, that was not included in uniform.

So there was at least several glasses frame styles which gives much individuality to the girls.

This was not including the variety of lenses.

But my school life was quite mundane when compared with videos I saw on youtube . I was not a girl that love to party together, fetish can be part of the reason, but not all of the reasons . In brief, I can be very self absorbed, a strange friend for them.

I can think of one silly game that I never played.

Matching the girls glasses, with other items (wallet, books clothing , etc)

281 09 Aug 2017, 20:19

If I can read the 20/20 line through minus 2.0, this public optometrist was quick to determine minus 2.0 was the prescription .

At year 2011 I have made several visits to different private optometrists. The private optometrists tend to provide a more complete procedure that includes pre screening, phoropters, fixation tests . The procedure typically takes 1 hour .

At year 2011, I was having much optical obsessions, that I tried to order Several pairs of different spherical lenses. If I respond to the private optometrist normally, at year 2011, no prescription was recommended. At a late afternoon when eyes are tired, the private optometrist determines Spherical plus 6.5 diopter as my prescription . It was Sph +6.50 , Cylinders and Prismatic are 0.00 .

At year 2011, I also managed to control my eye muscles, and end up at Sph -4.25 Cylinders 0.00 Prisms 0.00

Why I mentioned Cylinders and Prisms was, The glasses I received at year 2000 was having an un necessary cylinder of 0.25 diopter that I have tricked the public optometrist at year 2000 to provide for one of my eyes. I wore this year 2000 glasses to optical store, pretending this was my old glasses. The sales did not comment much, but that 2011 optometrist verified for several trial. The 2011 optometrist commented "when did your old glasses made ?" I answered "10 years ago",

Optometrist answered "You dont need that 0.25 cylinder now "

281 09 Aug 2017, 19:29

Antonio,

After I have several visit to various private optometrists since year 2011 . I am convinced that optometrist who was employed by public healthcare, was cutting the procedure short to meet the long waiting queue. It was a poorly funded public healthcare system.

The optometrist referred to the acuity readings recorded at the clinic. After this step, the optometrist set the trial lenses and eye chart. There was no dilate pupils or any Pre Screening at year 2000, which I received after year 2011. There trial lenses of minus 2.0 was placed on the nose, then i have to read the chart. The problem was, I can read the eye chart through this minus 2.0 trial lenses.

I later verify, at year 1998 1999 2000 2001 , Normally, I can read the chart without any prescription. But at some late afternoon I was unable to focus normally , after one night of sleep , at 04:00 I can focus normally again , then at 15:00 the eyes are likely tired and unable to focus . A one hour nap can be sufficient to restore the focus.

Tom1 09 Aug 2017, 06:55

ggirl22:

I perfectly understand you, your reasons are exactly the same why my gf doesn't want to wear glasses nor contacts. Her eyes are worse than yours since she also has strong astigmatism which causes troubles with her close vision, too.

She basically uses glasses only at work. Recently she started taking them with her some time (not always, often she leaves them at home!), but very rarely uses them, she prefers to ask someone than to out glasses on.

Do your acting mates know you don't see? Didn't they comment about your eyesight or the need for glasses? What about your other friends or family? Do you try to hide your defect or admit and ask for help when you need to see and cannot without glasses?

281 09 Aug 2017, 06:48

Antonio,

The optometrist from the clinic, provided prescription to my parents. The optometrist was taking forceful position about the need for glasses. My parents accepted this prescription, took me to an optical store. Place the prescription on sales table. Sales ordered this glasses to be assembled. This sounds acceptable until the glasses arrived.

Sales was forceful. Sales give no response to a child girl that reported heavy glasses and not sharp image.

The minus 2 glasses , at that day. does not cause any noticeable effect except minification and headache. Also painful nose.

School was a big promoter of glasses. Difficulty are not accepted until you need medical assistance.

I may be wrong about some part of story, poor memory for this event many years ago , also i am running out of time this night.

antonio 08 Aug 2017, 08:24

Hi 281,

thanks for writing back, so when you got a prescription of -2,_did you get appropriate glasses, too? Did you wear those ? If so only at home sometimes or did you give them a try outside, too ?

I guess you don't wear any glasses today?

Best regards, Antonio from lenschat

281 07 Aug 2017, 22:32

Antonio,

You have asked about my glasses past .

I have normal eyes. In my knowledge, at least 4 girlfriends with normal eyes at age 18 .

I have failed at eye screening in year 1998 2000. I received prescription of minus 2.0 , for both eyes. The same optometrist did that to me.

In year 1997 1999 2001 2004. the nurse tell me my prescription is not required, because i passed the eye screening.

But this shaped my obsession. I can use minus glasses with sharp images, but it was not necessary. When parents was not around, I love to wear minus glasses.

281 06 Aug 2017, 23:09

Asia . Maybe high school graduation ? I am not sure about which event, but i guess not in lesson. Several girls wearing glasses. Wearing uniform. Style of glasses are, more likely to be dated ten years ago maybe 2005 or earlier.

Typical or not typical ? Maybe more glasses than typical.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qed8i_RE_i0/WYf3ubDKtyI/AAAAAAAACNo/EtpFK6Ah2ZwWTxufgBqGLOJEtdAVl80oACJoC/w510-h907-p-rw/3dd3bee6ca8544f62953f4e3a30e53fb.jpg

Normally, girls wear the same glasses every day for about 1 or 2 years. This frequency is similar to shoes.

I am still amazed , Some girls including me, are not bored with the limited variety, every day, every week, the same glasses.

Partly, glasses are expensive. 50 dollars you can have one pair of ordinary rimless or metallic frame glasses that can be used for 2 years. And you dont want to afford more expensive glasses because they can get stealed.

antonio from eyescene 06 Aug 2017, 15:41

You have good experience and good observation ,

281, best regards, antonio from eyescene

281 06 Aug 2017, 14:42

Recent 100 years, there are many internal migrations that dilute internal difference in China. But difference persists between South Korea , China , Japan. Social status appears slightly more diverse in Japan, where children normally inherit the job and culture of their parents.

Some youtube videos such as Yejin jo. reported South Korea high school girls study until 23:00 or later. But in Taiwan or Japan , normally dont have such long hours

Yejin jo video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbvxg-CnmkQ

But at my childhood, when at school, girls are not allowed to wear makeup . Makeup are discouraged.

 06 Aug 2017, 11:00

Pretty half Caucasian half Vietnamese young girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSeb-nKomqU

NNVisitor 06 Aug 2017, 10:36

Not far from where I live there is an area that is now 90% to 95% Chinese population. Majority affluent. Several children per family and manners, dressing and appearing neat and presentable and education are stressed. So many glasses wearers among the Chinese. High rates of high myopia. Some wear absolutely beuatiful well chosen frames. Probably expensive. Sometimes groups all in black plastic frames. Among older people metal frames are common. Among the young probably many in contact lenses too. Much study and sky high rates of myopia.

A very different community with few anywhere near I live but elsewhere are the ultra orthodox Jews where the men study fir 8 or 10 hours daily and the myopia rates are sky high among the men and boys. Also many with high myopia. The women and girls do much much less study and reading of the prayer books and the numbers of females that need myopia glasses is much lower than the males.

Conclusion is that much study, reading, close work for many hours daily can trigger the onslaught of nearsightedness and increase the strength of glasses required by those who already wear glasses. Two separate distinct cultures yet the same myopic outcomes. No genes alone do not cause today's high rates of myopia. It's the stress on much education, reading and time stuck in classrooms that are behind the huge rises evident today of myopia.

281 06 Aug 2017, 07:16

Antonio

Those old photos,

There are 30% girls can survive in plus lenses for their first 30 years of life. The other 70% girls may get minus then lasik . Lasik is a bad idea, but unfortunately very common.

Low plus girls that only wear plus glasses to read, are mostly girls who prefer more exposure to sunshine, have their skin tanned. Frequently their schedule have daily 2 hours of sport training. They are mostly in sport teams.

antonio 06 Aug 2017, 05:23

Same here in Europe,

really many of them got glasses or contacts,

best regards, antonio

281 06 Aug 2017, 02:33

Viewing photos of the past, i think, at that age (maybe 15 ), i did not know , how girlfriends will all become blinder and blinder. More squints and squintier .

281 03 Aug 2017, 06:50

It was 1990s and 2000s, most girls preferred contact lenses instead of glasses . Partly there was much influence from family. Peer pressure yes, but peer pressure was also influenced from their families, because when most girls are the only child, by tradition normal for East Asia, elder members in the family exerts much influence. This tradition appears to come from earlier Buddhist or Taoist/Confucian influences. In parents generation, Girls are not expected to study in school. Girls are not expected to correct their visual defects using glasses, because girls are expected to be submissive to the elders, including mothers and fathers, and submissive to the male authority. Male defined the tradition, preferred girls to only do the chores and wear makeup that please the males.

So this ends up 30% girls prefer wearing glasses at age 20

 02 Aug 2017, 04:39

2.81,

You should know about mental imbalance. And 2.81 is your I.Q.

281 02 Aug 2017, 02:10

antonio

I have known your lenschat page for many years. But here at eyescene appears more user friendly

281 02 Aug 2017, 00:34

ggirl22

I encourage you to do eye exercise. These websites may provide you some instruction for the eye exercise.

https://www.purevisionmethod.com/cure-myopia-naturally/

http://www.rebuildyourvision.com/blog/vision-conditions/nearsightedness/eye-exercises-for-nearsightedness/

the body is a delicate system. A finely tuned machine that needs to be in balance. It’s made up of various systems that also need to be in balance.

What Causes Miopia?

Mental/emotional imbalance causes miopia

NNVisitor 01 Aug 2017, 10:40

ggirl22

Having blurred vision can be stressful. Glasses with the correct prescription lenses in them do clear things up. Do glasses wearers become dependant on the glasses if worn full time day after day? Yes. Our brain adjusts to the sharper clearer vision and with the glasses off things looked blurred. Does wearing glasses make our eyesight get worse? No. Myself I only wore my glasses in class at school when I was a child. My eyesight got worse and worse. Not wearing my glasses did not stop my vision from getting worse. Like you I adapted to blurred vision. Eventually I did wear my glasses full time. Things had become way too blurred.

I really don't think that if you wore your glasses full time it would cause your vision to get worse. If wearing glasses as little as possible prevented getting more nearsighted it would have worked for me and others who didn't wear glasses that they needed.

As for contact lenses if you are apprehensive about them and don't want to wear them then don't. I mentioned contact lenses as I thought it would solve the problem. You can wear your glasses for these acting troupe events and then see who's making eye contact with you. Doing so will not make your eyesight get worse.

ggirl22 01 Aug 2017, 09:15

NNVisitor,

I am very afraid of contact lenses and there has been a common thread of bad reactions/outcomes to contact lenses that I have read about online. Also, if I wear contact lenses, I am afraid I will become a full time wearer and dependent on vision correction at all times so I would rather not.

Soundmanpt,

I go without my glasses because I do not my vision to become worse. I only use my glasses for driving and that's it. I have learned to tolerate the TV and anything else far away as a blur. As for class notes or menus in fast food restaurants, I use my phone to take a picture of it and that solves my problems. One day, I accidentally wore my glasses the whole day and I didn't even want to take them off and when I did, everything was SO BLURRY. I didn't want to do that again because it showed me how dependent I had become and how bad my vision was.

Soundmanpt 01 Aug 2017, 08:16

ggirl22

Just curious, why do go without your glasses in the first place since it is only "acting exercises?" Maybe a few years ago if you were a young female wearing glasses was acceptable, but theses days you see more and more females wearing glasses on screen.

NNVisitor 31 Jul 2017, 22:27

ggirl22

If you can wear contact lenses at acting activities it could solve your problem. If you do just follow the correct procedures for safe wear.

Best of luck.

ggirl22 31 Jul 2017, 22:19

I am part of an acting troupe at my uni and we do acting exercises everyday. Lots of them require my troupe and I to stand in circles and make eye contact with others without speaking. I usually go around bareeyed and my vision is -3.25 in both eyes so you can imagine how hard this is for me. There have been many times in which a person across the circle makes eye contact with someone next to or near me but I always mistake that person for making eye contact with me. It is always such an awkward situation when that happens! I simply cannot see who is making eye contact with me though! I can barely see a foot ahead of me so 15 feet ahead is the biggest struggle!

antonio 31 Jul 2017, 04:06

Hi 281,

interesting story of yours and facts presented.

Just I.m interested to know, do you wear glasses yourself and if so how strong in the past and now ?

If you like you can also chat with us on

http://lenschat.com

Thanks and best regards,

antonio

281 31 Jul 2017, 02:24

Not surprisingly. i was surrounded by other girls , which, except for 3 girls which seem to go for plano sunglasses. The other 20 girls, at least i have seen her wearing prescription glasses , or knowing she was wearing contact lenses .

There were also 1 moderate plus glasses wearer that i have spend 1 year , i was assigned a seat next to her. Reputedly she was not beautiful , but i suspect she have her hobbies and several close friends . Secretly i dont think she is not beautiful after all she wears glasses full time and has a reserved, somewhat quiet personality which i obsessed about her

281 30 Jul 2017, 23:07

So, Parents spend the after school hours monitor their only child , ensure they spend time according to parents wish.

This was , more commonly found at some small towns that looks slightly similar to suburbia or exurbs in North America.

But girls still develop some hobbies that reduce their eyesight. Mobile phones are common. Also there are various indoor activities which can be girls hobbies.

In my school, there were guidelines that i received near the end of my compulsory schooling. Girls are expected to spend 6 hours daily to study at age 17 18 19. Probably 3 to 4 hours for age 15 16 or below.

281 30 Jul 2017, 22:47

The optometrists in that town , my guess , they try to make money from every children and parents, by ensuring every children receive the screening . The optometrists, then , can sell glasses, contact lenses to the children . They possibly hope the children can become dependent on their service , and visit the optometrists preferrably every month.

But it seems , demographics played a role.

In my generation. In East Asia. Each family tend to have one child. Families invest much to the girls , including education and other items.

Parents tend to be strict and protective, especially when we are their only child. It was the norm. This means other parents may also comment on their neighbors parents. Not unlike Murky wrote about Merrilyn and Stephanie mother.

Parents would probably love their children to wear glasses, so the parents know they are learning. Not spending time on bags !

281 30 Jul 2017, 22:19

If South Korea have 80% myopia at age 18

I lived in East Asia . In the town I have lived in , the school itself, has no screening for vision.

Schools are mostly gender divided. Girls-only school and Boys-only school are the norm.

It was the Clinic. that provided free screening for school girls.

But that was not mandatory. I choose to opt out after a few years, filling in the form intended for parents . That means parents can opt-out.

But the free screening was a good thing for my obsession. After such screening we have 50% of age 11 wearing glasses to school.

Colin 21 Jul 2017, 05:57

I was at school in the UK in the 60's. I wore very strong plus glasses NHS round kids frames with the curl round the ear handles. I kept them on at all times for PE and games.

There was a boy in the year above me with similar glasses except his were terribly bent. The side handles bent up from the hinges at about 45degrees and the curly spring metal bit was bent down again to his ears. So the sides of his glasses went right up then down again. The bridge was also bent and it looked like the lenses were hanging down either side of his nose. He tilted his head right back and screwed his face up when he walked.

They looked very fragile and precarious. Both lenses got broken playing football.

Cactus Jack 21 Jul 2017, 02:25

Bensmith,

He probably thought denial was a river in Egypt and that no one noticed that he could not see very well.

I had a similar problem when I was in school, in the 1940s and 1950s. No denial issues, but I had natural Mono-Vision. I had 20/20 vision in one eye and was nearsighted in the other. Back then everyone thought I could see just fine (including me).

I had poor depth perception and I could not hit or catch a baseball, because I really had no idea where it was. That is, until I heard the thunk of if being safely ensconced in the Catcher's Mitt or hitting the ground. No one was interested in having e on their team for good reason.

C.

Bensmith 20 Jul 2017, 23:45

We never had to take our glasses off for sports but I have memories of sports classes with my classmate who never wore glasses despite being shortsighted. Once he was the team captain and he had the pick the members for his team. The others, me included, stood in a line on a stage a couple of feet above him and suddenly it was obvious that we were too far for him and he couldn't see who was who. He had to make his hardest squint to see, then act as if there was no problem and pick someone, then squint again.

In baseball he apparently had trouble seeing the ball and was oddly hesitant when playing it.

ric 20 Jul 2017, 02:28

In my school days this was the usual. Kids let their glasses off for sports. I remember it was being harder and harder every year until i finished not playing sports when my eyesight got finally as bad.

murky 19 Jul 2017, 16:12

I remember at school about 10 yo, and we were to play a mixed sexes martial arts game, in the gym, and the mistress in charge asked all the kids to take their glasses off, and leave them on the table, to avoid damage.

About six pairs were gathered there, I recall marvelling at them, during the game, then the joy of watching them be reclaimed

Oh I cant see through these, or thses, as they were mostly the cheap bare horn rimmed frames.

Tom 18 Jul 2017, 13:52

I remember when I was at the university. Reading in the library one evening, at the closest table to the door, a girl I knew entered the room (not a large room with few people sit here and there), had a look around, then came close to me asking if another friend of us was in the room. I should have looked puzzled by the question since she got even closer to me and whispered she didn't have her contacts. I was really astonished since I didn't ever had a suspect she could not see properly. Very interested in the topic I noticed that if she was not able to spot a friend in the room her vision must have been very bad. She got red and answered she was actually blind as a bat without contacts since she was -4. She told also she did not have intention to put glases on before the next day. She went out and I didn't see her again that evening. The next morning she had her contacts her usual.

Murky 26 Jun 2017, 21:41

Emerging from the supermarket last night, a gorgeous six footer,late 20s, thin, exquisitely dressed lithe was wearing a huge pair of grey frames, with thin white lines horizontally each few mm. Big lenses, from eyebrow to cheek, about +1 or maybe less I estimated.

She was wheeling a trolley, so I bumped the trolley

Oh so sorry she called

Dont worry, no harm done, as I eyeballed those specs

What a smart pair of specs you have..

Oh Thanks

They look expensive. There is no makers mark on the side either.

Well, I found them in an op shop would you believe

What! and the prescription was just right for you?

Yes, isn't that amazing

And are they your first time in glasses?

Yes.

What a great story, you must enjoy wearing them, do you see better/

Not sure, things look a bit bigger though

By now she is at the car, and we bid farewell.

Murky 20 Apr 2017, 21:58

School findings..

When I go to pick up grandchildren, from primary school, I am struck by how many kids wear glasses these days. By year 5/6 at 10-12 years old, about 25% of the kids are in specs, far more than in my day, about 1 in 20 or less then, is this because of increased screening, or is something happening to eyesight?

( I have seen data from South KOrea with 80% myopia at 18)

I note that a greater number seem to be low plus ( up to +3) would not kids be able to easily accommodate up to +3, and its overservicing by the optometrists, as each client will be woth a few thousand dollars by maturity? Anything over -1 is obviously therapeutically OK

Seems to me that people ( inc children) get used to glasses, and even though vision is acceptable bare eyed, glasses become a habit,and a personal add-on.

Some years ago, one of our neighbours daughter had glasses from about 6 yo,very fat girl and they were than -1 L and plano right ( tiny astigmatic correction) but she wore them for years, till one day at Uni,about 20 yo she decided thery were not needed, never wore them again..I once asked her father about her need for glasses, and he said she was screened at school and glasses recommended, and her mother had had glasses since primary school too.

The local newspaper has had an add running on page 1 for fashion glasses for girls, for months, with a pigtailed 5 yo wearing pink fashion frames,and sexy clothes, unfortunately being sexualised early, an unfortunate trend, once however, glasses were a turn -off Dorithy Parker style..( Men dont make passes...)

Seen on the web..

These below are available for less than 100 dollars, reduced from about 400, as the style is 23 years old, quite stunning, dont you think, also come in brown.

https://www.visio-net.com/eyeglasses/gucci-gg3695-3iz.html

Worth a try on Eyetri?

Murky 20 Apr 2017, 15:22

Eyetri,I bought this pair of french Hary Lary frames in NY last year,on 5 the Ave,( 450 dollars) with prescription fitted same day wore them all 3 week holiday, wife thought they were quirky , but could not bring myself to wear them at work,

http://bruceeyewear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/visiofficecontraption.jpg

They sit on my desk, to admire, and work up courage to wear them again.

Murky 20 Apr 2017, 15:17

Those polettes look excellent, Eyetri, tortisshell, some cat eye, and definitely female.

I have a thinnish mid face, and fit the smaller female frames well, in earlier pre net times, it used to be a struggle to get the optometrist to give me female frames.

About 5 years ago, I was doing a project for a primary school, and had on my best purple versace fromes, and a schoolby said

"Hey mister, you have the same glasses as my Mum, they are womens glasses!'

What a frisson of excitement, as I agreed with him. Then

" Someday I hope to get some glasses too". Go to it lad...an O-O in the making.

I have a collection of about 50 pairs, picked up at bargain stalls, never high fashion.

My next project is to find a late middle aged lady wearing something spectacular, complioment her, tell her I am a collector of high fashoion frames, and does she have a drawer ful of old pairs i could buy?

Meanwhile..Eyescene provides food for my fetish.

EyeTri 20 Apr 2017, 07:59

Murky,

I was glad to see your reply to my post. Looking at the link you posted with all the vintage glasses, if you look at the 4th and 5th glasses from the left in the top row, this is the frame I had for my first glasses. My first glasses were black. ArtCraft made this frame from the early '50s to 1999. I have my current prescription (exec trifocals) in a black Leading Lady that I bought in 1995.

Currently I am wearing a pair of glasses that I recently received from polette.com. To see this frame, go to their website, click on "vintage" at the top of the page and scroll down to a frame called "Kathie". I got mine in black. I have several pairs of glasses, but these are the ones I wear most of the time.

I checked the link to your current glasses frame. Very nice - I can see why you got this frame.

It has been a long time since 1961, but it is still a turn-on every morning when I put my glasses on.

Murky 19 Apr 2017, 20:38

Have alook here Eyetri

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Artcraft+leading+lady+glasses&client;=safari&rls;=en&tbm;=isch&tbo;=u&source;=univ&sa;=X&ved;=0ahUKEwjb_7uOi7LTAhXBjpQKHWHcCGcQsAQILg&biw;=1679&bih;=847

Can you identify your first frames? I have bought about 10 pairs from this etsy site

I once at UNI had a pair by Safilo. from Austria, very femine, brown acetate, used to wear them to the cinema, they were -1 and plano on the other side, so could easily accomodate with them on. Very aroused all film long, as girlfriend would say "I didnt know you wore glasses, and I would leave them on on the way back to her fl;at ( on one occasion)

And try to kiss her with glasses on, exciting stuff. " Gosh I had forgotten my glasses were still on"

The library had a lost and found box,where i got them from, along with some others.

murky 19 Apr 2017, 20:24

All now a year old here, thanks Eye Tri...I reaaly get a frisson of excitement from cross dressing with glasses.

Here is my current pair, with enough cat eye to look female, but bold enough for a male.

https://www.visiondirect.com.au/designer-eyeglasses/Gucci/Gucci-GG-4281-4Z6-293038.html

What do you think of them?

I occasionally visit the HQ of our firm, where there are about 50 mostly women, in a large open office, I love to wander round with my security badge on, and will encounter at laest 10 pairs of specs between -1 and plus 2, on the desk.so I.say

Wow such beautiful glasses, mind if I look at them? never a refusal

I see they are made by "Gucci", you have excellent taste, are they comfortable? Yes always

Can I try them on ( taking mine off) please? Always yes

Ooooh, they are the same or close to my prescription ( +1), and I put my specs down for her to try them on Occasionally do, and a stimulating chat ensues..

Can I borrow these for a minute, and look at myself in the mirror please?

mostly yes

Off to the tiolet for a squint at my new visage, take a selfie, and return, heart rate about 200. Have 100s of pictures to enjoy.

Its a strange, rare and delightful harmless fetish!

Anyone other than Eyetri to the keyboard?

EyeTri 23 Aug 2016, 12:54

Murky,

Your post of 07 Jun 2016, 17:54.really hit home with me. I especially liked the last sentence.

I can't remember when I didn't want to wear glasses, especially girls glasses. While in high school I grabbed a few pretty pairs from my careless female classmates and I wore them whenever I could.

After graduation I got an assembly line job where I had to look at a machine at a distance of about 15" for 8 or 9 hours a day. The resulting eye strain got me to an optometrist's office at the age of 19 (1961). The doctor said I needed glasses (approx +1D), so I got my first real glasses. The frame was made by ArtCraft and their name for this frame was Leading Lady. It's been a long time and quite a few pairs of glasses since 1961, but none of the glasses frames have come from the men's side of the optician's shop.

When I read your post it made me glad to see that I'm not the only optical crossdresser in the world.

Shaz 05 Aug 2016, 08:53

Like a few previous posts I remember starting school at 4 and the teacher saying, 'put your hand up if you cannot see the board',I couldn't see the teacher, let alone the board! So, my Mother got a letter advising her to take me for an eye test as the school eye test would not be for a few months. She took me and after the test, the optician told her I had very poor eyesight and a significant squint and he was surprised no one had picked up on this earlier. I was quite excited to get glasses and loved them. Even though they were heavy and constantly slid down my nose but I could see things I had never seen before.

However, whenever I did anything wrong, my Mother took away my glasses which was the worst punishment she could ever give me.

As I got older, I became more self conscious and was embarrassed by my glasses so I stopped wearing them.

Now, at 50 I wear them all of the time, especially because of the uncorrected squint. My left eye is 3+ more than my right!

murky 08 Jun 2016, 20:44

Oh Tom, how true, waiting at reception, with a gorgeous pair of low plus, just sitting on the desk, waiting to be fondled, caressed, worn.. if only.

One technique I use is to pick them up, look through the lenses, usually not perfectly clean, so start polishing them, and at the end, remove ones own specs, put then on, and declare they are much the same as ones own ( I am +1.5) prescription, say how nicely they fit and feel. Just leave them on, walk about a bit, then return them, with thanks.

Takes a few minutes for the heart rate to revert to normal.

Murky 08 Jun 2016, 20:28

last year, whilst in New York, I went to MOMA, and Lo! there in the shop were some pairs of the most outrageous looking art deco /noveau frames, and for 50 dollars.

I bought a pair, oversize red, made of acetate, and from Italy.

Off to the glasses store in 5th avenue, loaded with my prescription,picked up next day for 35 dollars, and wearing them in the avenues of NYC. Hardly got a second look, , but at the check in airport desk, I said to the countermaid, "nice glasses" response,

yours are pretty speccy too sir"

& on the way home, on the plane, the stewardess said, out loud, "now to serve the man in the most gorgeous glasses ever!"! And all the surrounding passengers were giving me compliments, what a surge of pleasure it gave me. but had to take them off when getting off the plane, too outrageous for the small town and office.

Currently wearing Versace purple and blue.

Tom 08 Jun 2016, 14:07

Great stories Murky!

I also find one of the most exciting things is when being presented totally unexpectedly with the opportunity to try on a girl's glasses. Happened to me when walking through the office at lunch time, when being at someone else's place, waiting at a reception desk, sitting next to a sleeping neighbor on the airplane,... It is especially thrilling when you know there's only little time to act, and chances are you can get caught while performing the trial.

I sometimes dared to snatch the glasses with me for a quick trip to the bathroom, for a full try-on (and some other stuff with them)), hoping the owner would not come back in the meantime and start looking for her specs. Think I am in a position to furtively try on a girl's glasses about once a month on average, and effectively do so about 7 chances out of 10. Still have fond memories of some great specs owned by beautiful ladies. The best thing is when you see the rightful owner putting on the glasses again, and not knowing you tried them on only minutes before.

Galileo 08 Jun 2016, 02:51

Murky's post brings back two memories.

At university there were women who left their glasses on the library tables whilst they did other things. I remember one girl in particular who had thick minus lenses, maybe as high as minus 6. She nearly always came in bare eyed, put on her glasses to work and always took them off to go to the toilet. More than once I saw her stretch up on tiptoe and squint to see the sign on the door before entering.

The other memory is a bedside drawer full of glasses. About 8 years ago I was sharing a house with several people one of whom was a woman with a prescription of around +6. We dated for a short period and I was surprised to find that her bedside table had around 30 pairs. Her justification was that she could not see anything at all without her glasses and therefore carried around all her previous pairs just in case. But they were of limited use since many were single vision and she had progressed onto varifocals. Even with those I had to help her increase her screen fonts as she could not read her emails on the usual font.

Murky 07 Jun 2016, 17:54

Although not when I was at school, its University..

When at Uni, I used to patrol the library, as that was a good place to spot GWGs, cruising the booths, I would come across some specs left sitting in a cubicle, often low plus, ( readers for latent hyperopes) or low minus, where seeing close was better without.

If unattended, and no one close by, I would put them on, with a frisson of excitement, fondle them, retire to the toilet to look at myself in them, female frames always preferred, and then return them to either the booth, or if the owner had returned, and looking for them, then give them in at reception ( "found these on a shelf") or put then in an easily found spot nearby. Risky, but satisfying.

At weekends ( as I lived in a residential college)I would cruise the op shops for used glasses, rare to find any, and mostly old, but an occasional good find, female, low plus or minus, , but I could not bring myself to wear obviously female frames among friends, or home, so they remained a secret, worn in my room.. I soon realised I had a fetish, but like rafa, thought I was the only person in the world with such an odd obsession.

My mother had several friends who wore glases, and I surmised that people probably stored their previous prescriptions in the bedside table drawer.Like my old and dead gran did

So I hatched a plan

At one of mothers glasses wearing froends houses, for a lunchtime BBQ, I asked to go to the bathroom,when O knew the main toilet was occupied and the lady of the house showed me to the nearby ensuite, and left, so quickly I raided the bedside draws, presto, there they were,about 10 cases, all lovely fashion frames, so I whipped two out of the older cases into my pocket, presuming they were obsolete,unlikely to be bifocal and not likely to be noticed as missing.

My heart was pounding, could not wait to get home and try them on. Wow,one pair equal power less than plus 1, no astigmatic or add in the script, perfect, I could see through them OK.Gave them a polish mad eby Silhouette in Austria, brown and white,gold edges and hinge broad enough for my face, and a beautiful fit behind my ears. Could I wear them at Uni? No cat eye shape, so they may pass as male?

The other were an acetate crystal blue pair, nose pads, obviously female, about +1-1.5, reading well, but just a tad blurry in the distance,they were probably her second or third pair ( I judged her to about + 3 at present), an exciting find, made by Cartier, cost over $500 I found out later..

I spent an evening walking about town, wearing pair one, nobody seemed to be noticing me wearing anything unusual.

Back at uni, I tentatively put them on in the library, and an acquaintance said "Gosh what nice specs, how long have you been wearing glasses?" Here was my chance, leave then on my face, and proceed to philosophy class ( where glasses are almost the norm), hardly a comment, so back to college, evening meal, a few complimentary comments at the table, and, wow, I am I a permanent specs wearer?

Wore them full time for a week, so exciting, then came time to go home for the weekend, and they had to come off, as my parents would start asking questions, as I had no money to buy glasses.

Mum I asked, can I get my eyes tested please, I am having trouble seeing in lectures. Off to the optician, test normal,

"I would really like some glasses please, I get some eyestrain at UNi, so she gave me a script for 0.25 L & R.

" can I get there made up at Uni please Mum, they have a student discount. Of course.

And so I migrated into my lovely Silhouettes. All kosher. and I could see perfectly through them, not planos either.

I still have those Cartier ones, keep planning to wear them 25 years on , thye stay in my drawer.

So that's the story of my first pair, and now I always choose my specs from the female rack.

Murky 03 Jun 2016, 22:36

When at school , I used to look for the GWGs to date. One Merrilyn, had beautiful red cat eye glasses, and her sister Stephanie had Blue square frames, their mother has wonderful big bold black frames, all were between -1 and -2, i.e. could see with out, but preferred to be with.

When we had combined sports day, when our boys only school went o a meet with the girls only schools, the best time was seeing who had scored some spex in the past 3 months, problem was with cash strapped parents, many had those dreadful wiry things, most unattractive.

Staph and merlons mother used to say

If they have to wear glasses, may as well improve the beauty, then I know they are on the nose. not in the bag, and the girls are learning.

I desperately wanted glasses, but on test (by the school doc), I was always normal

We used to lark about and fail to read the chart, seeing only the E at the top, but sharp words to not be stupid improved our vision.

lentifan 03 Jun 2016, 13:31

I echo rafa's comments about your courage in your teens, Crystal Veil. Like him, looking back I wish I had more courage, too.

In our town there was a girl of about my age who wore lenticulars, which fascinated me. She went to a different school so I had little opportunity to make social contact with her and on the few occasions I saw her she was just a silly teenage girl. Later, when both of us had left school I would occasionally see her. Her glasses were no longer lenticular (hi-index lenses?) but still obviously a high plus prescription and she had good taste in frames (I never saw her in black plastic). What with her thick plus glasses, her cute squint, blonde hair, flawless complexion and neat figure, I thought she was beautiful, but I was fairly sure neither my friends nor family would have thought so.

Some years later, after I was in a steady relationship with a reluctant glasses-wearing girl (and nearly 40 years later she's still reluctant!)I happened to see this girl's wedding photograph in the local newspaper. She still looked gorgeous and was wearing her glasses. I sometimes wonder if that should be a sort of touchstone of a true GWG - wearing her glasses for her wedding whether through necessity or choice.

AAlex 02 Jun 2016, 11:41

When I was a senior in high school my prescription was OD -1.75, OS -2.00. I hated glasses and never wore mine. The day they were voting for various silly senior titles like "best dress", "most likely to succeed", "class clown", etc. it was announced that I'd won a math scholarship. I won "most intelligent male".

A few weeks later without notice they were taking pictures of the winners. Of course the "most intelligent" needed to wear glasses and I didn't have mine with me. My friend Mike was about the most nearsighted guy in the classroom I was in at the time so I borrowed his approximately -8 glasses for the photo. So I have a photo in my high school yearbook wearing -8 glasses and only 2 people remember that they weren't mine.

Crystal Veil 02 Jun 2016, 07:39

rafa,

this thread is about our school days so I will try not to write too much about later events related to my fascination with GWGS. You write that you wish you had been braver in sharing your passion with other people. I certainly kept my fascination to myself at the age of fifteen. What really helped was the greatly added exposure when invitations came in to do gigs as a singer-songwriter in 1967. There was no need to draw the attention of girls anymore. The girls came to me instead. It was a pleasant change of affairs. What also helped was that after only two gigs my initial nerves on stage disappeared. This also had a positive influence on my ability to chat with people off stage. Call it a change from introvert to extrovert. Of course one can never tell how this would have evolved without the gigs but the change was sudden and marked. What really helped was the feeling that I had stories to tell aside from the song lyrics. This in turn helped me to come out with my fascination for GWGs and glasses in general. By the way, my own glasses played no role in this development. I never regarded them a problem but they were no asset either. Another difference with your story is that I never came across a girl who was fascinated to make love in glasses. And if a girl kept her glasses on during our trip to heaven, it did not add anything sensational to me. Sorry is this sounds boring but it's the truth. What you write about the rise in popularity of glasses since our school days is obvious and the difference was even bigger in the mid 1960's than it was in the early 1980's. Contact lenses only became available in Holland around 1967 / 1968. Before that, a GWG was widely regarded handicapped, especially when the glasses were strong, no matter how beautiful she was in other respects. This did not help them with their self esteem and I always liked independent, strong women with an opinion of their own. My first love was one from this minority. Strong glasses (above minus seven) soon almost disappeared from the streets and the frames got larger and larger. The good thing about this change was that generally speaking, a GWG did not hate her glasses enough to switch to contact lenses. Many years later I approached a lady who wrote on a dating site that she had a large collection of glasses to have a match with all of her outfits. It would be nice to meet her at least once and talk glasses if there would be no click. And guess what, she refused to see me as the dating site stated that she and I had nothing in common :). We on eye scene are a minority and it's nice to read about our differences in the common field of interest. Time to get back to the editing of the five photo shoots from Greece and England. Thank you for the kind comments on my photography project, much appreciated! Feel free to write and just ask away if you have any questions.

30calcat 02 Jun 2016, 07:06

Yes great story Crystal Veil. There seem to be a small group of glasses wearers in the world who appreciate regularly switching between multiple pairs of glasses. When I was growing up I loved the fresh feeling of a new pair of glasses on my nose, which I only had the pleasure of enjoying every few years. Each pair sits on the nose at a different place and curls around the temples and ears at different pressure points. Different lens shapes frame the visual field differently. The feeling and visual changes reflect and change my mood, and I find myself switching between 5 different pairs of glasses reguarly, sometimes multiple times a day.

Perhaps I should write up details of these different glasses in a story. I feel like those who don't wear glasses miss out on this enhancement to life.

rafa 02 Jun 2016, 04:10

Crystal Veil

I've loved reading your story. I hope it's inspirational for some of the younger lurkers of this site. You have been very brave finding an artistic outlet for your passion for glasses and standing up to your father and assembling your collection. I would love to hear the rest of the story. And I really like your photos. I think they are great. You obviously have a knack for making your models feel very comfortable and they truly look like the real wearers of those strong prescription glasses. I can't wait to see the photos of the new sessions.

I wish I had been braver in my life to show my passion for glasses. I'm 48 and when I grew up it wasn't that cool wearing glasses. I always liked GWG's and particularly those with large and bold glasses. But I've also liked wearing large and bold glasses myself. And there was also (and there still is) the element that wearing bold glasses and getting new glasses often is something women do, but not men. So there was always the underlying fear of being regarded as not masculine enough. But I believe things have changed significantly, and glasses are now very cool. So when I see younger people acting out their fascination for glasses, I take delight in their unabashed enjoyment of glasses... and I also feel a touch of envy.

I also feel I wish I had been braver in telling my "significant others" about my passion for glasses. I particularly regret (as I said in my previous post) the chances I had with girls who seemed to share, to a certain extent, my fascination with glasses. I recently read in the GOC thread of this site a post by someone called Lucia who had been initiated by her boyfriend in GOC and how they were both doing it together and loving it. That sounds like a dream scenario to me. Perhaps it's a sign that the new generations have less obstacles in realizing the fantasies that make them happy.

Crystal Veil 01 Jun 2016, 05:39

rafa (May 18),

I returned from England a couple of days ago so here comes the delayed reaction on your post. My fascination with glasses started at the age of six with my rather eccentric grandmother who used mild minus glasses for distance and many different plus glasses for close work. She had mood swings, sometimes extrovert, then all of a sudden introvert and distant as if she wanted to push the world away from her. When I asked her why she used all those different glasses, she allowed me to put them on and asked me to describe what difference they made for my vision. I noticed that the glasses for distance made everything knife sharp but smaller and further away. By contrast, her reading glasses created a blur in the distance but everything close to me like looked magnified and much closer. She was satisfied with my description and there was no need for further talk about the matter. What I did not tell my gran is that what I saw seemed to explain her mood swings. I thought that she was a magician, able to draw the world towards her or push it away from her, depending on her mood of the moment, and that there was some sort of magic in her glasses as well. Walking the streets, I saw other ladies in glasses and it made me wonder whether they were magicians as well. Back then, there were no contact lenses so all high myopic girls and women had to wear myodisc glasses. I noticed that the stronger the glasses, the more shy the lady owner seemed to be when I looked at her. My granny was long dead when I learned the basics of optics in the mid 1960's but the newly acquired knowledge did not change my fascination for GWG's. They had an extra dimension that girls with good eyesight did not seem to have. By this time at the age of fifteen I was of course interested in girls for many other reasons than glasses. I was curious how it would be to sleep with a GWG and discover her "second" face, without glasses. My horizontal initiation was with a blonde GWG two years my senior and her glasses had an orange frame and lenses of circa minus four. It was great to see that she had to keep my head close to her face for good eye contact. She did not hate her glasses and she was in no way handicapped by her myopia and this made her even more attractive to me. I kept the new experience to myself as my parents would not have approved at all and besides, I felt a bit uncertain about this preference for GWG's as other boys clearly did not like glasses on a girl. After graduating from school in 1969, there was the traditional father / son discussion about my plans for the future. I told my father that I wanted to become an optician but he refused as this was not academic and I clearly had the potential to succeed at the university. I told him that I would go to the university and start a collection of glasses to make up for the dream he took away from me. My father thought that I was off the head but he could not withhold me so that was the start of my glasses collection. After several relations with GWG's I finally decided to come further out with my fascination by constructing a large soft board paper panel showing the variety in frame style of the early 1970's. The photos were taken from magazines, newspapers etc and I avoided using promotion pictures by opticians and brands as there was no power in the lenses and often the frames had no lenses at all. I arranged the various styles in two ways. Each style got its special segment but the center of the panel was deliberately kept open. the closer a photo was positioned towards the empty center, the more attractive the lady (in my opinion). There were six or seven different frame styles and the center had to be kept open as this was reserved for the "ideal young lady" who could look great in any style under the sun. Instead of being rejected, the panel was accepted by most of the other students and it could lead to nice debates about what makes a woman attractive in general. None of the other students shared my fascination with glasses but that did not bother me anymore. After all, each of the other students had some preference or other - hair colour, size, clothing style and so on, so why not glasses? I met my future wife at a music party in 1975 and she was a GWG, minus seven. After finishing my gig, I walked up to her and we soon had a nice chat. She turned out to be an art student so I felt on safe ground talking about this large panel on the wall in my student room. This did the trick and she went with me after the party. When she saw the panel, she was a bit disappointed as the photos were not taken by me. But she stayed and that was the main thing. In fact, she moved in with me straightaway and we only separated fourteen years later. At first she did not like her glasses but that gradually changed as I bought her a new pair each year and she discovered her potential to look great in each style. So far for now.

NJ 31 May 2016, 05:35

gerry, I am another guy who prefers the ladies in high plus glasses. Too bad they're not nearly as common as high minus.

gerry 31 May 2016, 04:17

I see there are few ladies in the cut room who wear high magnification glasses, seems guys prefer ladies who wear high minus glasses. I hope i,m not some unusual guy i love to see a lady in high plus glasses, maybe i have a soft spot for them as i used to date a lady with very high plus glasses. I loved her beautiful enlarged eyes they seemed so beautiful. I dated her for 5 years, then I moved to London, long distance relationship seldom work.

Crystal Veil 20 May 2016, 16:39

rafa, Puffin, lentifan, Soundmanpt,

interesting exchange here - I will join in after returning from the short trip to England.

lentifan 20 May 2016, 15:56

Soundampt

In fact I didn't always date GWGs. At that time I think I was a bit afraid of my attraction to glasses. Like many of us, I suspect, I thought I was the only male in the world who had this weird fetish and was reluctant to admit it. At that time, girls were beginning to pay quite a lot of money and suffer considerable discomfort to wear contact lenses, so there must have been something wrong with someone who was turned on by glasses, mustn't there? Dating a girl who wore thick glasses (not that there were many about in the rather rough industrial town I grew up in) would, I thought, have looked a bit suspect. So I dated a few girls who had mild prescriptions and some who did not wear glasses. The few pretty girls who wore thickish glasses were spoken for, so maybe unknown to me, there were OOs about.

There was one girl who wore myodiscs who I thought was ravishing, but she had a reputation for being a 'bit of a slag' so I had not the courage to try my luck there.

 20 May 2016, 13:17

why are you talking about Melanie Griffith in this thread about school? can you please take it to actresses? thank you.

Soundmanpt 20 May 2016, 09:16

lentifan

You and I must be close to the same age. I am 67 and like you I also remember well when the wire frame glasses came around and I think it did help make at least a few girls that were reluctant to wear their glasses start wearing them more. Something I have to admit to which i'm sure every glasses wearing girl must have hated with those glasses was when they would take off their glasses they always had dark red marks on their nose where the nose pads sat. Those early glasses of course always had the adjustable nose pads and back then they were made out of hard plastic. Now they are made with very soft rubber. But you correct because with the thinner metal frames now you could really get a much better look at the lenses and back the they didn't have hi index lenses so you really could tell how strong or weak a girls glasses were. Yes indeed those were the days. I assume like myself you must have made a point to only date the girls that wore glasses?

lentifan 20 May 2016, 04:10

I'm a bit older than you, Puffin, and what I remember from my schooldays in the 60s was the change from universal black plastic frames, which I found boring (but better than bare-eyed, of course!) to much thinner metal frames, usually gold in colour, sometimes disparagingly referred to as 'granny glasses'. This was a very welcome change for two reasons. Firstly, you could see the thickness and strength of the lenses much better and I have always found ladies more attractive the stronger their lenses. Second, since there was now more choice of frames which did not dominate the face, I think more girls were persuaded to wear glasses rather than contact lenses which were just becoming widely available at that time.

I remember one girl who lived nearby who was pretty in a 'girl next door' way who suddenly became gorgeous when she got a pair of lovely gold framed glasses, not granny glasses but a fairly robust rectangularish frame, but not thick enough to hide the lens thickness. I'm guessing she was about -6d and I coveted her, but unfortunately she had a boyfriend, a big cool-looking fellow.

GOCer 19 May 2016, 10:32

And in googling Melanie Griffith, I came across this blog post:

http://www.xojane.com/entertainment/best-movie-glasses

It is true, there are gals agree with us...

rafa 19 May 2016, 05:59

Puffin

Yes, if you mean the oversize frames, like Melanie Griffith on Working Girl, I totally agree. The large frames are thankfully back, but I wish they would be bolder in size and shape.

rafa 19 May 2016, 05:51

Thank you, Crystal Veil, for your kind words. Your photos are wonderful. I can't wait to see the new shots. And would love to hear how my story resonates with yours.

Puffin 18 May 2016, 17:37

When I was at school, it was during the early 80's, which I consider the "golden age" of glasses. Nothing else before or since comes close.

I keep hoping for hints of a revival. And sometimes seeing them. Oh, please, please let it happen. I've waited so long and there's been some real crap in the meantime.

Crystal Veil 18 May 2016, 17:17

Hi rafa,

welcome to Eyescene. Your story rings a bell (or two, although a bit different). Right now I'm in the middle of preparations for a couple of photo shoots with models in prescription glasses in the UK. I will react on your story after returning home. Meanwhile, I hope that you will get many reactions here.

rafa 18 May 2016, 14:13

I’d like to share with everyone here how exciting it has been for me to come across Eyescene.

I’m 48 and a glasses fetishist/lover and I have been keeping it under wraps since my teenage years. I always had this feeling that I was some kind of weirdo, that there was something wrong with me, as there clearly was a sexual element involved, and that’s why I have been unable to share my passion for glasses with anyone.

Over the years I’ve been trying to find ways of detecting if there were other people like me, particularly women, as I have always loved GWG’s and my dream was to find one who would share my passion. And so I was always very alert to any signs from other people that would betray their love for glasses. I wonder if anyone in this forum has also developed a sixth sense for detecting other potential glasses fetishists. I would love to hear your stories about it. So I would immediately pick up on those signs, like people wearing sunglasses even when it’s dark, people who like try on other people’s prescriptions glasses and keep them on for a bit, people who would always make comments on my glasses or who would glance more at me when I would wear them than when I wear CL’s, people who like to continuously emphasize how blind they are despite being only very mildly myopic, people who would start using reading glasses far too early on in their lives, or simply people who would change their frames or sunglasses very often. I have all my life been alert to those signs hoping to find a “twin soul”.

I’ve had many relationships in my life and I have never been able to tell my partner what glasses really did for me. And so it’s been a bit of a lonely voyage of self-discovery in that respect.

There was one time when I was 17 that I came across a twenty-one year old girl who showed clear signs of being a glasses fetishist. We were on a trip to the US (from Spain) along with many other young students who were going to spend a month in San Francisco to learn English. She was wearing some very large prescription glasses on what seemed to be sunglasses frames. Clear lenses. I thought she was incredibly attractive. She was probably in the region of minus 3. But of course, she wouldn’t notice me, because I was 4 years her junior. At that time, I would seldom use glasses, because my prescription was very mild and it didn’t seem cool. I chatted her up several times, and we became friends. But it was obvious she wasn’t interested in me. She thought I was kind of sweet, but I was too young for her. Until one day when we went with some friends to a rock concert and I had to wear my glasses to see properly. She suddenly was around me all the time, giving me so much attention. I couldn’t believe it.

After the concert, she and I shared a car ride with other friends and we sat together in the back seat of the car. I wasn’t wearing my glasses then, but she couldn’t stop giving me all her attention and smiles. She was all over me. And then she concocted an excuse to start tickling me… until she found what she was really looking for: my glasses in my inside pocket. Of course she pulled them out and tried them on and wore them for a bit, made comments on my prescription, hers, etc. And that’s when she finally got satisfied. I would have sworn that she was a glasses fetishist herself. But I could never dare to ask her.

It just happened that by that time –since she hadn’t been interested in me at all before I wore my glasses- that I had started a relationship –a successful one- with another girl, and so I let this girl, this great opportunity, pass me by. She was clearly still interested in me and tried to hit on me several times. But I was with another girl and soon enough the month in the US got to an end.

Months later, back in Spain, I realized my mistake, and I tried to get in contact with her, but couldn’t find her anyway, since we didn’t exchange numbers or addresses nor did we have common friends.

I’ve never forgotten her. Because she could have been THE one.

Now I’m about to become a GOC wearer and I’m incredibly excited about it . And also very excited to be able to share my feelings and experiences with other glasses lovers. I’ve been reading treads of years and years of posts on Eyescene, particularly those of GOC’s, and it’s been a great experience. And got really excited when I read Mark’s post of 29 October 2015 about finding a mildly myopic girl in the supermarket, while he was doing GOC, who kept glancing at him and eventually wanted to try on his glasses. How did that story end, Mark? Because it’s a dream experience for any GOC wearer.

Anyway, I just wondered if anyone has any story to tell about detecting other potential glasses fetishists.

Soundmanpt 15 May 2016, 15:21

Tom

Not at all surprising since she was in that age bracket where her eyesight was almost certain to be changing every year. Evy's first prescription was most likely a very normal -.50 or -.75 which meant that she only barely needed her glasses to see the board at school. So with average increases of around -.50 or -.75 each year it would make sense that her glasses were probably just about what you estimated them to be when you tried them on. Clearly you have never forgotten about her. Things like that I don't think we ever forget or even want to forget.

Tom 15 May 2016, 13:45

I spent 6y of high school in the same class with a girl named Evy. After the Xmas break of our first year, she first came to class with glasses, which she only put one during class itself to watch the blackboard. We were good friends, often sat close to each other, and I remember her telling me a year later, spunding annoyed, that she got stronger lenses. But still with the same frames. When she turned 15, she got another increase, with new frames, and that was the last year she managed to wear glasses during class only.

When we came back to school after the summer holidays, she started to wear her glasses full-time. The year after, 5th year of high school, both of us 16y old and pretty much into the boy-girl thing, we had a first affair. We spent much time at each other's place, got quite close physically, and her specs were often the last item of clothing to fly off. At the time she had thin metallic gold rimmed frames that were quite fashionable then, and her lenses that had grown quite thick already (no hi-index then?) nicely protruded from the edges. I will never forget one afternoon that we spent together in her bedroom when her parents were out of town. Time came when her glasses came off, and she then unexpectely shoved them onto my nose and said "no both of us cannot see much". I had always been intrigued by her specs, but never really dared to ask about them or her vision. However, this time, I fully enjoyed and she must have noticed immediately with my body reaction. From then on her glasses often became part of our "playing" fogether, and we spent another great year together! Recollecting her glasses at the time, and my wife's current prescription, I'd say Evy must have been around -5 when we were 16y old.

Soundmanpt 15 May 2016, 09:18

Comet

Your high school years with the lovely Lila were very interesting and exciting for a young boy that must have liked seeing cute girls wearing glasses. To be honest I must have been a lot like you when I was in high school because I pretty much made it a point to only date the girls that wore glasses. Anyway I think I have a pretty good idea what Lila was up to. I think as much as liked seeing cute girls wearing glasses, Lila must have had a friend that wore glasses and Lila liked how her friend looked wearing glasses. Girls were always having sleep overs and such and with her being a very popular cheerleader on top of it she had to have had plenty of friends. Over that first summer before school started she probably was at this girls house and asked to try her glasses on. Her friend likely told her how good she looked wearing glasses and the friend probably had her previous glasses before she got her current ones that she gave Lila to wear. They were probably weak enough that Lila could nearly see perfect wearing them. So over the rest of the summer Lila probably wore the gifted glasses when she was out with some of her friends and just claimed that they were prescribed to her. So when school started she put them in her bag and would wear them when she felt like wearing them. This might even explain how when she was asked to read from the board and she had her glasses she misread one of the numbers. She then took her glasses off and said "oh yeah" She misread it because she really couldn't see it that clearly with her glasses on. So they were probably still a little too strong for her eyes and she must not have ever wore them long enough for her eyes to adjust to them. It could be that the glasses had a little bit of astigmatism correction in them and that would mean she could only tolerate them for a short time or she would start to get a headache. Her story about barely passing the vision test to get her learners permit to drive sounds strange as well. If she really needed glasses to see distance she almost certainly would have failed the vision test without her glasses and then with the clerk even asking her if she wore glasses and she said she did but had forgot to bring them with her and yet she was still passed. But the biggest thing was the vision screening she had to do. She must have felt that she could see well enough with her glasses that she could read the letters okay that when she was asked if she wore glasses and she said she did and was told to put them on and read as many lines as she could. But her vision with her glasses must not have been so good because she must have missed quite a few letters. Then she was told to take her glasses off and read it again. Now without her glasses she could read every line without any problem. I'm sure when the nurse called her house she almost certainly asked them about their daughters need for glasses. Most likely the parents had no idea that she even had any glasses and were shocked to hear that she was somehow wearing glasses around school. She probably got a good talking to when she got home and that was the end of her ever wearing anyone's glasses again. Maybe by now she has her own real glasses if she really wants to wear glasses. This sort of thing happens more often than you would think. This was happening in my days back at school and now with glasses being so popular I am sure it happens far more often now.

Comet 07 May 2016, 16:11

I was one of the smart kids in high school and took accelerated classes. On the first day of school, in math class, a beautiful red headed cheerleader named Lila in the class announced to us that she was prescribed glasses over the summer.. She was a part-time wearer and only needed them for distance. She had minus lenses with a faint prescription.

We soon had a seating chart and Lila was assigned a front seat and I was assigned a seat in the row next to her on the right side but one seat back. We had three walls with blackboards on them and we would be randomly chosen each day to put our written work for the various assigned homework problems on the boards. Lila would usually, but not always, take her glasses case out her purse, remove the tortoiseshell rectangular glasses from the case, and don them. I was smitten. Sometimes she would hand them back to her best friend, Debbie- another cheerleader, and Debbie would meticuously clean them for Lila. I never understood why Lila never cleaned her own glasses or why she chose Debbie. Debbie did not even wear glasses.

I lived for these moments when Lila wore her glasses. These moments were cherished because Lila did not always wear them. One day in January, Lial announced that she got her permit. She said that she almost failed the vision test but told the clerk that she wore glasses. Apparently, she did not have them with her which I thought strange and the clerk passed her. No glasses would be seen on her if she drove by. Later in the year, the teacher chose her to explain one of the solutions on the board while she was wearing her glasses. She explained the problem but misread one of the numbers. The teacher corrected her and she removed her glasses, looked at the back board and said, "oh yeah". I don't remember if she put them back on after that or kept them off.

The following year, eleventh grade, I was pleased to see that she was in my math class again. She sat in the second seat this time next to the wall and I sat in a row to the left of her but two seats back. It was my pleasure to see the tortoise shell glasses worn again for another year.

Every October, the school nurses would use the physical education classes to screen vision and hearing. Classes were usually separated by gender but on this day, the dividing wall in the gym was opened up and everyone was screened. I made sure to get in Lila's line. We were in the line with harder machine to fake out because it was the letters and not the directional E's.

Lila was asked when it was her turn if she wore glasses and she said yes. The nurse asked her to put them on and asked Lila to read as far down as she could. Lila did so. I am not sure what her vision was with her glasses. The nurse asked her to remove her glasses and read as far down as she could now. Lila read line after line and read them all. The nurse asked her to do it again and Lila did again. The nurse then told Lila that she did not need her glasses and that the nurse would be calling home to tell her parents. My heart was pounding!

Lila talked about it in math class that day and seemed to not believe that the nurse was correct. She did not wear her rectangular tortoiseshell glasses though that day. I never would see Lila wear them ever again. The last time that I saw her with them on was that gym class in October.

Julian 06 Mar 2016, 05:59

Back in 2008 someone's post included the words, 'it is difficult to cut a cool or tough figure in NHS glasses' but as I and others have mentioned more recently, frames that look just like the old NHS plastic type seem to be very much in fashion these days, especially black and tortoiseshell - though flesh-coloured and clear examples are not unknown.

Malina 28 Jan 2016, 05:09

Here's another cross-eyed person :)

I got my first pair of glasses when I was 3 years old, I developed a squint after having a high fever. I remember having to wear eye patches and I hated it although I was only 3 or 4! My doctor finished the treatment with patches when I started school, but I still had to wear my glasses which were about +5 in each eye. On my first day at school we all chose our seats in the classroom, I chose one somewhere in the middle. When we all sat down, my teacher called my name and said: Come to the front row, you can't see anything from your desk right now! I was too shy to argue although I could see perfectly, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen this seat... but I had to move to the front. Next to me sat a girl, and she hated me at once because I had to change seats with her best friend. From this day on I was bullied for wearing my strong glasses. It got much worse when I had to wear patches again at the age of 8!

Today I still have to wear glasses and when my squint came back, I chose to wear patches over my strong eye again. The difference is that I really like them now.

Likelenses 25 Sep 2015, 17:29

Soundmanpt

The woman that you spoke of reminds me of a guy that went to college with me.I barely knew him,but he was in many of the same classes as I.

His glasses were quite strong,but at that time I knew very little about prescriptions.I believe that they were hefty minus,but perhaps a lot of prism.

Whenever he took them off,which was actually very often,both of his eyes would roll around in their sockets.Now that I think about it,it was the strangest optical thing that I have ever seen.When they went back on, his eyes were normal.

Not to his face,but some of the students knick named him Rollem

Soundmanpt 25 Sep 2015, 15:59

Debs

I have a very good friend that has her own insurance company but when I met first met her she was working for AT&T; selling cell phones. Very pretty blonde girl with the most beautiful big blue eyes. I was rather surprised one time visiting her to see here wearing rather strong plus glasses. Of course I complemented her how her looks wearing glasses, but she made it clear that she didn't much enjoy wearing glasses and much preferred her contacts. She told me that when she was very young she had eye surgery on both of her eyes. But the surgeries still left her needing glasses or contacts all her life. She told me that she was very concerned because her ECP had told her at her last eye exam that she about at the end of the line for wearing contacts much longer. But worst of all was her left eye. Without her glasses or contacts she told me that it pulls in right up by her nose as soon as she takes them off. After a bit of persuading I convinced her to take her glasses off. She wasn't kidding, as soon as her glasses were off her almost jumped inward. Needles to say she quickly put her glasses back on and her eye went back in place. As much as she hated it I actually thought it was pretty interesting. I told her I thought it was really cute and not something gross or horrid. Of course she didn't think so. She was very open and even told me about how she was always very careful when she was intimite with a bf that she always made sure she was awake first so she could put her glasses on before he saw her "funky eye" as she called it. Then she could switch to contacts after she got up. She went on a camping trip with one guy and she got caught before she could put her glasses on and she said she was horrified by him seeing her that way, but like me he jsut thought she was being silly because she was so beautiful that even a flaw was not so bad on her.

Debs 25 Sep 2015, 10:15

I didn't think to ask about prescriptions then and don't ask about them now. My eyesight was a big , secretive part of my childhood, one which I need to forget. When I look back at photos, I always looked cross eyed and I cannot understand why my parents didn't see this.

Tom1 25 Sep 2015, 09:51

Debs: which is your prescription now? How strong were you friend's glasses and which was your prescriptio when you gave up?

Debs 25 Sep 2015, 09:45

Kate, this is so similar to me. When I was about 6 months old the health visitor said that my eyes should not be crossed and that they would keep an eye on things. They didn't and when I went to school and had an eye test, I failed. I didn't give my parents the fail slip, I was one of 8 siblings and I knew my parents didn't have the money to spend on glasses. I also knew that I couldn't see what all my class mates could,so I asked my friend if I could borrow her old ones, she said yes and I wore them at school for 2 years and avoided other tests. I really don't know how I managed it! When I was about 8,the optician was due at the school, my best friend suggested I be honest when I went for the test. I was and told my parents everything. They were shocked that this had gone on for so long, but they supported me. But, because I hadn't addressed earlier eyesight problems I had a few issues. My left eye wandered in to the corner as soon as it went out of focus and to make matters worse, my right eye also had focussing problems. if this had been sorted out when I was younger it wouldn't have been a problem. As it is, I am lucky to have glasses to correct my problems, without them is another matter.

Kate 25 Sep 2015, 07:49

I didn't mention that bare eyed is not really an option for me. I can blurrily apply make up, that is after checking the shampoo / conditioner in the shower. After putting on my eye make up I put my glasses on to check its ok.

Kate 25 Sep 2015, 07:37

Hi Cutter,

I don't know my contact prescription. Yes I am far sighted. The last script I can find, for glasses is SPH R +2.50 CYL -.25 AXIS 73 ADD 1.75 SPH L +3.50 CYL -.25 AXIS 120 ADD 1.75. I know that when I got these glasses they were embarrassingly magnified! That is why I got contacts.

cutter 22 Sep 2015, 06:57

Kate

your past aversion toward glasses is typical of children being teased (this is also why bullism is a true cruelty).

May I ask if you were/are farsighted (I think so, based on what you ) and which is your current RX and eventually the one when your bf pushed you wear glasses again?

Can you still manage yourself bareeyed? I don't know how old are you but I guess that in adulthood accommodation becomes more and more difficult, especially for hyperopes.

Kate 22 Sep 2015, 06:34

I can remember the day we had an eyesight test at school. I was 4,and I got a card to say I had failed it and I had to give the card to my parents. My teacher came out with me at home time to ensure my mother got the card My mother was shocked as she had not noticed I couldn't see properly and kept asking me what I could and couldn't see.I didn't realise that I couldn't see properly and no one had noticed I had a squint. I was taken to the optician and remember the eye test having animals moving around.I was told I had to wear glasses which didn't really bother me. About a week later I went to get my glasses. I tried them on and was amazed at how clear everything was, I loved them. They were little round pink wire rims which were quite tight around my ears and did get sore but the lenses were thick and heavy and would have kept slipping off. I was told I had to put them on as soon as I woke up and not take them off until I went to sleep.The optician told my mother that I would want to wear them as I wouldn't be able to see without them.He also said that my squint would be very pronounced when I took them off which it was. My sisters kept telling me I was cross eyed. I had to wear a patch on my right eye for an hour each night, which I did.I loved my glasses and every opticians visit resulted in stronger lenses. When I was around 8 I asked if I could get some new glasses for Christmas, non NHS ones.I did and they were the best present ever. About this time I started to get called names like speccy four eyes etc and was conscious that I was different. I tried to go without my glasses at school but couldn't see, and the teacher kept asking where they were.I put up with the taunts but when I moved to senior school when I was 11 I just didn't wear them. I'm not sure how I muddled through the next 5 years but I did. I told my parents I could see fine and they believed me. Thanks to my optician I no longer had a squint. My glasses were put away in a drawer, I hated them, even though I needed them.When I met my future husband he could tell I couldn't see properly and when he found out my glasses history he encouraged me to get my eyes tested. I was prescribed thick glasses and he was shocked, so was I at how I had managed for so long with no correction. I knew my glasses repulsed him so I tried contacts and have been wearing them ever since.

Oscar 26 Oct 2014, 11:31

Brad, you're a lucky man to have met up with her again recently. She must have been lovely at school with that kind of prescription. I'm reminded of a girl in my year called Emma who was very pretty (with an exceptionally nice curvy figure which she liked to show off in tight jeans), very smart, very nearsighted (certainly more than -10.00, and I loved watching her glasses getting noticeably thicker every year) and she had the adorable bonus of a stutter which I found it impossible to resist - I used to melt at the sound of her voice :) Fortunately, we used to chat regularly as friends, and did a lot of music together (I played viola, she played cello) but I was far too scared ever to ask her out - having decided, as you do as a kid, that she was basically a godess. I wish I'd had the courage to tell her how much I liked her, but I never did. She was beautiful (and unattached... what was I thinking??)

Brad 26 Oct 2014, 10:17

Amazingly, Brandon posted a picture this morning of a girl wearing glasses with frames and lenses practically identical to the ones worn at the reunion by the girl I described last night. Here they are. http://cs622016.vk.me/v622016033/4a86/kG_CFxTK84k.jpg Thanks, Brandon!

Brad 25 Oct 2014, 16:49

I never paid attention to other students’ glasses until I was diagnosed as nearsighted in sixth grade and began wearing my own. About six other kids in my class had them, and I noticed that two of them, both girls, had lenses that looked different. I didn’t know the terms then, but they minified things, had cut-in, and had power rings. I intuitively knew their glasses were stronger than the other kids’. In seventh grade, both of those girls had new glasses with more minification, more cut-in and more rings. And so it was every year through high school. By our senior year, their lenses were seriously thick, with big flashing reflections and the whole nine yards. I was interested in girls, but I was painfully shy and never said a word to them about their glasses. I ended up marrying a girl with moderately strong glasses, similar to my own. Last spring, at my 25th year class reunion, one of the girls showed up, still wearing glasses, with lenses that were even stronger than I had remembered. At first glance they looked like semi-rimless, but on closer examination they had a full plastic frame, with a dark top and clear sides and bottom. The frame was substantial but the lenses stuck way out at both the front and back and displayed monumental power rings. Over the years, I had become less shy, and struck up a chat with her. We talked about many things, and eventually I got the courage to tell her that I thought her glasses were beautiful. She laughed and said I was weird, she was practically blind and had the thickest glasses known to mankind. When I asked her what her prescription was, she said if she told me I wouldn’t believe what she said so she fished her doctor’s prescription out of her purse. I don’t remember all the numbers, but I focused on the spheres: -13.50 in one eye and -14.75 in the other. She let me try them on. I couldn’t see a thing; they were about 10 diopters stronger than mine, but holding them I noticed a subtle bifocal line that wasn’t apparent when she wore them. I love my wife, but I couldn’t help thinking that had I been less shy in school, she might have become my wife.

Tom 16 Oct 2014, 14:47

I'm another Tom, but too lazy to change nick :-p

I recall a girl at university who was -4 and never went around without contacts. Once she run out of solution, she spent the whole day at home and in the evening asked her room mate to get a new bottle for her since she didn't want to go out with glasses (she were not used to the blur, since she always used contacts).

Strange thing is that although she had some interest for me (at least this is what I felt), I didn't find her really attractive and didn't like her character that much, so we never dated.

Tom 12 Oct 2014, 14:12

Oscar and Eyestein remind me of whzn and how my fascination started.

I was about 15yrs old when I accompanied my younger sister to a birthday party thrown by a friend of hers. At the party, I ran into the elder sister of the party girl, Kathryn, who turned out to be the same age as I was. We got along really well and about one hour into the party she invited me to go upstairs to her room together to "escape the youngsters". Kathryn was pretty in her own way, she had very thick brown hair in a pony tail, which nicely exposed the thick glasses she wore. She had thin shiny silver metal oval frames, and back in the eighties the lenses were still much thicker than they are today. With hindsight, I think she must have been already -5 then. She had tv in her room, and we watched a movie together, nothing really special.

But it was the time I started getting really interested in girls, and her glasses fascinated me, which I had never experienced before in such explicit say. Being still a hit naive at the time, and not being aware of what a fetish was (even though it is clear now that I had one), I started asking questions about her eyesight and glasses while we lay on her bed together watching TV. She didn't really mind my asking, and answered all my questions in a very natural way. At one moment, she paused the video, took off her glasses and handed them over to me and suggested "try them yourself to find out". I remember how distorted everything in her room appeared when having put on her glasses. i kept them on for a few minutes, even walking around a bit, while asking her many more questions. Because i understood she really needed them to see, I then took off her glasses, and much to my surprise, she looked at me and closed her eyes, inviting me to slide her glasses back onto her nose myself. Which I happily did :)

Oscar 05 Oct 2014, 08:50

There was a girl two years older than me who played flute in the same youth orchestra I was in from age 13 onwards. When I first joined (and she was 15) she already had extremely thick glasses in clear plastic frames - and she looked beautiful and fascinating in them. Every year her lenses got stronger (and more fascinating) until by the time she left the orchestra to go to college (when she was 18) she was wearing glasses with myodisc lenses - the first time I'd ever seen them. She became the girl of my dreams: incredibly talented, sexy and extremely myopic. Because she was a bit older than me I could never really get to talk to her properly - just a smile or a nod here and there. But that just added to the mystery and the fascination. I can still visualize her now with her hair in a pony-tail, looking very pretty in pale blue jeans and a t-shirt, and peering through those beautiful lenses. I often wonder what happened to her, and this was 40 years ago. I think it's fair to say that's when my fascinating for girls with glasses started.

Eyestein 05 Oct 2014, 06:05

There was only one girl at my school who wore very strong glasses. Then one day at swimming classes I spotted her in the pool actually wearing her glasses. At the same as I noticed her I heard a couple of boys nearby comment about how "blind" she was. I don't know how she kept them on her head. That's either because I don't remember or because I wasn't observant enough to find out. Anyway for me as a young teenage male she made quite an impact. She was something mysterious and sexy. I think my interest in GWGs began with that one girl. She was very nearsighted because her lenses were flat at the front and deeply concave at the back. My memory doesn't serve me well enough now to guess how many dioptres she might have had but that sighting in the pool convinced me that she must have been really blind without her glasses. Now, many years later I am a regular visitor to Eyescene and that girl is probably the main reason why.

Ellen 05 Oct 2014, 03:58

I could write a book on my experiences at school in relation to my eyesight. The worst thing for me was swimming lessons, I was a double digit dioptre wearer from the age of about 9 or 10 and I just couldn’t see from leaving the changing room to getting back there and the whole experience filled me with dread. I used to use all kinds of excuses to get out of swimming and to this day I’m a weak swim swimmer and avoid it if I can.

Another thing I remember is a girl in my class, we weren’t close friends but we were the only two who wore glasses at the time and there was a kind of camaraderie between us. The odd thing was that at around 13 years old she suddenly decided not to wear her glasses even though her prescription must have been over -6. It must have been a vanity thing but she would turn up at school without them and only wear them during lessons and then immediately take them off. She couldn’t see a thing and I know she couldn’t see well enough to recognise people unless they were close by. One day a teacher singled her out in front of the whole class and asked her why she wasn’t wearing her glasses. It was quite cruel as it really embarrassed her. She maintained she only needed them to see the board but the teacher clearly knew otherwise and wouldn’t let the matter drop. I forget how it ended but it didn’t stop her leaving her glasses off unless absolutely necessary for the rest of her school career. I saw her a few years later when we about 20 and she was wearing quite strong glasses, maybe about -8 or 9 and seemed to have got over her vanity issues.

ric 03 Oct 2014, 00:30

When i first got glasses in the 80 s, remember i tried not wearing them full time as long as i could. Even nowadays, the usual lenses were glass that meant you had to care them for not broken. Remember when glasses broken you had to wait more than a week for getting new ones from the optician.

Melyssa 02 Oct 2014, 04:57

Maria,

I know what you mean. I started wearing glasses 50.5 years ago, and the lenses were made of somewhat heavy glass, shatterproof in my case. Back then, girls' frames were mostly cat'e-eyes, sharp-angled or not as much. I wore ones that were brown at the top and clear at the bottom. After that pair, most frames were geometric shapes -- round, hexagonal, octagonal, either in brown or black, before metal frames came along, to go with the much lighter plastic lenses. Being a part-time wearer until getting my first (of two overall) metal frames, I never had to worry about my glasses falling off during physical education classes or when playing with my friends.

Likelenses 01 Oct 2014, 23:52

Maria

What is your prescription now?

JES 01 Oct 2014, 08:08

I attended primary school in the late seventies. Glasses wearers were quite rare. I can recall to girls in our class of 30 pupils. The glasses-girls seemed to get a lot of attention from the teacher.

- Oh, X has got new glasses! How nice you look in them!

The other students, including me, wanted to look through the glasses, wearing them and see how magic it was.

- OMG, they are strong!

I have often wondered if this is why I have been so glasses-oriented all my life..the stronger the better.

Maria 01 Oct 2014, 06:28

My memories from school were less pleasant. I was at school in the late sixties, when glasses were seen as an expensive necessety rather than a fashion statement. I remember everyone in my class trying to go without as long as possible. Those who couldn't make do without glasses had to cope with glasses not made to fit children's faces, so many glasses were fitting badly. The lenses were made from glasse and must have been pretty heavy, and the frames were as unfashionable as they come. When I got mine in primary school, they simply weren't made for my small nose and I had to push them up more or less constantly, and occasionally they would simply fall off my face. So I tried t wear them only in class and squinted my way through recess.

While the glasses wearers weren't exactly bullied as such, they certainly were at a disadvantage as they had to be careful about them. They knew that they might get swiped off leaving them to beg for them to be returned. I remember a boy who had rather heavy glasses that were pretty big on top of it, and they would fall off his face more or less regularly in a brawl, leaving him to hunt around for them while everyone knew he could hardly see without. He used to get punished at home when he broke them (glasses were pretty expensive at the time), so he was quite anxious of anything happening to them. For a while, he tried to leave them in his bag during recess, squinting terribly to get around, but in the end he gave up and had to wear them full time, always trying to protect them or to hold them when things got rougher among the boys.

The other thing I remember that you weren't allowed to wear glasses during sports lessons, so the glasses wearers were left to squinting all the time, trying to figure out what was happening around them, being the first targets ad dodgeball, and just having an awkward time.

Glad its over.

Maria

Revolver 26 Sep 2014, 11:35

Am running behind as usual, not much time to peruse the websites and finally got over to vision and spex to look at new stories. Nic posted a great one called Unbelievable that really rung a bell re my own school days. It portrays a high school student who got glasses because of wearing a friend's at a football game and being amazed at how they helped.

This happened quite often, it seemed, beginning around 6th grade and continuing on up, we'd be sitting in the stands of game and one girl would show up with first time myopic lenses, others would try them on and at least one would exclaim how clear things were, etc. and would later get her own. This would snowball and in all probability was because of our ages, there was a surge in first time wearers from Junior High up through the end of High School.

I'll try to remember some of the stories and post them here, if anyone is interested. I personally would be interested in reading stories about the other poster's experiences like this.

 30 Aug 2014, 09:52

Brian,

My first prescription was OD -1.25 -75 110 OS -1.50 -75 85. I'm in my mid 50's and my current prescription is: OD -1.75 -1.25 110 OS -2.00 -.75 85.

Brian 30 Aug 2014, 03:37

Agilpro, How strong was your 1st prescription when you finally went and got glasses? How old are you now and what is your current prescription?

agilpro 30 Aug 2014, 00:57

I new I needed glasses when I was in 9th grade but was to afraid to tell my parents I was having problems seeing at school and was also to self conscious and shy to begin wearing glasses in HS. I became friends with a guy in college who was in several of my classes and wore glasses full time. He soon realized I had problems seeing in class because I was always borrowing his notes or asking him what something on the board said. One day he took off his glasses and told me to put them on and tell him if I could see better, when I could, he told me I needed to go get my eyes examined and get glasses. I told him I knew I did, but had always had a problem trying to tell my parents that I needed to get glasses and was to self conscious to wear them. The next day he brought me an old pair of his glasses and told me to try wearing them at school and see if anyone treated me differently while I was wearing them, so I began wearing them at school and found out that nobody cared I was wearing glasses and the only comments I got were compliments. My comfort and confidence level grew the longer I wore them and I finally worked up what it took to tell my family and finally get my own glasses.

Tom 06 Jun 2014, 10:37

I remember a girl in my class one of the first days in high school. I saw her along the street while I was in my mother's car, waiting for the green light. I called her and waived intensively and apparently she did not recognize me although was looking just in my direction. Next day she explained she didn't have glasses and could not see a thing. She was a part time wearer at that time, glasses were not that strong. Few months later she complained she could not see properly neither with glasses on, went to eyedoctor and discovered she jumped to -3. Present glasses were only -1.25 (!). I can understand they didn't improve her vision that much, she was almost as blind as without, maybe this is why she wasn't using them so much, although she was significantly bareeyed. Once got the new glasses she wore part time for few other months, then moved to contacts.

Puffin 06 Jun 2014, 09:39

One of the things about part-time wearers at school was wondering if they would ever go full-time. A few did, one memorable one who turned up at the end of summer full-time, she was pretty blind and I've long wondered how she avoided them so long (2-3 years).

Others never quite got there (either because they were resisting it, or their vision didn't change that much).

One or two just went from nothing to full time. You wonder how they coped without, because they didn't necessarily sit at the front of the class.

A couple plainly had glasses - I saw them being "tried on" once or twice, but beyond that they never wore them.

Melyssa 06 Jun 2014, 07:43

In high school, where I wore glasses part-time in 10th grade, most of the time in 11th grade (except for homeroom, gym, and lunch), and all of the time in 12th grade, there were big, noisy clocks in each room. Even without my glasses I could see the numbers and the two hands -- no second hands. They would click every 60 seconds to the next minute, except when going from :58 to :59, then it would be a "quick click" 15 seconds early. A teacher who lived another 39 years after I dealt with her (somehow -- LOL) would delay in starting an exercise by saying, "Let's wait till we hear the click of the clock."

Astra 05 Jun 2014, 06:46

People with 20/20 acuity can distinguish 9 mm line from 30 m away. It seems, if the acuity is slightly below 20/30 the line on the clock (that i have mentioned on previous post) would appear blurred, and below 20/40 almost impossible to read the time at 30 m away.

Astra 05 Jun 2014, 06:29

It seems the hall was about 24 m long, 18 m wide.

Astra 05 Jun 2014, 06:06

I did not have much interest about the clocks in my school days. Now I remember there was an average-sized clock at the left corner of a hall. (viewed to the stage) , that hall has slightly more than 1000 seats possible. So it must be quite an "eye exam" if you try to look at the clock from the back right corner, or perhaps back left corner as well. I have never been at the back left corner for long, but for 4 years our class have been allocated near the back right corner. I did remember some people look at the clock and reads the time from that part of hall.

Julian 25 Nov 2013, 18:54

Well, thickspex, that's no slouch of a prescription! My guess is that when you were 10 your grandma recognized that you couldn't see properly and that's why she got you wearing glasses. which pretty soon you couldn't see without. I'd like to hear what Cactus Jack and other knowledgeable people have to say - but that's my theory.

thickspex 25 Nov 2013, 17:54

julian,i am 55 now

thickspex 25 Nov 2013, 17:52

julian,the glasses were plus,i still have to wear glasses full time,my prescription is right +15.25/cyl -1.50/axis 60/add+2.50 left +15.50/cyl -1.75/axis 90/add +2.50

Julian 25 Nov 2013, 07:51

thickspex: you don't say whether these glasses had plus or minus lenses, but either way your eyes couldn't have been damaged so quickly. So you must already have had latent hyperopia (if they were plus) or myopia (if they were minus. I'm guessing you still have to wear glasses; what's your prescription? And how old are you?

thickspex 25 Nov 2013, 06:48

when i was 10 my grandma got new glasses and i used to stop at hers at the weekend going there from school,she asked me to try them on,i put them on but wanted to take them off but she said leave them on for awhile which i did,i wore them all that day not taking them off,they made everything look blurry at first ,after a while things started getting clearer,then my grandma handed me a pair of black framed glasses which were my grandpas which were really strong and thick and asked me to wear these,i wore these for the rest of that weekend,but when i tried to take them off i couldnt see and i felt i was crosseyed and had to put them back on,my grandma had to tell my mom what she did,she went mad,my mom had to let me wear them all the time from then,do you think my grandma damaged my etes doing what she did and caused me to wear them all the time

Soundmanpt 07 Aug 2013, 09:53

juicebox

I can understand that it was much easier to first start wearing glasses when you got to uni. Getting and wearing glasses any sooner would have subjected you to all the usual comments from your friends about your need for glasses. Of course most if not all would have been complements, but you didn't want the attention. Now with going off top uni where no one knew you, you could get your glasses and even wear them full time if wanted because no one would know they were new and there would be no questions.

I know someone that did just what you did. She was working at a nearby store and she knew I had gotten for a co worker and she told me she was pretty sure she needed glasses but she was going to hold off until she was about to leave for college to get her eyes examined and then she would get glasses through me. True to her word, she contacted me and ordered glasses just before heading off to college. She told me she would have been too shy to wear glasses around all of her friends. But when she came home for the summer she was wearing glasses, she said she had gotten comfortable wearing them.

Chris 07 Aug 2013, 02:27

Interesting post from Juicebox about first getting glasses at university. Although I had glasses at school, I only actually started wearing glasses just before I went to university. Maybe when I get some time, I will write about my acceptance of the need to start wearing glasses.

juicebox 30 Jul 2013, 21:56

Revolver, I suspected but just wanted to make sure! :)

Most of my friends got glasses in middle school, but I refused to get glasses until I went to uni. I think I'd have been a whole lot more self-conscious about them if I got them while at school. At least at uni everyone got to know me as a glasses wearer, instead of suddenly appearing with them.

Revolver 30 Jul 2013, 13:57

Juicebox: yes, it is the US, thought that being a Brit you'd catch my hint when I said "here in the Colonies". LOL.

Melyssa: way back in the day our school was 6-8 as middle school, high school was 9-12, but now most places make grade school K-5, middle school 6-8, and high school 9-12.

astigmaphile 30 Jul 2013, 10:37

When I was in school in the 50s and 60s, my grade school was K-6, junior high was 7-9 and high school was 10-12. Later on, one of the junoir highs went 6-8 and was called middle school, although I think that it is back to 7-9.

Melyssa 30 Jul 2013, 06:50

The high school I attended was grades 10-12, while another one in the area was grades 8-12, and a third was 9-12. My high school now handles grades 9-12, so the junior high school I went to was grades 7-9 then, 6-8 now (and now called "middle school.")

As for myself, I got my first glasses during spring break of 3rd grade, a few weeks before my 8th birthday. I went full-time at age 16, just after the conclusion of 11th grade. I think my parents wanted me to begin and end school early so I could go to work to support them in their (and my) old age. LOL

Juicebox 29 Jul 2013, 17:09

England has two systems. The most common being lower school which is reception then grades 1-6 (ages 4-11) then high school which is grades 7-11 (ages 12-16). The far less common one is reception to grade 4 at lower school, then middle school which is grades 5-8, then high school which is grades 9-11. Compulsory schooling ends at 16 but we have the option to go to sixth form for two years which were defined at my school as lower and upper sixth.

Revolver, was that the American system you were describing?

Revolver 29 Jul 2013, 14:23

Andrew, your point is well taken. But let me add that one of the many things I've enjoyed about Eyescene over the years is to get postings from all over the world which has brought a wonderful diversity to our discussions. You asked that we use ages "rather than" grades when discussion our experiences. I would take it a step further and as that posters use both the age and the grade, as in that way we could gain a correlation of ages/grades from the various countries.

I know very little about other countries other than in the UK you don't go to "college" you go to "university". And in Germany you don't go to "high school" you go to "gymnasium" and then go on to "university". Would like to learn more, let's all do it and learn together.

A simple rule of thumb here in the colonies is take grade and add 5. When you are 5-6 you go to kindergarten, and then 1st grade you are 6-7, 2d grade 7-8 etc. This does vary, of course, what your birth month is but this is fairly close. In my case, for example, my birthday was late summer so I was 5 in kindergarten, 6 in 1st grade etc. And high school over here is usually 9-12th grade and what used to be commonly called junior high school is usually 6-8th grade.

Andrew 28 Jul 2013, 14:37

Am I allowed to request that people use ages rather than phrases such as "third grade"? I know how old 8 years old is, but have no idea whatsoever as to how "third grade" equates to various ages. In England, "Year Three" is for 7-8 year olds; in France, the "Troisièmes" are aged 14-15; elsewhere, who knows?

Melyssa 27 Jul 2013, 10:04

This may come as a surprise to those who know me, live or via Internet, but I never wore glasses in a graduation photo. I did not start wearing glasses full-time until after 11th grade, and the high school graduation pictures were taken that May. In junior college as well as in "senior" college, I kept my glasses off because (1) the flashbulbs were too bright, (B) maybe five other girls combined wore their glasses, and (Third) with so many drop-temples and cat's-eyes to choose from, I would have had a difficult decision on which pair to wear.

Carrie 22 Jul 2013, 12:43

I wore frames with fake lenses a lot of the time when I was at school. A few of my friends did too. I never pretended they were real I just liked how I looked in them. It wasn't until I was at college I discovered I actually needed real glasses.

My now girlfriend (Gemma) had to get glasses for distances when she was at school (same school as me but we didn't really know each other very well even though she fancied me like mad!). She absolutely dreaded the first day she had to wear glasses at school as she just knew she'd be bullied by the same b*****s that bullied her for being gay. She was right and would only wear her glasses when she couldn't cope with squinting to see. She probably would have been better off wearing her glasses full time but those girls just knocked what little self confidence she had left right out of her and so she was actually scared to wear her glasses and scared to tell a teacher about the bullying. She really didn't enjoy her final 2 years at school. I wish I had known her better then as I would have sorted out the bullies (even her close friends were scared). She still won't tell me who they were in case I go and sort them out now! Even though I have always been below the average height for a woman my age I am tougher than I look.

Those bullies never picked on me or my friends for wearing fake glasses (lucky for them!). Gemma was a quiet and sweet person at school so I suppose she was an easy target. The bullies had such an effect on her that she was still afraid to wear her glasses when we met at a Christmas party when we were 17 and by then she had a stronger prescription and should have been wearing her glasses full time. When we started dating I gradually gave her the confidence to wear her glasses full time especially as I wore mine full time.

Everything I have written above about Gemma comes from what she has told me since we've been together.

SC 22 Jul 2013, 05:43

Went to a graduation ceremony - hardly any of the girls wore glasses so it must have been pre-ordained as a blur or contact lens event

 10 Jul 2013, 17:47

post deleted - inappropriate

mareado 10 Jul 2013, 15:37

School memories are not so fond to me. Early on, the blackboard started to become hard to see. This was very bad for me because I was one of the kids that the bullies liked to pick on.

I did not want to get glasses because I heard they make your eyes worse. If I got glasses would the bullies allow me to wear them? I couldn't take that chance.

The nurse would keep sending letters home about my bad eyes and I would always intercept them by going home sick early before the mail arrived. But eventually they got ahold of my parents, and when I was confronted, they asked me to read something on the television screen. I couldn't read it. My parents made me get glasses.

But the bullies wouldn't let me wear my glasses. At first they started snatching them off my face and tossing them to each other. They would all laugh as I struggled to get them back. Later they started throwing them out into the school parking lot, down the hall, or simply snapping the frames in front of me.

I really needed glasses bad. The teachers were upset with me that I didn't wear my glasses all the time, or they were all bent and twisted. My parents said I should be wearing my glasses more because I was starting to look like I was off in a daze.

They were right. Without the glasses, I would get dizzy trying to see things. But I got so sick of the bullies snatching my glasses, that one day after I got a stronger pair than ever before, I took off my glasses and smashed them by myself yelling loud how they have no power over me anymore.

I didn't wear glasses for almost a couple years after that. If my parents got me new glasses, I would not wear them because I wanted my eyes to correct by not wearing the glasses. But I would get sick often, dizzy sickness, nausea, and headaches. I tried to sneak and get contacts but the doctors said my eyes were too dry for contacts.

My friends let me copy their notes in class because they understood how bad my eyes were. I failed a couple grades because I just pretended to be lazy and not do the work rather than tell anyone just how bad my eyes had gotten and I just couldn't see well enough to do it.

After I dropped out of high school, eventually, I started to wear glasses again. My eyes had gotten pretty bad during those years, but I was way too afraid to wear the glasses. When I started wearing glasses again, my prescription was -5. That's how bad I had let my eyes get rather than let the bullies snatch my glasses again. I couldn't see tv, movies, baseball games, or anything well enough to always know what was going on.

I have worn glasses all the time since then, and my eyes leveled off around -. There's no way I can see well enough to go on extended periods without glasses, but I still harbor fears about wearing them when I am on dates or trying to impress someone. Inside all that pressure made me feel like I have no right to wear glasses, I had to let society dictate it to me.

Soundmanpt 10 Jul 2013, 15:06

post deleted - orphaned due to another deletion

Erik 10 Jul 2013, 12:29

I remember my senior picture many years ago. No glasses. The senior pictures were formal photographs and we were advised in advance that no glasses or frames with no lenses would be best. The photographer even had empty frames to use. My -4.50's can be seen in a couple of the casual photos in the yearbook. The photos of the kids in the younger grades were just the school ID photos. Some great vintage glasses shots there.

 07 Jul 2013, 07:58

post deleted - inappropriate

Soundmanpt 06 Jul 2013, 14:31

Thanks Andrew!

Andrew 06 Jul 2013, 14:25

I remember a couple of girls who had glasses when I was at primary school; I have no idea at all whether they were short- or long-sighted, but I guess that's probably where my interest started.

Happy Birthday, soundmanpt!

Soundmanpt 06 Jul 2013, 12:30

SC

Yep! Very true. The numbers you mentioned i am sure would be about the same in that same year at most schools. Funny but your right about looking at the year books. Even some of the girls that actually did wear their glasses pretty much full time took them off for their senior picture. You were more likely to see a few more in candid shots like at sporting events where they might sometimes actually wear them so they could make out what was happening on the field.

I bet one of the reasons most didn't have their glasses on for their senior pictures was because of glare. For me anyway it was long before AR coatings were invented. So the person taking the pictures probably always suggested that they take off their glasses.

And the need to drive usually finally at least made some get glasses and actually wear them at times.

Soundmanpt 06 Jul 2013, 12:18

Clare

Thank you!

You were right I just miss read it. That does make a difference since some kids those ages are fine with glasses and others are reluctant to wear them.

I would bet that mom or dad called the teacher because the kid was refusing to wear glasses at home as well? If that was the case then it was probably a good idea to force the kid into wearing them since it would have an effect on how well they would do in class if they couldn't see the board.

Really I don't know if you had been the one that was forced to wear glasses when you were say 10 if that would have made you more accepting of your glasses or not? I think by the time you had got to high school you would by then be interested in boys and them in you so hard to say you would have been confident enough to still wear glasses during those years. Many kid start out with glasses but as soon as they are old enough they switch to contacts, sometimes for many years, and sometimes only a few years before they find contacts a pain to take care of.

SC 06 Jul 2013, 12:13

I was always a big fan of GWG at school and was sure to keep count of how many there were. We had 180 girls in the year and I reckon that around 50 had glasses - that doesn't mean they wore them (CL were not allowed when I left in '83). My own form/tutor was exceptional with 11 out of 18 (1 more by 20yo). You'd probably only see at most 4 in a photo, so a photo is definitely an under estimate. 2 girls never wore and had to copy from friends - both gave in at 17/18 so they could drive. 1 girl didn't seem to need them but just liked them.

3 started in infancy, another 3 around 10/11 and the other 5 around 14-16yo.

I didn't count the boys but I think there was only 1 in the form and he faked his eye test to make sure he got them but there was a more obvious RX by the time he was 18

Clare 06 Jul 2013, 01:51

Happy birthday Soundmanpt!

Actually I meant between the ages of 9-12, rather than school years.

Soundmanpt 05 Jul 2013, 18:14

Stingray

Great question by the way. I may have to do the same thing just to see, but I well remember that I was only interested in dating the girls that wore glasses and it seemed hardly any of them did. I would bet many needed them but never bothered getting their eyes tested just because they didn't want them. By the way I will be 65 tomorrow so that was a long time ago for me.

I would bet that today the number is more around 65% - 75% that wear glasses or contacts. And it could be another 5% or more need glasses but haven't had an eye test for several years.

One girl that I remember very well because she was the captain of the cheerleaders and a prom queen. Very pretty girl and a couple of years after she graduated she got on the same bus as me and she was wearing glasses, I couldn't help but ask her when she got glasses and she told me she had them for several months and that working at a desk with very dim lighting had ruined her eyes. She still looked amazing though.

Stingray 05 Jul 2013, 17:36

When I graduated high school in 1965, there were 1050 in my graduating class. I recently rediscovered my yearbook and counted those I recall who wore glasses part time as well as those who wore them in their senior school year photo.

Well it turns out around 10% wore glasses which translates to a little over one hundred senior students.

I would think that the total today and in years to come will be a much higher percentage. What do you think?

Soundmanpt 05 Jul 2013, 17:22

Clare

Not sure what kind of effect it may have had on you if that had been you? Grades 9 - 12 are high school years here in the states and means you would be somewhere between 14 and 18 years old. For a young girl beginning to be noticed by boys for the first time it could be a big blow to your self confidence if you were thrown into wearing glasses on a full time basis. For you it was bad enough to be prescribed glasses that you only needed mainly for driving when you were several years older than that.

Your right, in the years you and I have been in here and chatting back and forth you seemed pretty determined that you weren't going to wear glasses in public and you did quite well at keeping from wearing them. But since your eyes started to not be able to tolerate contacts nearly as well as they used to you bravely have allowed yourself to be seen wearing glasses much more often. As you say something you never thought you would be able to do. I think your gaining more and more self confidence with each day that you wear glasses. So if the time comes and the eyes just can't tolerate contacts any longer I think you will be fine wearing glasses full time. The other thing that may be lurking around the corner as others have suggested is when reading becomes harder for you even with your contacts or glasses. As you know they do make contacts as bifocals but some people like them and others hate them. I do know they do tend to rotate around in your eye to where sometimes when the contact gets out of place on your eye your vision may become blurry or out of focus.

Clare 05 Jul 2013, 16:42

Soundmanpt - in a funny way I suppose it would have helped because I'd have got used to glasses early on. That it made an impression on someone so young though emphasises how brutal it was.

My experiences over the past year have helped me accept the inevitable and I probably wear glasses now about 50% of the time which, before, I would have thought could never happen. I still feel more attractive with contacts for social situations but at work find it less of an issue. The next challenge is to become totally confident no matter what the situation!

Melyssa 05 Jul 2013, 09:30

When I was in school way back in the last century (LOL), I do not recall anyone ever getting his or her first pair of glasses during the school year, except for the Glasses Girl herself who showed up with them following spring break in third grade. I and others got new glasses at various times during the school year, but I was the only one to begin wearing glasses then, even part-time as it were.

Soundmanpt 04 Jul 2013, 17:50

Clare

Yeah that is not the way you want to be outted that you need glasses. It may have worked but it might have been very painful to the wearer.

Have you ever given any thought how you would have felt if that had been you? Do you think maybe being younger you might have accepted it better rather than finding out years later that you needed glasses?

Of course if the student really needed the glasses to be able to see the board and was refusing to wear them after mom and dad had got their glasses, then it may have been a good thing or else the students grades were likely to down because of their eyesight.

Clare 04 Jul 2013, 14:28

I remember being in the primary school (9-12 years) when a teacher announced to the class that someone had to wear glasses. Not sure if that was motivated by her parents telling the teachers that she should wear them or a teacher's intention to make sure that the child could see but, looking back, it seems quite harsh and the child must have felt very self-conscious. It did the trick though, I remember her as someone who always wore glasses.

Aubrac 04 Jul 2013, 05:22

When I was 15 (a lonngg time ago) I remember seeing some glasses a kid had left behind on the teachers desk. I tried them on and was amazed at how I could see individual bricks on the building opposite and how white and sharp everything was, but still didn't get glasses for another year or so.

I also remember a friend whose mum was always trying to get him to wear his glasses as he squinted at everything and couldn't see the board. Saw him in later years and he was about -4 so maybe around -3 at school. Funny thing was his brother at a year older appeared one day wearing maybe +4 glasses as I remember how enormous his eyes looked behind the lenses - once he had them he always wore glasses.

 03 Jul 2013, 23:41

Cactus jack that same idiot every now and then posts the same comment because he/she is too dumb to come up with something new.

For me now it has become no more than a joke when I see the same thing pop up now.

I guess I will use the same name as this wonderful person uses all the time too.

John S 03 Jul 2013, 17:32

Back to the sad, little, immature cutesy terms again. Can we use adult terms once in awhile?

astigmaphile 03 Jul 2013, 17:19

I don't remember anyone in grade school or later getting picked on for wearing glasses. I have had an obsession about glasses since I was in grade school, so I think that I would remember.

I first got glasses in junior high school and no one ever said a thing.

Cactus Jack 03 Jul 2013, 17:14

Anon,

A plussie is a person who is hyperopic and wears plus glasses. Nothing other than that is meant by the term.

C.

Crystal Veil 03 Jul 2013, 17:10

Guest,

there was no bullying about glasses in my school, back in the late 1950's in Amsterdam.

 03 Jul 2013, 14:58

WTF is a plussie?

JES 01 Jul 2013, 21:19

Hi Guest!

My memory of girls and glasses in elementary school is that the gwg's got quite a bit of attention. First, when appearing bespectacled, in the classroom, everyone was steering at the new glasses wearer. Then, in at least one occasion, the teacher went '- Oh, Look at Cxxxxx!, she's got glasses!

Maybe it is because of this that I got hooked on glasses. One seemed to get a lot of awe and attention. I later got to try one of them girls minus glasses, and WOW! it was magic!

I did never, however, quite get that feel for plussies. It was the shape of the concave, minifying lens with power rings that gave me kicks.

I lusted for a pair of glasses myself, but had perfect vision until 9th grade.

I cannot remember anyone being bullied because of their glasses. And that's the way it should be, of course..

Guest 26 Jun 2013, 09:56

A woman recently talked to me about her glasses. She ist about -8 now and started wearing glasses in kindergarten. She remembered how she hated her glasses becouse she kept losing or breaking them when she played or had fights. At times, she said she was relegated to wearing ugly NHS-glasses after having broken two frames within a term. She also complained of her glasses sometimes being taken away by bullies.

It kind of surprised me as I can't remember any incidents of bullying of that kind in my school. We had bullies, of course, but it never was directed specifically against glasses.

How are your memories in that respect?

Soundmanpt 20 Aug 2012, 12:24

Juicebox

Your glasses history is not much different than many others. It is interesting how many discovered they needed glasses much the same way as you did. Only you said you already knew your vision wasn't perfect even before you ever tried anyone's glasses on, and trying them on only confirmed what you already knew. At this point is where there may be differences in how some would handle their findings. Some would be fine with the idea of needing glasses and would soon get an exam and their own glasses and then others would be more like you and still try to avoid needing them.

The thing I am surprised at is how weak your first glasses were only because you seemed to need more correction than that. Your first glasses were about the weakest that a doctor will prescribe. But they must have been of some help to you as you were able to go several more years before getting your next prescription which is much more necessary now. I'm sure it much harder now to go without them than it was with your first glasses. Glad to hear your starting to get more comfortable both with wearing them as well as wearing them in front of people.

Juicebox 20 Aug 2012, 11:53

Thought I'd get this thread going again and tell my story...

When I was at school... I knew my eyesight wasn't perfect. A few of my friends in my classes had glasses. People would always ask to try on other peoples glasses, on more than one occasion though people would ask me to try theirs on, as I was the only one in the group that hadn't. The first time this happened I was shocked at how much more I could see. Any time after that I was always scared because I knew I needed them and worried that other people would find that out somehow. I was that 'person' that most of you talk about, you know the one that doesn't comment on how strong they are because they knew they helped?

Anyway, I managed throughout school mainly because it was a small one with small classrooms etc. I didn't get glasses til I went to uni 2 years ago and got a small prescription of -0.5 in each eye with the smallest amount of astigmatism. They helped in lectures but that's pretty much all I used them for. A few months ago I got another eye test even though they suggested getting one in 2 years as my glasses didn't really do anything for me anymore. In second year we only had our lectures in the small cinema as you go from having lectures with the entire department, to those just on your course, and I only realised how much worse my eyes had got when I had a lecture in one of the big lecture halls randomly. I came out with an rx of -1.75 and thats my story :)

Astra 28 May 2012, 20:33

About concave shape.

I have once observed G (abbreviation just for the purpose here) for some time. I have described about G before ... but I have not told about this observation of concave shape.

There were initially 4 people at a desk. with 1 being irrelevant here. leaving the desk quickly. The other 1 look at G and me , then said G loved the tomboy (me). Note, the 4 people was supposed to be on the same desk.

I have no idea what G may have felt. Given she heard those words she may have remember this incidence, but as a different version. which she did not likely to realize what exactly I was distracted to. I try to disguise as though I was focusing on the task. G did not realize anything strange at me, at this moment.

Months later, I have heard about G said to someone else , that I like to avoid her. I did pretend to avoid her . Now, If I hazard a guess, G have interpret I was distracted by s either her face, her glasses. but did not realize my hidden interest about lenses.

Now, back to when we had the task. G told me to ignore those 2 people, continue the task. Still, G did not realize anything strange. But, after some time, as the task proceeds, G discovered I looked strange. why for several time she looked upward from the desk, I seem to focus at her instead of the task ?

It was because I tried to observe her eyes focusing on the lenses.

Astra 28 May 2012, 19:32

I felt it was so stimulating to look at the concave shape when observing the lenses from directly above or some angles above. I was not sure the reason, but I liked this shape badly.

Astra 28 May 2012, 19:27

Especially when I saw the lenses appears noticeably thicker on the side. This would arouse my curiosity.

Astra 28 May 2012, 19:22

Back then I felt curious when I notice some children changes to full-time.

Astra 28 May 2012, 19:15

Most of such children was wearing part-time with lenses that are at least -2.0 , otherwise they would be highly uncomfortable. The user may notice the rx is too weak. But some of such user would deny this.

Then, when they updated the rx, they would likely show up with some visibly thicker lenses than before.

As far as I recall, most of such children themselves would prefer having the new rx correction full-time. This includes some children that would shift to contact lenses. Most of the reason for contact lenses at such age, was that they dislike the appearance or weight of glasses, but they prefer to have the rx filled in. If they use glasses, they are most likely reluctant to continue "part-time" when having such rx filled in. The reason was that the child realized the problem.

Except a few excessive "bookworm" that lacks social life , I haven't notice anyone that insist to go "part-time" when their lenses reached -6.0 etc . here I don't mean their actual rx.

Astra 28 May 2012, 18:40

Of course, glasses have been prescribed to children.

It was usual for children to start wearing glasses "part-time" .

But, some children may continue to be wearing part-time for some years. The rx can be starting from -1.0, -1.5, -2.0 , -2.5 ...

some, continue to go part-time at -3.0, -3.5 ...

I can still remember some, changes to full-time at -4.0 or above.

Note, their previous rx can be much lower, but their actual rx was already beyond -4.0 or -4.5 or -5.0 etc ...

Astra 28 May 2012, 18:27

Back in school days I don't have much experience about rx.

Now in retrospect...

Usually most people would need glasses when they reach rx such as -1.0 , -1.5 , -2.0 , etc.

On rare cases it can be -2.5, -3.0, -3.5 as far as I have heard of. My experience was, mostly when they are of older age. age 15 or above.

The reason was that , there was no or very little interaction between teachers and students. Or even if there are, they would often be in a small group.

In contrast, at lower age the teachers are often trained to notice potential eye problems of children.

uhacked 09 Mar 2012, 16:29

http://i.imgur.com/PnLzw.jpg today was reading day and she sat in front of me so i got a real good view of her side. i was staring at her bare eyes, view of her lens... she doesn't have much peripheral vision so she can't see me staring, right? just great. but apparently I stared so hard, after class she was telling her friends how I was "staring her down". My ears were ringing from staring so hard as well lol.

Revolver 07 Mar 2012, 08:59

Yes, the more recent trend towards eyewear being a fashion accessory has increased the number of wearers. And, the very young generation is wearing plano eyewear just for fun.

Getting back to the name of this thread, it's difficult to guess the age demographics of our posters, but it's probably safe to say we span quite a few generations. And over those generations there have been many changes, both in the styles but in attitudes. Just for fun, go to Bobby's site and re-read Logan's Obsession, in Part 1 Dieter observes that his youth was an exciting time for eyewear. I was there, and it was, while they seem outdated now there was a tremendous variety of female styles albeit in the small oval cateye shapes. Males were a little blah.

How about this: let's start posting stories about when we were in school with regard to the types of frames that were prevalent and the stories of those who wore them. In the 50's and 60's contacts weren't a viable option so nearly everyone who needed a correction wore glasses. Or went without and struggled.

Earlier I posted about the blonde girl who put on her first pair at school at the start of the day and smiled, and they were black cateyes. As fate would have it, I bumped into her again in the early 90's at a social occasion, and she was still wearing glasses, this particular pair were the large rimless faceted ones in light fashion tint, probably a -3.00 or maybe as high as a -4.00, hard to tell in large CR-39 lens. The important thing is she could've been wearing contacts by then but still stuck with her glasses.

Clare 06 Mar 2012, 14:16

Have to comment on Revolver's post and thinking that the interesting eyewear available in the last few years might tempt contacts wearers back to specs! Amongst my friends a number of us a hardcore contacts wearers never seen out with glasses. While I'm sure we all look just as lovely with glasses and not contacts (although there's one friend that I've never seen with glasses, ever, the others I have on rare occasions),none of us I can say with certainty would consider it unless we had a serious eye infection or some other reason that we were forbidden to wear glasses. That's a sad fact but it just goes to prove that some people are really so uncomfortable wearing glasses that they would almost go to any lengths to avoid it.

Brian 06 Mar 2012, 12:48

I think one of the biggest reasons behind more people in their 20s wearing glasses is the office environment - they spend 8 hours a day staring at a screen.

Where I work, there are 5 in my department. Me & 1 other wear glasses all the time, 1 wears contacts & 2 wear glasses when on the computer.

However, I was in a meeting with one the guy's who needs glasses for computer work the other day. We were reading a piece of paper, after a couple of seconds he stopped and said "Sorry, I need to get my glasses". He's only in his mid 30s - me thinks he'll be badly hyperopic if not in bifocals in 10 years.

Revolver 06 Mar 2012, 08:38

No question that myopia is on the increase, and this is based on some "official" data. Have read some recent literature that flatly states, according to ECP's surveyed across the country, that in the U.S. at least there has been a whopping 25% increase in myopia in the last 30 years. And very little doubt in my mind that since the advent of comfortable and relatively inexpensive soft contacts, over the last 20 years many first time myopes are going directly to contacts, mainly for vanity reasons, as they are mostly female. But perhaps the big boom in eyewear as a fashion statement will help to reverse the contact lens trend. Or maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

Had to chuckle at the comment about contact wearers having to wear glasses for a day so we could see the number of those needing corrections. I recently wrote a story and sent it to Bobby and am awaiting its publication that speaks to that very same topic.

Soundmanpt 05 Mar 2012, 13:31

John S.

I read somewhere and actually the number is even slightly higher than that. Also interesting that the percentage is even higher for women wearing correction. I agree it would be very interesting if for one day everyone had to not wear their contacts but glasses instead to see how many really need correction.

John S 05 Mar 2012, 11:43

More thoughts...

Contacts back then were not prevalent. I wonder what the percentage of people under 35 that use correction, are using contacts.

Lasik, and other forms of surgery also add into the equation now.

These other options prevent us from seeing the actual population that is wearing correction.

If you took surgery and contacts away, I'm think in U.S. 60%-70% under 35 would be wearing glasses. 40 years ago maybe 30%, if that. The optical business is having a boom.

John S 05 Mar 2012, 11:16

Revolver,

There was an increase, but it seemed like most of them appeared in glasses in early high school.

Just by being out and about, the amount of kids now that wear glasses has skyrocketed compared to when I was in school. Most myopic, but I think there is an increase in hyperopia also to some degree. Unless hyperopia gets picked up more during screening now.

30 years ago, I hardly ever saw someone in their 20s become myopic, now it is more common place than not.

It is my opinion that in some cases, when the mother does close work and becomes myopic, that is passed down through generations like a pyramid.

Studies have been done is Alaska, that show kids that were not schooled have a much lower degree of myopia. That kind of tells the story right there. Since Alaska has 6 months of day and night, that blows away any theory about being exposed to poorly lit areas.

What are your ideas?

Revolver 05 Mar 2012, 09:11

Nice story from John S., as your school years wore on did a lot more kids get glasses? By our Jr. & Sr. year pretty much everyone who was going to have glasses had them. Hooked, it was a unique experience, but only made possible because it was a small school and they could do it. Here's another story from the same situation.

In the high school section, there was a large study hall at the end of the building where the homerooms/classrooms were, and we would gather at the back of the hall outside the rooms waiting for the bell to ring to start the day. I was usually about the last one there, so was standing at the edge with my back to the hallway and heard footsteps. Turned around, and a nice blue eyed blonde was joining us. She was a freshman, rode the schoolbus from the country and didn't know her very well but had never seen her in glasses, she was holding her books in her arms in front of her and a pair of black glasses in her hands. She stood beside me, said hi, and then squinted toward the front of the study hall. She put on the shiny new glasses and a big smile spread across her face, she looked all around and back down the hall, and didn't even pull them down to compare how things were without them.

Guess the were around a -2.00, never saw her without them again, but never got to know her well enough to ask her about them.

Lots more stories as the result of that all-school exam, and a few more, will post them if other people start posting their experiences also.

hooked 05 Mar 2012, 01:38

@Revolver

Nice school experience you took part.

John S 04 Mar 2012, 19:01

I forgot to put my name in the last post.

 04 Mar 2012, 18:57

Revolver,

I guess my story might be related to yours.

At 13 I noticed that I had to concentrate to read. I could consciously control my accommodation. I did not know if that was a normal thing or not. I had not said anything to my parents about my vision problem. Since I was 14, I had secretly been wearing a pair of my Dad's glasses at night while reading. I had figured out the magnification of the lenses prevented my vision from being fuzzy. My eyes felt good when I was wearing them. They were bifocals. My distance and reading using the glasses both seemed great. When I took them off, I lost any accommodation for a minute or two. It felt really strange.

I mentioned it to a friend of mine worked at a chain optical shop. When I was 17 (1972), I went over to where my friend worked and got an exam. There was an old doctor there, maybe in his 60s (old to me as a teenager). I had never had an exam before.

Went through distance portion of the exam. I don't remember what happened during the near exam. He said not to strain to see it. The doctor added plus until the distance chart got larger and clear, then it got fuzzy. He selected lenses until it was perfect. Then the doctor told me I needed a +1.00 for distance. I asked about my reading problem. That is why I came in. He said, that is as good as it as it was going to get. I told him I had tried my Dad's glasses, and I could read fine using them. His answer was, I should not use his glasses. At that point, I knew I was not going to get anywhere with this guy, he was not going to budge. At least I had learned how a refraction worked. It was not a complete waste of time. I had found my Dad's rx card, it said +1.00, add +1.50. I knew I needed that extra for plus for reading. My friend told me that sometimes the old doctor was really set in his ways. I really wanted to get the right glasses, and could not them. Other kids did not want them, and got them anyway. I could not understand why they got glasses that worked, and I could not. They would put tape on them to hold them together, and one day come in with nice new frames and stronger lenses. I could not get the ones that were strong enough for me.

My friend made up the glasses for me, and I talked him into making them up with +1.25 lenses. I figured I would try them out. I think I already knew that they would not work for reading.

A few months later, I booked another exam at a different chain. I would suspect this doctor was around 30. He asked if I wore glasses, I said no. I should have showed up my +1.25 glasses for reading and told him that they were old and did not work anymore, or came in with my Dad's bifocals on. I was afraid to do that. I told him the same thing, I had to strain to read.

Went through the same routine until it came to checking my close vision. He put up a fused cross cylinder chart. This was something all new to me. Knowing the way the other doctor refused to give me a reading add, I was dead set to figure out how to cheat, to make sure I got a reading rx this time. I had no clue how this chart worked, so I told the truth. He increased the add until the vertical lines became darker. At the time, I had no idea what he was doing with those strange vertical and horizontal lines. At the end of the exam, he told me I needed bifocals. He prescribed +1.00, add +1.50 for both eyes. My friend made them for me, it seemed like they were good for about 20 inches.

I found out later, my Dad's glasses were different rxs. One pair was for a closer reading distance. He needed that because he was a machinist. I suspect the other were a +2.00 or +2.50 add. I don't know which ones I had been using.

When I went back to him for a checkup, I asked him to increase the add to make electronic work easier. He made it a +2.00. I think that was closer to 16".

This is more about progression, but I will finish the story.

Even though I only wore them sometimes (between needing plus glasses, and they were bifocals), certainly not glasses you want to be seen in when you are 20 years old. I wore them mostly in private. I was definitely getting used to that sweet add, I craved it. My eyes felt so relaxed. About 5 years later, I asked him to bump it again. He was not giving in to increasing it this time.

A few more checkups has passed, and the usual doctor did not do the exam. I guess I was about 30. An older doctor in the same office examined me. I told him I wanted a stronger add, and that the other doctor would not increase it. He said he would give me an increase because of my close work. The rx was +1.25 -50, +1.25, add +3.00. They were no good for reading a newspaper, but they were great for close, detailed work.

Shortly after that I got a set of progressives. I wore them almost full time at work. 25 years later, progressives are glued to my face with a +3.50 add.

Revolver 04 Mar 2012, 09:27

That worked, thanks John S. Never thought of going to the index itself. And since this is now the proper thread, here's the farsighted one alluded to on the other thread.

Our younger life was rather idyllic, a small town where for us kids social life centered around the small park in the town square. Was sitting on a bench when a girl came up and sat by me, had known her since we were babies, this was in about 6th or 7th grade. She began pouring her emotions out, she got her eyes tested and found out she had to wear glasses, in her words "I sat in that big chair and cried when the doctor told me". Of course tried to comfort her, saying how nice she'd look etc. and wanted to see her in them. Sure enough, a couple weeks later she showed up wearing the oval frames of the day, brown plastic on top and gold metal on the bottom, in about a +.75. Complimented her on how good they looked, she said she'd only wear them while reading, and then said something that seemed strange to me at the time. "Thanks, but I should really wear that old pink pair of my mother's." I asked her if it was because the pink plastic looked better on her, she said "well yes, that too, but I can see so much better out of them than these". Now, I'd seen her mother who was around 40 and was a fairly high hyperope, at least a +4.00 which is why it seemed strange.

Fast forward a couple years, our freshman (9th grade) year of high school, she showed up first day wearing, you guessed it, around +4.00 new glasses. She never took those off, her eyes are greatly magnified in all the yearbook photos, now suspect that she was truly a latent hyperope and the doctor was starting her low for her to get used to the blur at distance.

Revolver 04 Mar 2012, 09:01

O.K., test.

Astra 04 Jul 2011, 04:11

Aubrac,

correct.

In my case the response of prism lenses is not good. blurred image persist as my muscles can't respond .

Aubrac 04 Jul 2011, 03:58

Baker

It is not unusual for people with convergence problems to wear an eye patch although it it more with presbyopia than myopia.

Sometimes when my wife is very tired and needs to read she wears a patch to avoid double vision.

Astra 03 Jul 2011, 17:21

Now, I am 6 year after high school graduation.

Yesterday , I have a thought about that because,

I simply have a walk without glasses on the yard around the building I live in.

Then, I come across an unknown person walking by, possibly a lady,

I can't recognize the face because I was without glasses and myopic, but I think of a possibility of my former classmate that lives nearby, because she lives in that block.

I'm not sure who that person is, actually.

------------------------------

Around 7-8 years ago, when we were 14-15 year old.

I had a goal, to be the best achiever in various school competitions in math , also , I consistently tried to deviate myself, to be aloof towards people with my same age . I had no interest to be trans-sexual, but I had try to be masculine in my appearance, as a female.

I have the haircut short , even if my parents against it slightly. I consider myself homosexual, attracted towards females. Also I was very intorverted, and overly proud of that during that time. I didn't see the need of serious co-operation, team work. I always tried to maximize my capacity alone, possibly with expert trainers.

But one thing, I have always been near-sighted, not only my mind, but in my eyes.

I Can't remember ever having very good vision without glasses before, but I tried to manage without glasses . I never worn glasses to high school.

so gradually I develop some interest about fellow gwg, wanted to exchange glasses with them, but too shy about that because I was too introverted.

At many occasions, the girls were very welcoming to me , but I was too determined to neglect them, as I would like to be a high-achiever, not an average person on earth. I only admired various scientists and mathematicians.

That was detrimental, consider that, I didn't know the value of team work, didn't know the value of co-operation , didn't know the value of responsibility , at age 13-20 , selfish and determined, only know about the competitions, and win in the competitions, anything else were considered useless to me, including friends, my appearance, arts, etc.

(To be continued)

Astra 28 Feb 2011, 02:03

baker,

I suffer from convergence insufficiency.

i.e. I can't fuse the image from two eyes to form one image.

and unfortunately, the result of trial prism lenses is not satisfactory. I have more difficulty to read with the trial prism lenses. Therefore the eye doc says I need eye patches.

That's why I can be reluctant at reading books when I was younger.

baker 26 Feb 2011, 21:23

Astra,

I don't understand. Would you care to explain why do you need eye patches to read?

Astra 25 Feb 2011, 22:26

baker,

My grade school age.

I was normally not attentive.

I do homework in class, so that I able to increase time available for revision etc.

Not attentive habit continue to undergrad, postgrad.

Currently at postgrad, I have to wear eye patches to read.

baker 25 Feb 2011, 17:53

well I'm still in school but anyway....

I always sit in the back of the classroom. I never thought about it but now I'm thinking it's a bit odd. I'm a super good student who is always attentive and participating, so it's not like I'm avoiding the teacher. I'm a bit myopic (-3, -2.5)I did this for the four years I refused to wear glasses in elementary/middle school and still do now that I wear contacts.

In 6th or 7th grade I made a great friend copying notes, but other than that I'd never found any issues. As I said before, I don't look at the board during class nor do I find any reason to (except now for Calculus).

I was having difficulty maintaining eye contact in a play one year so I decided to practice in class by keeping eye contact with my teachers. Teachers kept asking me if I was okay and if I understood what was going on. They were probably confused as to why I was looking up in class!

SimonC 25 Feb 2011, 17:30

I have to agree that I love reading the posts on this thread.

I have one particularly great memory from my school age days although not at school at the time. It was my first sexual experience and with a glasses wearing woman, a customer on my paper round.

Have never told anyone of that before so will have to write it having plucked up the courage to now mention it.

ksnl 25 Feb 2011, 13:22

I think this has become my favourite thread on this site! So many stories, where to start?

When I was a kid I was told about my dad when he was at school: He was never able to see the board and just assumed everyone else saw the way he did (or perhaps it was just an act), he eventually got glasses when he was 16 (if I remember correctly) and was amazed at what he could see. I don't know how he coped without glasses, being raised on a farm.

I always remember his glasses being quite thick, I think he even water-skied in glasses.

When he was in his 30s he got Lasik... ugh. He's now wearing glasses again, for reading, being older.

I think he had/has astigmatism (I have only recently heard about astigmatism)... many eye conditions run in that side of my family, including Keratoconus.

When I was a little kid I think my parents were concerned that I would inherit his poor eyesight. They would ask me if I could see certain things and make me try on my dad's glasses to see if I was able to see with them on... to me it looked like there was a large hollow in the ground that I was about to fall into.

My parents got my eyes tested when I was about 5 (I was praying that I wouldn't have to get glasses) and my eyesight was fine... they were told that I would probably be wearing glasses before the end of primary school which never happened. My mom always told me I would, probably be wearing glasses before her, which never happened. I have a feeling that my mom shares the same fascination with glasses as I do, I have heard her ask quite a few people about their eyesight and Rx.

When I was about 8 my dad started working for my (much older) cousin who is an optometrist. When I was about 9, my dad being a businessman decided to start his own lens crafting business where optometrists send in frames and he (with his machinery) would cut and insert the lenses into the frames. I was highly fascinated with the lens cutting machinery, etc. He had a huge shelf with all the different strength lenses, he would show me the really thick ones... I think it went up to -10 or -15 then they would make special orders for anything stronger than that.

When I was about 10 my dad had now opened an optometrist as well. My parents sent me to get my eyes tested again. Once again I was praying that I would not have to get glasses. The guy tested my eyes with some machine that I looked into and he asked me questions about what I could see, lots of bright lights, etc. Afterwards he asked me if I got headaches and I said no which was a HUGE LIE - I would experience constant headaches - I don't know if I would have landed up with glasses if I had said yes but he decided I didn't need to get glasses... I have a feeling that I have some astigmatism which he had probably picked up (knowing what I know now). I know that there was a difference in rx between my two eyes and this used to really irritate me for several years afterwards. Later on I felt that my eyes had improved because it didn't annoy me as much or maybe I just got used to it.

The last time I got my eyes checked was in 10th grade (once again on one of those machines you look into) and I think I remember my eyesight being RE -0.50 LE -0.75 and I think I remember there being some other numbers on there which I assume were for astigmatism. I kept that piece of paper and can't for the life of me remember where I put it. Since then I finished high school, went to university and am currently working. I have no idea what my rx is now but I find when I'm doing paperwork and working on the computer at my work my eyes get blurry, I feel eye strain and I get headaches. I have read up about astigmatism and I'm guessing that's it.

Sorry about being so long winded and going a bit off the topic... didn't really know where else to put all this.

Laura 25 Feb 2011, 08:18

And.

Sport and stuff was not too much of a problem really. I played in goal at hockey, so my glasses didn't get knocked off and for tennis and cross country I was fine. Swimming is a problem now, cos I can't really make out the edge of the pool without glasses, so I tend to keep them on, but then they usually get splashed. So I can't really win. LOL

Laura 25 Feb 2011, 08:15

And.

Well not at first. My first rx was R-1.75 and L-1.50 so I only wore glasses for the blackboard and stuff like TV at home. Then I went up to R-2.25 and L-2.00 which was better, then by 9 I went to R-2.75 and L-2.50. After that I started keeping my glasses on at school all the time and when I was out shopping with Mum and stuff. By 10 I'd gone up to R -3.50 and L-3.00 so my optician advised Mum I should go full-time. To be honest I was glad, cos I hated not seeing stuff clearly. I'm R-10.00 and L-9.25 now so I'm pretty dependent on glasses or contacts as you can imagine.

And 25 Feb 2011, 05:05

Laura, did you wear full-time at school and did wearing glasses make it difficult for things like p.e. and swimming etc

Laura 25 Feb 2011, 03:58

I remember after I first needed glasses for school at 7, going for my annual check-ups and before the optician came into the room, turning round and looking at the letter chart and trying to remember the smallest lines at the bottom, becuase I felt embarrassed when I couldn't see them. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was making it worse for myself if the optician didn't prescribe me strong enough lenses!I just wonered if any other kids have done this.

Astra 29 Jan 2011, 16:50

Andrew,

Normally yes, but not when the script is too small for certain distance.

It varies for different people.

Andrew 29 Jan 2011, 14:31

The key here is visual acuity, corrected or otherwise. True, without the correct prescription, we myopes have no chance of seeing clearly at any distance, but some of us can be corrected to 20/15 (or better), which should make seeing from the back row possible, if not exactly comfortable.

Melyssa 29 Jan 2011, 10:20

Having graduated from small colleges, the vast majority of classrooms had no more than 6 rows, so I could see all right from the last row if I needed to sit there. Even the only "lecture hall" was 6 rows deep, but very steep. I generally sat in the middle rows, as that was the best view for me.

Throughout my time there I wore drop-temples, cat's-eyes, plus my oversized sky-blue top-temple frames. They obviously made me quite intelligent. :)

Astra 29 Jan 2011, 02:20

Like lenses,

yes me too.

I never like sitting in the far back ...

but in the far back it's easier to fall asleep.

Like lenses 29 Jan 2011, 01:53

Melyssa

I have to sit in the front row even with my -5.00 glasses on. Two or three rows back everything is too small. Back row ,no way!

Astra 29 Jan 2011, 00:35

Melyssa,

Oh yes.

Would be good to humiliate a glasses-wearing ex-magna cum laude,

simply by restricting her into the far back of a lecture hall.

In 1 lecture a week, they still have a practice. They call it Seminars.

the front rows are RESERVED and there's a paper showing that on each row. Those seats are reserved for invited speakers.

And all the Postgraduate students must sit at the back.

There must be mostly ex-magna cum laude among those postgraduate students.

Melyssa 28 Jan 2011, 13:53

Anic,

That pair you showed the link to earlier, I have that style with a white vertical stripe, a black diagonal one, and what's called "black crystal" for the rest of the frame. It's a Kenmark frame called Judy.

Melyssa 28 Jan 2011, 12:32

I can't sit in the back of the room with a dunce cap on, for 3 reasons:

A. I'm a two-time, two-time Magna Cum Laude collitch gradient.

Second. No hat would fit my size-13 head (according to my husband's theoretical measurement).

3. I might not be able to see the blackboard from back there, no matter which pretty pair of glasses I'd be wearing.

anic 28 Jan 2011, 10:12

Sorry Julian, we got carried away with ourselves and forgot to obey the strict rules!

The three of us - Melyssa, Soundman and I - will sit at the back of the classroom, have you got the dunce's hats?

Soundmanpt 28 Jan 2011, 09:58

Sorry! We did kinda wonder off topic pretty far.

Laura 28 Jan 2011, 09:38

Julian,

Yeah me too. My when I was at school post is lower down. I wore contacts most of the time from 15 until I left.

Julian 28 Jan 2011, 05:00

Can't help wondering what these recent posts have to do with the general subject of this topic...

anic 28 Jan 2011, 03:49

Hey Melyssa, found some rather large frames on eBay that made me think of you! Big, vintage frames, with drop temple arms, stunning, just need a prescription filling. They've only got a £2.00 starting price as well! I had contemplated them for a few seconds, just as home wear as I definitely couldn't get away with wearing these out and about, but knowing your love of large frames thought you might like to view them!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-SILHOUETTE-DROP-ARM-GLASSES-70s-LENS-2-5-X-2-2-/360339486998?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_VisionGlasses_Lenses_SM&hash;=item53e5e83916

Soundman - thanks for the post, I am shocked by you visiting the XXX section - you naughty boy, you must be disciplined!!

The first pair of glasses you posted from Zenni are an interesting proposition, I've seen a few ladies sporting these rather bold, what I would call "back to school" frames, but they're not really ones I would wear. The other Zenni ones don't do anything for me either. I've never really been into Ray Bans, I know they've had a revival, but they remind me of much older people (even though trendy young things wear them now). Thanks for thinking of me though.

Soundmanpt 27 Jan 2011, 14:14

Melyssa and anic

I hate to admit that I do go into the XXX thread but I do. Sorry! Anyway the post by "Jan" of a porn star, Jamie Janes if you open the gallery you can see her wearing a very nice pair of glasses from zenni. That is a very popular style for many today. It comes in Black, Brown, Blk and Red and all Red.

I must say she does make a good model for the glasses. if you like them it is #339121 (blk) Total price $15.00.

Soundmanpt 27 Jan 2011, 13:09

Melyssa and anic

All that and I forgot to tell you which glasses it was (old age) it is #820415 in zennioptical.com.

Soundmanpt 27 Jan 2011, 12:33

Melyssa and anic

Take a look at this pair from zenni I have ordered these for several young ladies in the last year. They come in brown or black and you can not tell the difference from the Ray-Ban Wayfarer except it doesn't say Ray-Ban on the temples and these are $15.00 including the AR coating. a friend works at a Pearle Vision and she sells Ray-Ban and she was the one that compared them. She quickly said if she liked that style she would get them from zenni. Of course they would make great sunglasses as well for the same amount of money. So far the ones I have got has been just weak single vision regular glasses.

anic 27 Jan 2011, 07:30

Hi Melyssa, your frames sounds gorgeous - what taste you have!

When you say you had clear prescription lenses put in, do you mean plano lenses, or ones with your prescription? I'd love to see a photo of your drop temples with your prescription lenses in situ - I've been rather a fan of 80s eyewear for quite a few years now.

Melyssa 12 Jan 2011, 08:28

Anic,

If you really want to get a lot of big, non-designer frames, try bleudame.com (pronounced "blue dame" to rhyme with "new game"). There are a few decent frames under "Clear Glasses," and even some drop-temples under Sunglasses. I currently use a red cat's-eye frame with 6 dots in a triangle in each upper corner, plus a huge black drop-temple pair that were sunglasses. I had clear prescription lenses put in each.

Overall, I have 4 designer frames, 3 of which are over 20 years old and holding up quite well. (Knock wood. Ouch! LOL)

Melyssa 12 Jan 2011, 08:25

New GWG,

The more feminine the frame, the better I like it, which is why drop-temples are my favorites and cat's-eyes are next. Sorry, I have no intention of wanting to get rid of them unless they break. And the only feeling I had when I woke up this morning was that I was not going to work with all that snow on the driveway. :)

Laura 12 Jan 2011, 04:39

newGWG. Wow you did amazingly wearing contacts all that time. I only stuck it for getting on for three years. Till I left school. I got lots of hassle when i was 15 and 16 cos of mu thick lenses. I stick my cls in now quite a lot though, when i feel like it. but like you say it kind of transforms your appearance when you wear glasses and you phsycy as well. don't if i've spelt that right LOL

anic 12 Jan 2011, 04:31

Hey Melyssa,

Thanks for your post, I have err, (let's think!!), one Vogue pair, two Dior, one Tura, one Osiris (Specsavers own brand I think), one Gucci, and a couple of larger metal frames with no names on them (think one is Marcolin but the writing is so small it's hard to work out, even with my plus add in!!). I've recently bought a pair of Prada plastic frames with wide arms that I'm just about to get reglazed and was thinking about getting another Dior pair that's quite oversized and has been in my bedside table for a while reglazed but although I love it my finances have a limit and after Xmas and New Year I'm rather broke so they'll have to wait for another time. I also think I may get quite a few comments on them that may draw attention and have earmarked them for probably only use at home - certainly not at work! I can certainly do without drunk punters giving me sarcastic comments!

In total therefore, with my current prescription I have about 8 frames, but another one will be on the way within a week or two when the Prada's are done. I have quite a few other pairs in my drawers that are with old prescriptions though, you'll note I have mostly designer frames, these do cost more, but I think they're worth it.

Soundmanpt 11 Jan 2011, 18:36

Clare

My theory is that women are reluctant to wear glasses in many cases because it is like telling the world that they have a flaw, they can't see perfect and must wear glasses to see. But by wearing contact lenses they are once again whole and perfect again. Also even if they find others attractive wearing glasses they find it hard to accept a new look with glasses. Luckily many have found that after getting numerous complements about how good they look in glasses, they soon embrace the new look. I do think it is an advantage to have several pairs to wear at different times with different looks and outfits.

NewGWG 11 Jan 2011, 17:52

Melyssa -cat's-eyes are tres chic and so feminine! If you ever get up in the morning with a strong feeling that you really want to get rid of them.... ;)

Clare - you're the same as me like 6 moths ago. I used to wear contacts only but after 6 years was cathegorically told to switch to glasses for a while.

It was hard at first, especially for my mates and family as I was giving out constantly. Motto of the day : "I look *** in these!!!! ". I'm so vain I had to do something about it, and discovered that using glasses as any other fashion accessory helps. I set off hunting for flattering frames, ended up with few pairs of them and started playing with different looks. Would go mad if I had to wear one pair all the time, so boring.

Carrie 11 Jan 2011, 16:17

Slightly off topic, but to clear up any confusion "Veto" means the same in the UK as it does in the USA. Click the link for the definition from the Oxford English Dictionary (can't really argue with the people that produce the most famous English dictionary) http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0926280#m_en_gb0926280

Clare  11 Jan 2011, 15:45

NewGQG - tell me, how did you overcome the self consciousness thing? I'm notorious for being self conscious! Happily I wear contacts 99% of the time but it'd be good to be a more self-confident GWG just in case.

Melyssa 11 Jan 2011, 15:30

New GWG,

I make sure to set up the day's glasses the evening before. And while those original frames certainly don't fit me anymore, I do have several pairs of 1960s-style cat's-eyes in my current collection.

NewGWG 11 Jan 2011, 15:01

Laura - I've been wearing contacts for like 6 years until I got glasses. You're right, it's simply addictive. Funny that one's attiude towards glasses can change so quickly :) Of course I've always had a "thing" for other people wearing nice frames, it was only that I felt really self concious wearing them myself.

Melyssa - brown cat's-eyes sound nice, much nicer anyway than roundish, golden wire ones my dad got me as my first pair.

With the driving license, my mom is just the same now - "driving in the dark is like floating in black water don't you think?", she says, adn I simply die in the back seat.

34 pairs? That's quite a bunch, must be nice to have such a collection to pick from in the morning!

NewGWG 11 Jan 2011, 15:00

Laura - I've been wearing contacts for like 6 years until I got glasses. You're right, it's simply addictive. Funny that one's attiude towards glasses can change so quickly :) Of course I've always had a "thing" for other people wearing nice frames, it was only that I felt really self concious wearing them myself.

Melyssa - brown cat's-eyes sound nice, much nicer anyway than roundish, golden wire ones my dad got me as my first pair.

With the driving license, my mom is just the same now - "driving in the dark is like floating in black water don't you think?", she says, adn I simply die in the back seat.

34 pairs? That's quite a bunch, must be nice to have such a collection to pick from in the morning!

Melyssa 11 Jan 2011, 14:50

One other thing -- in 11th grade, my last year before wearing glasses all the time, I put them on at the beginning of the first period and took them off at the end of the last class, except taking them off entirely for advisory (a/k/a home room), and the back-to-back periods of physical education and lunch. I wore brown hexagon frames then, part of the "geometric look" that we girls had in the early 1970s, from plastic to metal frames.

Melyssa 11 Jan 2011, 14:48

Laura, I still have my first pair of glasses, somewhere in the basement, hoping to find them before the 50th anniversary. Back in those days, lenses were made of glass -- not plastic -- and much heavier. I'm thankful I don't have to wear glass lenses now, otherwise I would have my glasses strapped on at all times.

Anic, how many pairs do you have now in your current RX?

Jennifer, you were lucky to be able to wear contacts, as my astigmatism prevented that. At least for the most part I was able to recognize the "important" people in school.

JR 11 Jan 2011, 14:09

I think it was a quote from George Bernard Shaw and quoted often by Sir Winston Churchill, and others.

Cactus Jack 11 Jan 2011, 12:57

anic,

I can't recall who said it, perhaps Churchill. "The US and the UK are two peoples separated by a common language".

C.

anic 11 Jan 2011, 11:22

Hi Cactus Jack - in England this word generally means that you agree, or go ahead with the subject matter. Sorry if I got you confused. My English is still not 100% and I'm still learning every day. Anoushka

Jennifer 11 Jan 2011, 10:56

It seems that many of us have similiar stories. I was the same. Only wore my glasses when I had to see the board in school and then quickly took them off when the class was over. My glasses spent more time in their pretty case than on my face. I went to contacts as soon as I couldn't make out peoples' faces as they approached me in the hallways at school. It was terrible to not recognize my friends across from me. I was 15 when I went full time to contacts. I wasn't ready to wear glasses in public. I didn't wear my glasses in public until I was in college. Strange how I always wanted to wear glasses, but when I got them I was embarrassed to wear them in public.

Cactus Jack 11 Jan 2011, 10:24

anic,

I believe you may not understand the meaning of the word "veto". In the US, It usually means to reject or disagree with something. Most often, again in the US, the Houses of Congress can pass a law, but if the President Vetoes the law, that means he officially rejects it and if there are not enough votes in Congress to override his veto, it does not become law. If there are enough votes (a large majority) Congress can override the Veto and it becomes law.

I noticed in a recent post of mine and now in your reply to Laura, you in effect said that you REJECT or DISAGREE with what was said, but from the context of what you wrote, I believe you actually agree.

There may be other meanings of the word Veto in English, but I am not aware of them

C.

anic 11 Jan 2011, 08:43

Laura - I can totally veto what you're saying, I'm also a high myope - various posts over the last week on "Induced Myopia" explain my story, and the clarity I get when I put on my spex after a while of not having them is a feeling I can almost not compare to anything else in the world!

Melyssa - I haven't quite as many frames as you yet, but they're on the up!

Laura 11 Jan 2011, 08:04

Melyssa,

I started a year before you at 7 with some little metal framed glasses (still got them!) -1.50 and -1.25. I hated them and used to sit at the front and whip them off as soon as class was finished. Then just wear them at home for TV. In the end I had to give in to full-time wear at 11. I was up at -3.75 and -3.50 by then and missing seeing all sorts of stuff. By 16 I was up at -6.50 and -6.00 and my lenses were standard plastic so very geekish. After six months I persuaded Mum to let me have cls cos I'd gone up by another -0.50 all round. What a relief! It wasn't til I left and treat myself to some decent frames with hi-index lenses that I started liking myself in glasses a lot. Now I'm happy as a GWG

Melyssa 11 Jan 2011, 07:00

New GWG,

I was quite like you way back when, getting my first pair of glasses about age 8. The RX was -1.75/-1.50, and the frame was sort of cat's-eyes, brown at the top and clear at the bottom (not much to choose from then). I tried to avoid wearing them, except having no choice for watching TV or movies, or seeing the blackboard in school.

By age 16 I had to wear glasses all the time, in order to learn how to drive. "What was that bump I felt?" LOL My first full-time frame was a gold aviator pair.

Fortunately at age 28, I got my first drop-temple frame, and that made me a glasses lover, now to the tune of 34 pairs of pretty plastic frames.

Laura 11 Jan 2011, 03:42

New GWG.

Yeah its kind of addictive once you get used seeing yourself in glasses permanently. I was hooked on contacts for well over 2 years at school until I left and got myself a decent pair of glasses with high index lenses. I'm -10.00 aand -9.25 now, so I know what you mean about clarity of vision and stuff between contacts and glasses. But like you say, when you are so short-sighted as we are, its really turns you on when you stick your glasses on and can see stuff.

NewGWG 10 Jan 2011, 19:28

Hi all,

I got my first glasses when I was about 9, and definitely hated them from the start. As long as I was able to avoid wearing them, I would not wear them at all, never mind parents yelling at me or teachers making comments about my squinting at the board and pulling the corners of my eyes to make things clearer (btw, did any of you guys do that too?). Not being able to see stuff on the board really sucked, but over the years I mastered the art of pretending my eyesight was perfect.

I remember my first prescription was like - 0,5 and - 1,0. This changed very fast, as I never wore glasses and liked to read a lot (plus both my parents are myopic, especially my father ).

After about a year, the numbers changed to - 3,0. Still I was too vain to even consider wearing glasses, so I kept struggling. When I was 17, my parents understood it was pointless and got me contacts ( my prescription increased to -4,25 by then).

I'm -6,0 now and had to switch from contacts to glasses in June this year because of an eye infection.

At first it was so hard for me to get used to wearing glasses as the vision was far worse, but over the months I've unexpectedly turned into a glasses lover :). I guess I won't be going back to contacts any time now. I've got myself four pairs of different glasses : rimless, semi-rimless, cat eye and heavy plastic, and I use them as fashion accesories.

Being rather dependant on them surprisingly turns me on ;)

Laura 07 Jan 2011, 04:44

Likelens.

Yes totally flat now, with all the curve on the inside of the lenses. I love the effect when they reflect in the mirror. They make my eyes look all glassy.

Like lenses 30 Dec 2010, 17:01

Melyssa & Laura

Minus 9.00 is my favorite Rx,but most are totally flat front at that point

I wonder if the larger lense is the reason yours are not flat Melyssa.

Laura are yours flat?

ehpc 30 Dec 2010, 15:38

should be (of course:)'.......really THICK lenses' Pete

Melyssa 30 Dec 2010, 13:05

Laura,

Yes, I'm pretty close to your RX, being at -9.00. My CR39 lenses are not quite flat, but I do have lots of power rings, especially with my larger frames. (That means lenses at least 2 inches, or 50.8 mm, in diameter.) I sure wish that those fabulous 1980s frames that would hold such lenses would come back to the U.S.

ehpc 30 Dec 2010, 12:25

Love your posts, Laura :) Maybe you should get some really big glasses and REALLY think lenses? :) Pete

Laura 30 Dec 2010, 09:07

Melyssa.

Yes we chatted in Lenschat once, remember? Aren't you around my rx? I'm really into glasses agin in a big way now, and don't care what guys think. I love the bigger frames that are starting to appear as well. More power rings??

Melyssa 30 Dec 2010, 09:01

Laura, Astra,

When I was in school I had no choice but to wear glasses, as with my astigmatism I could not wear contacts (still can't). From age 8 to 16 I could get by wearing glasses part-time, but by the end of 11th grade I was wearing glasses at all times in school except during phys-ed and lunch (fortunately in back-to-back periods). Our frames back then were either cat's-eyes or geometric shapes, mostly in brown or black.

Laura 30 Dec 2010, 08:49

Astra.

Yes,i was just going to say that. In my mid teens I hated my thick lenses, then when I left school I got some stronger glasses made up with High Index Lenses and I was surprised how much nicer they looked. In the end I virtually ditched my contacts and went went black to wearing glasses neally all the time. Now I only wear my contacts to surprise people who are used to seeing me in glasses. Like, Oh My God, how is Laura seeing without glasses! and stuff like that. Its such fun I find.

Astra 30 Dec 2010, 08:40

Laura,

I also noticed many girls start to get contact lenses at age 12-15.

Perhaps it's the similar reason. Glasses simply are not preferred.

Laura 30 Dec 2010, 08:34

Astra,

I love some of your posts! I'm 20 now and first started wearing glasses when I was 7. By 9 I was definitely wearing full-time and by 11 I suddenly realised how dependent I was on glasses. By 15 my lenses had got so thick and ugly I pestered my parents for contacts and wore them religiouly at school all day longg

Astra 25 Dec 2010, 17:46

When I was age 11, I once asking a girl to demonstrate how she see without glasses.

And she did it to me without hesitation, looking around like a bit lost for a few minutes. also with some squints.

After some months, I saw her getting stronger rx and much thicker lenses.

Before she got the new glasses, she actually have the plastic part of the arms of glasses apart. She used a straw to fake the plastic earpiece. Sometimes even the straws are apart and she wore only the metallic part on ears.

Astra 25 Dec 2010, 17:33

I think it's interesting to see some being able to see okay at age 8, would become totally fuzzy without glasses at age 12.

And how they become hopeless dependent on glasses and squint to see and look lost without their glasses.

Also some people making strange comment.

There was a girl who regularly wearing contact lenses at age 14, but a boy asking why she can wear glasses on some day and sometimes not wearing glasses.

The boy didn't know contact lenses.

Astra 25 Dec 2010, 17:30

I remember at school age, some people are having their first pair of glasses. Most of those people i have not expected, which is fun, to see their eyesight deteriorate.

jason 10 Oct 2010, 01:57

Hi Robert!

I tried the email address you gave but it bounced back. What I was going to say is that I am not sure that I want to relive my youth with horrid, confidence-sapping NHS glasses.

Robert 02 Oct 2010, 07:48

Jason

Look forward to having a chat. When you have some free time please drop me an email at robert.195759@yahoo.co.uk.

jason 02 Oct 2010, 03:22

Obsessed:

I suppose I came in the second category; that is, I was affected by glasses. I don't think I knew my prescription but it must have been more thab -2.00.

Robert:

I would be happy to chat.

Andrew 30 Sep 2010, 15:05

I've just been to pick up my new glasses, and while there, saw a young girl come out of her sight test in tears, her "old" glasses in hand. I guess she had just been told she would have to get stronger glasses for full-time wear. The frames may have improved, but I guess there's still some stigma there.

Obsessed 29 Sep 2010, 21:42

@Jason:

You are so right! I think that glasses and personality have some very interesting connecting threads! I think that in every kid's mind glasses start a fight once they are first prescribed. And then one of the competitors has to win: the glasses or the mind.

When I was in grade 6 or 7, several kids were prescribed glasses pretty much at once (during the fall semester).

One of them had always been a cool kid. Another one (a close friend of mine) was a regular kid - not too cool and not too quiet.

The regular kid (my friend) started with a rather strong initial prescription (I think he was over -2), so after a week or two he became totally dependent on his specs. He voluntarily kept them on all the time even though his parents had told him to basically use them when he felt like needing them. Well, he soon realized he needed them all the time.

His attitude didn't change at all. I remember being curious and trying to see changes. He didn't let anyone laugh at him about his glasses. Like, the other kids saw that the glasses didn't make him feel self-conscious, so they were totally discouraged. Even though the kid wasn't too cool, his confidence about his glasses being a completely OK thing was unquestionable.

At the same, the real cool kid (who had a much weaker prescription) got somewhat affected by his new state. I guess he cared too much about his looks or whatever. He got very self-conscious and it did show a lot, especially compared to the way the regular boy was acting.

Besides ensuring his own "well-being" at school, my friend - the regular kid - caused what in me what my nickname says so clearly. More than anything, I wanted his glasses. I even wanted to be him. I think I was natually prone to getting obsessed with specs, but his confidence and his constant telling me how clearly he could see through his increasingly strong lenses got me out of my mind.

I did get caught when I simulated nearsightedness, and then I was too afraid to repeat my attempt. I got my first RX when I was 20. So many years spent waiting... And no chance to go up significantly strength-wise.

My friend is over -4 now. Not too high, but he's pretty blind without his glasses. He still loves them. Doesn't wanna do lasik.

Robert 29 Sep 2010, 16:36

Nice one Jason, would love to chat more about them !!

jason 29 Sep 2010, 06:26

Robert:

Do not worry. At leasr, even unwittingly, I must have made some other lads happy. It was a bonus that I did not appreciate at the time.

Robert 28 Sep 2010, 14:28

Sorry Jason. I can understand how difficult it must have been to have had to wear them in those days.

jason 27 Sep 2010, 06:38

Robert:

It wasn't so much fun being one of those NHS glasses wearing lads, I can assure you! Particularly if you have twelve years of it.

Robert 26 Sep 2010, 18:06

Always liked to see the lads at school wearing their standards NHS glasses...

jason 25 Sep 2010, 23:17

I think you are lucky to get through school without having to wear glasses. That was not my good fortune. I changed schools when I was six and my teacher noticed that I was having difficulty reading the black board. So she made me change places with a boy in the front row. Not good for morale in the first few days of a new school. Then a week or so later I was given a note from her to deliver to my mother. I never read the note but obviously it contained the teacher's recommendation that I should have my eyes tested. Sure enough when they were tested I was told that I was short sighted and needed glasses. Then the inevitable day came when they were fitted. I had no choice in the matter of style. They were standard issue NHS glasses in mottled brown plastic with wire earpieces. They were transforming. In an instant I was changed from an ordinary looking lad to a complete nerd. I was also told that under no cirmstances was I to take them off except with permission of my parents or teachers or when I went to bed.

The first day at school was a nightmare. Before I got there I had all the support and encouragement from my elder brother who was convulsed with laughter every time he saw me. My friends on the way to school didn't know what to make of my new state and so said nothing sensing my embarrassment. Then the low point. In class I had to hand in a note to my teacher from my mum. It was read out in class announcing my newly bespectacled state and the strict injunction that I was not to take them off. That was not so difficult as my eyesight was poor and I adapted to the corrective lenses quickly so that I couldn't manage without them.

I think though glasses change the way you are viewed and that subtly changes the way you relate to others. Somehow it encouraged the nerd and geek in me. So I became the quiet, scholarly boy who avoided sport and social engagements.

I was told that if I followed instructions my glasses would eventually improve my sight so that glasses would be a temporary expedient. This, of course, was nonsense but I think the idea was advanced to lift my spirits. As the years went by my prescription became progressively stronger but it was only after school that I had any choice in the matter of frames, which were selected on the basis that they were hard wearing and qualified for NHS assistance, no compromise was made as to appearance or what they would do to my almost non-existent self-confidence and self-esteem.

I did get my own back on my brother two years later when he was prescribed his first pair of glasses. Odd really as neither of our parents are short sighted but we are to a marked degree. His glasses were the same as mine, naturally. And they looked as dreadful.

Clare 12 Aug 2010, 13:12

Phil - funnily enough I don't much wear glasses in company ;) But if I did, I'm sure I would!

Phil 12 Aug 2010, 02:05

Clare, OK I'll see you at the shrink's. I bet the first bit of therapy would be an instruction to wear glasses to the sessions!

Do you find that, even when you wear glasses, you end up taking them off when you can? I had lunch with a friend yesterday and, as soon as we sat down, I took my glasses off. She has about the same rx as me but, being better adjusted, kept them on throughout the meal.

If only I had another dioptre of minus I'd just have to keep them on. But it won't happen. I went down from -4 to -3.25 at the last test and at a recent medical the doctor said my corrected vision was better than normal. Who knows, I may even end up needing readers!

Sandy 11 Aug 2010, 13:57

Going back to the sport theme. A problem that I had was seeing the lines in the swimming pool. I just couldn't see them, and had to give up joining the rest of the class for swimming. I was about nine at the time, and this was an important moment in my isolation from the rest of the kids. If you can't mangage at all without glasses, a lot of sport becomes a real problem. Fortunately, after a while, I was joined by a girl who was also very myopic, and we played chess instead.

Clare 11 Aug 2010, 11:35

Phil - for a couple of reasons, I think you're right. People who get glasses early usually end up with prescriptions that are non-negotiable for FT wear, and they probably get over them at a younger age. Perhaps vanity increases with age, I don't know ;)

And therapy could be a good solution, I don't think we'd be the only ones there!

Phil 11 Aug 2010, 07:14

Clare, I suspect that, if you'd been forced to wear them at school, they would hold no capacity to embarrass you now. And you'd be out there, looking gorgeous, as a perfectly comfortable gwg! Both of us got our first glasses rather late. That may hold a clue to our sensitivity about being seen in them. I am getting bolder but am not entirely a fulltimer. Yet when I am away from places where I might be seen by those who know me, like on holiday, I never take them off. Do you think we need therapy?

Soundmanpt 10 Aug 2010, 12:06

Clare

I laughed when I read Phil's comment. I was pretty sure you were just the opposite. I bet you are glad you made it through school before you got glasses. I'm sure to you that would have been even worse than getting them later in life?

Clare 10 Aug 2010, 11:57

Phil - yes I can remember, I felt embarrassed for her! Absolutely no question of envying her. Perhaps that was also a conditioning influence for me in my early years?

Phil 10 Aug 2010, 07:23

Can you remember how you felt Clare? Whenever someone got glasses in my class I was consumed with envy. But I would have been mortified if I'd had to appear in specs myself. It is this crazy ambivalence that has bedevilled me ever since!

Clare 31 Jul 2010, 11:32

I didn't have any personal memories because I didn't wear glasses till after I left school, but one thing I remember is a girl in our class when we were about 12 - the teacher announced she had to wear glasses (tipped off by parents I now suspect) and that she must always wear them. She was a shy girl and I felt sorry for her then, and emphathise more now! Of course, she wore them 100% of the time from that day on and I have no clue what her prescription would have been. I remember they were minus, square-ish, semi-rimless.

Andrew 30 Jul 2010, 13:16

You have reminded me of an occasion at school when we had to try out new sports to us to see how eyesight affected performance. There were a couple of athletics-type events where it made little difference that I was not allowed to wear glasses (probably about -4.25, based on the fact that, by the age of 17/18, I was in -4.50s). The fencing was harder as I could not really see my opponent very clearly, but when we tried out the shooting I had to give up and put my glasses back on as I could not see which target(s) were mine!

Melyssa 30 Jul 2010, 12:52

Marc,

You brought to mind my time in gym class in school. Through 11th grade I did not wear glasses fulltime (although by that year, I was wearing them in school for everything except gym and lunch). In 12th grade, the combination of health class, chem lab, and driver's education (Yes, Eyesceners, I did wear glasses for that -- LOL) cut gym down to 2 days a week, and 11 weeks' worth of teachers' strikes also sliced even more time off phys. ed. At least I was able to see the volleyball used for most games, plus the equipment inside. I was even able to find the horse to jump on/over. :) My RX at the time was around -3.00.

 30 Jul 2010, 11:45

marc,what is your prescription

Marc 30 Jul 2010, 10:00

I remember as a boy cursing my bad eyesight when it put me at a disadvantage in sports lessons (we weren't allowed to wear glasses) or when things got rougher when for a while opponents used to got straight for my glasses taking them away or they got knocked off, leaving me not only with the blurry picture, but also withe the humiliation of havong to search for my glasses squinting my head off. I even used to wear heavy black frames at the time in order to find them better.

How did you go through the rough and tumble years? I just hated it and soon learned to keep out of the action :-(

Marc

Yasmin 26 Jul 2010, 14:41

Today my prescription is R-7 L-6. But this was two years ago. I plan to get my eyes tested soon. I expect a little change.

Yes -2.5/-2 sounds really strong to me, too. Maby it was rather -1.75. I dont know it exactly. But what I remember is that a girl in my class got her weak plus lenses in a thin metal frame. Her lenses fitted nicely into the frame. My metal frame was slightly thicker and even there at least the right lese sticked out, what mady me upset.

Well, my first glasses did not solve but defered my ever worsening vision problem. After that I chose a seat in the front row and developed a powerful squintig technique. I also asked the classmate next to me to take notes from his notebook.

I was the one who always asked the teacher to switch on the light above the board because that helped me. OMG - how embarrassing. One teacher noticed my squintig, but I dont remember what I answerded. I gues I had a good excuse cause she never asked me again.

My mother more and more realised that my eye got worse. On vacation we went for whale watching - what a funny activity for an uncorrectd myope *lol*. Unfortunately the whales were quite far away. From our holiday-video you can tell that I asked several times things like "oh, did he came out?".

Like lenses 26 Jul 2010, 00:02

Yasmin

Wow -2.00 to 2.50 for a first pair. What is your prescription now?

Astra 25 Jul 2010, 20:22

Yasmin,

It was the same for me too. Glasses-phobia turning to Glasses-fetish.

Yasmin 25 Jul 2010, 17:19

I think have a glasses-phobia, which somehow turned into a fetisch - for whatever reason.

Perhaps I can find the reason when I think about how it started. (sorry for english mistakes, I no native speaker)

I think I first noticed problems to see the board or especially the overhead projector in fourth year at school. I was not to happy at thinking that I might need glasses. So I did not tell anybody and I was able to manage school with just minor problems.

Then, still in fourth year, we had our school eye-examination. I thought about how to cheat in the test, mayby I just try to remember all letters just when I get into the room before I sit down for testing.

But there was no chance. I was caught. I remember that one of the examinating persons said to the other one something like: OMG - that girl can't see anything. It sounded like I was the kid with the worsed uncurrected vision. Ok, I knew that my vision was not the best one, but I didn't expected it to be like that bad.

Some days later my mother and me went to an eyedoctor and I think my first prescription was like R -2.5 L -2 or so. We chose a pink frame and a few days later I got it.

My memory on this is not that good - getting the first glasses was definitely not the reason for my phobia. Of course I was afraid to go to school with them on the first day. But in the end it was not so bad. I remember the question "oh? since when you need glasses?" and the answer was "since today" - of course.

I don't remember who noticed it, but from wearing the glasses my eyes got red. My mother was very worried about it and we decided that I will stop to wear them, what I did, because still I did not liked the idea to have glasses.

My hope was that my vision will soon get better again, and then I dont need glasses anyway. The reason for this hope was my father. In his teen to twen years he wore glasses but when he was 27 y.o. his vision was perfect and the glasses-note was even erased from his drivers licence. I am not sure about his vision problem - I think it was astigmatism and how the change was possible. My father was the only one (exept grandparents and a distant aunt) in our family who wore glasses. So I would have been the only one, what I hated.

Later struggeling more and more to read the board (the overhead projector was already completeley blurred), I realised that all my hopes were hopeless.

Obsessed 07 Jul 2010, 16:30

I mean, I can't wait to read what's next!!

Obsessed 07 Jul 2010, 16:29

OMG! So intrigued! ~swoon~

Life in a Blur 07 Jul 2010, 12:08

Even though I got glasses, I couldn't bring myself to wear them. The blackboard was a blur, but hiding in my locker was the cure for my sickness. Part of me felt like admitting I needed glasses would put a stigma on me that I must have been playing with myself a lot since that was something people used to say. I did not want to admit it because that was true. Not only that, but I was wearing strong glasses in private that were probably blowing away my eyesight.

The only place I wore my glasses was in Driver Education class because I felt too dizzy and unfocused behind the wheel without them. I was so shocked at how clear everything was during that class, but immediately I took off my glasses as soon as the bell rang.

It was in English class that I was discovered. They asked me to read something in the blur that was on the board and I simply could not see it. One of the students who was also in my Driver Education class called out that I can't see it because I only wear glasses in Driver's Ed. My heartbeat went crazy and I was told to go to my locker and come back with my glasses and read the board. That was like a death walk to me. I thought about going anywhere but back to class, but I did it. When I walked in from the back of the classroom, the teacher told me to stop there, take off my glasses and read the board. I told him I couldn't see it, so then he said to put on my glasses and try again. The board went from a blurry mess to a clear sharp image I could even read from the back of the room! After I read the board, my teacher told me to sit down and he expected to see me wearing my glasses in every class.

So all year there were only two classes where I wore my glasses. Driver's Education because I needed to see, and English class because I was forced to do so. I would still wander the halls in a blur, not recognizing people but the transition from blur to clear to blur to clear to blur each day was making me have headaches and eyestrain so much, and the blur seemed to be getting much worse.

I had to make a decision.

Jim 30 Jun 2010, 04:25

Faine. Are still at school and wearing glasses? Or are you living in a life of blur and trying to manage without out of either shyness or vanity? Glasses can be very attractive on girls who choose th appropriate frames.

Flaine 30 Jun 2010, 02:48

All4eyes

nope so ur marie too? I was refering to wantweargl..

All4Eyes 29 Jun 2010, 17:30

Life In A Blur: You sound a lot like me (I didn't give in to glasses till I was -4), so I'd love to read more of your story. What was that first moment of clear corrected vision after all that time in a blur like?

Flaine: Do you mean me or another Marie? If you mean me, things are going OK, still hoping for new glasses soon. I must pop into Lenschat more often.

Flaine 29 Jun 2010, 09:43

Life in a blur...

Yes pls carry on its nice!!!

Marie:

hows ur glasses going? Havent seen u in lenschat for a while

4iiii 29 Jun 2010, 04:22

LIFE IN A BLUR. would love to hear more, when you can, please!

wantweargl 28 Jun 2010, 16:39

interesting life in a blur, i`d like to read more stories about you, are you a boy? what`s your age and your current rx now? thx...

Soundmanpt 28 Jun 2010, 08:23

Life in a Blur

Please continue. I do have a couple of questions, when you were 12 whose glasses did you get hold of that you wore in private? Were you able to force your eyes to see much with those glasses at the time?

Life in a Blur 28 Jun 2010, 05:37

I spent alot of my junior high school years in a blur. My eyes started getting bad around 12 or so, and because I had been wearing strong glasses as a fetish in private, I didn't want to admit what I thought was ruining my eyesight. Year after year, things got blurrier. When I discovered I couldn't read the overhead projector, I was suprised. It literally looked like just a blank white screen but people were taking notes from it. I used to look at a couple of pretty girls across the room and I remember at the beginning of one school year I could see them but they were blurry. By the end of that school year, the whole side of the room was blurry.

I kept hiding my "blurry secret" from others and went to the extent of intercepting mail from the school nurse when I couldn't read anything on the charts. The clock across the cafeteria had melted into a complete blur by the time I finished junior high so I started wearing watches alot.

But my jig was up when I had Driver Education class. I knew I couldn't pass the eye test and was very scared. I rode my bicycle to the DMV on the day I was going to get my permit, and could not see anything clearly in the machine. They asked me to read an eye chart across the room after that and had to keep pointing where it was because it was just a blur to me.

I ended up giving in to glasses at that point, and my first prescription was around -3.75. So you can imagine how fuzzy and unclear my world had become. School dances were so unbelievably blurry to me the people, the band. It was like no matter how hard I tried to see, it didn't help much.

The glasses changed all that. If anyone is interested, I'll write more about that.

antonio 26 Jun 2010, 09:23

Interesting, Astra,

did you wear glasses yourself that time already ?

Did you need some already that time and if so, how strong ?

thanks and best regards, antonio

Jim 26 Jun 2010, 06:53

Astra. I take it you like wearing glasses and enjoyed being gwg at school. I first met my eventual wife when I was at school, as she was the sister of one of my friends. She was three years below us and very shy and wore some plain red and white plastic framed glasses with an rx of about -5.00. I sometimes went to my friends house for tea and his sister would be hanging around us but I didn't pay much attention to her as she was only 13 at the time. I met up with her again six years later when she was 19 and and I was totally bowled over by how she had grown and developed. But her glasses were something to die for! They had large brown platic frames and lenses that reflected the light and were edged with lots of power rings. She smiled at me and said "Do you recognize me?" I found out later that by then her rx had crept up to -9.00. We started dating and then she decided to get contact lenses! I have to admit she looked very pretty when she was wearing them and her eyes were sharp and alert compared with when she wore her glasses. Luckily she never wore them much at home and now after many years of marriage she has gone back to glasses fulltime. The bonus is giving up wearing contacts has helped to push her rx up to -12.00!! Now our younger son is taking out a girl who wears glasses of around -5.00 and also wears contacts, so I love her to bits!!

ehpc 30 May 2010, 12:43

Interesting :) Pete

Astra 30 May 2010, 12:37

I just have been dreamt about my sixth form days.

Back then the classmates are very close each other. We went to each other's home at some holidays. That was true in reality.

I just dreamt about being in a female classmate's home with other classmates present. the female classmate (host girl) is a gwg (indeed she is in reality). At first I had some chat with some males. Then the males start teasing me not study well on the material of exam.

Then I came next to the host girl. In reality, I rarely get close to the host girl. So in my dream I was hesitated to take that seat. She just took her glasses off (about -4.00 I guess...), being a bit tired, rubbed her eyes then looked around and saw me.

But it turned out the host girl was very nice to me. Telling me I should really sit next to her. I felt surprised and happy. Her eyes without glasses is drawing my attention... (In reality she was a fulltime wearer, rarely saw her without glasses... maybe I saw her college photos that she used to wear contact lenses so I could think of her look without glasses)

Charles 06 Mar 2010, 10:07

I, also, had glasses before starting school. I think I got them at about 4 and, to this day, I remember being surprised and delighted at how well I could see. No concessions were ever made by any of the schools I went to about fact that I was very myopic and would be lost wothout my glasses. I was never prevented from doing anything the the other boys did and I am very glad of that. I cannot remember any of the many prescriptions I had during my school career except that in my early teens my prescription, in one eye, matched my age. Nobody made unkind remarks to my face except one boy who used to say my lenses reminded him of double glazing.

Like Lenses 05 Mar 2010, 19:17

Sandy

What age are you now, and what is your present prescription?

Sandy 05 Mar 2010, 10:54

I'm one of those who got glasses before going to school. Did that happen to any others of you? Actually I was found to be very myopic at three. This was before I could talk properly, and I didn't have the usual eye test. My first definite memory was getting glasses, and I recall this as something happy. I liked seeing clearly of course, but also both my parents and my older sister wore glasses, so I was no longer the odd one out. I don't know my first prescription, but it must have been pretty high. I still have the glasses I got when I was four, by when I knew the alphabet, and they are about -5. I can't remember being given a hard time by kids at my nursery school or at my infant school. In my infant class there were about 25 children, and four of us wore glasses - me and three girls (one of whom was long-sighted). My teachers were very protective, too protective perhaps. They stopped me from doing anything a bit rough, even from running around and playing in the sand; and jumping in the paddling pool was out. In practice, I tended to play with the girls, and my best friend was one of the girls with glasses. Unlike my early school years, Junior school was unpleasant.

Dan 01 Mar 2010, 06:23

James2,

That is quite a strong/rapid increase for someone who got -1.00 glasses at 20 years of age. I have roughly the same prescription at 20 so we'll see if I end up getting up to -7.5!

All three people I've dated in college have worn glasses but unfortunately they all liked contacts better.

James2 01 Mar 2010, 04:55

I know the feeling about people you've gone out with whose eyesight changes - after you split up.

When I was at university I went out for more than a year with a lovely woman, Amanda, until we qualified and went our separate ways. She was 20 or 21 at the time and in the final six months or so we were together she was prescribed some glasses for myopia, probably no more than -1.00 or -1.5, which she wore all the time right from the off, claiming she was blind without them.

About three years later, we bumped into each other at a rock concer and she was still wearing glasses, this time -3.5s. She told me her eyesight had got much worse.

Three or four years after that we met again, this time at a work-related conference. This time they were -7.5s, which amazed me as her eyesight seemed to have become much worse in a fairly short space of time. Amanda was quite willing to talk about her eye problems, maybe because I'd been there seven or eight years earlier when she first got glasses. She thought her eyesight was likely to get even worse as the glasses she was wearing were a year old and she cleady felt they weren't as pin-sharp as before.

She looked gorgeous and I told her so. Unfortunately, we were both in other relationshps and I didn't dare ask to see her again. Shortly after that I moved away from the town where we both lived and I've not been back or seen Amanda again in more than 12 years. She'd be about 40 now. I wonder what became of her - and her glasses.

Mister Roberts 24 Feb 2010, 21:25

My first girlfriend in high school, 1971 Was very myopic, guessing about -10. Her glasses did not look as strong as they were, kind of smallish plastic octo frames. In 1975 a year or so after we broke up, I made an arrangement to see her at her house. I found she was wearing new glasses as she greeted me at the door. My heart sank when upon the opening of the front door I saw the blaze of light flashing off the plano fronts of her large glasses. I thought that these were the perfect glasses, large and very thick on MY girlfriend. Except for the fact she was no longer MY girlfriend and hadn't been for over a year. That has really stuck in my mind over the years. The sting of what could have been, what should have been and what might have been still haunt me.

Obsessed 24 Feb 2010, 09:31

When I was a schoolboy, I wanted glasses badly but my eyes were always perfect. I used to envy kids who were prescribed glasses. That was the beginning of this crazy fascination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBuB6ykwPw ---> this was my fave episode ever :D

mick 22 Feb 2010, 10:08

I got the glasses but I hated them and I hardly ever wore them. I think it was because I didn't want to become dependant upon them. My Dad was very short sighted, -15 I think, I was terrified that if I wore the glasses my eyes would start getting worse and worse and I'd eventually get as short sighted as he was so I never wore them. A bit later after I left school and started to drive I realised that I needed them, I got an eye test, now they were -2 both eyes. I got some glasses that I had to wear for driving and for my test but again I hardly ever wore them as I still was worried about becoming dependant and getting more short sighted. I figured that by not wearing correction I'd delay the progression.

mick 22 Feb 2010, 09:46

I remeber when I first realised that I was becoming short sighted, I was about 10 years old. I remember my Dad giving me a list of places and road numbers for the planned route when we were going on our holidays. I used to watch for the road signs, road numbers and mileages and tell him how far we had to go to each place on the route. I realised that I couldn't see the signs very well until we were on top of them! Somehow I got away with it, my parents never twigged, I pretended I'd lost interest in doing the navigation! At school I knew I couldn't see the blackboard without squinting but somehow I managed to fudge my way through the eyetest with squinting. It wasn't until I was about 15 that the school eyetest caught me out and I had to go and get my eyes tested at an opticians. The optician confirmed that I was short sighted and had to wear glasses. I think the prescription was about -1.5 in both eyes at that time.

Melyssa 10 Feb 2010, 11:59

And,

Back then my prescription was around -3.00 or so. I was able to function all right sans glasses, especially without any blackboards to read, whether I was playing volleyball, field hockey, or futzing around on the various items in the gym (horse, mats, rings, parallel bars, etc.).

And 10 Feb 2010, 08:56

Melyssa, how difficult was that ?

Melyssa 10 Feb 2010, 07:32

Guest,

That reminds me of when I was in high school a few years before you. Those of us who wore glasses (mostly metal frames then) either took chances wearing them in gym class (volleyballs can be hard), or like I did, kept them in our lockers.

guest 10 Feb 2010, 02:41

When I was at school in the late seventies, contacts were hardly worn and the glasses used to be really huge. Many of us used to complain of the weight or the slipping, especially those with stronger prescriptions (most lenses were made from glass back then).

I remember the worst being sports lessons, when the glasses wearers had to deposit their glasses in a box for safety reasons, having to go through the lessons in squinting agony. I wonder if that would be accepted nowadays.

SimonC 16 Nov 2009, 08:07

When I was in my school years (13-17) I did a newspaper round in my village. It was quite a spread out and long round and from about 15 years of age I kept a record of my customers who wore glasses, what sort + or - and a strength guide (I didnt know about diops etc so I think it was weak, medium, strong, mega etc) and how often and age guess. I only had about 80 houses on the round but there were parents/children etc and as I collected money for their papers I got to see a lot of them.

It occupied some boring time and helped me get through the round, especially in the cold winter months.

I am going to see if I still have this book I kept next time I visit my parents house, a bit of a hoarder I am so its probably been kept.

Dieter 11 Nov 2009, 14:15

My most memorable experience was at age sixteen when I drove to an out of town event with my best friend on a Friday night. On the way home he slept in the passenger seat while I entertained myself with late night radio (most likely I was listening to “Wolfman Jack”). After delivering him home, I continued the several-mile trip to my house. When gathering things from the glove box, I discovered my friend’s glasses and suddenly remembered he had placed them there before napping. Neither of us thought of that when we had been in front of his house. I took the black horn rimmed glasses inside and wore them behind locked doors in my bedroom and the bathroom studying my look in a mirror. They had a moderate minus RX and I really liked what I saw. Since I had never allowed myself to be included in “glasses exchanges”, I’d never seen how I looked in glasses for a guy. The next morning, we connected by phone and my friend said he would get them when we planned to meet up on Sunday.

So on Saturday evening; using his glasses, I drove for hours after dark on the opposite side of town where there was little chance of meeting acquaintances. That was the first time I wore glasses in public and it felt marvelous. However, I would not have had the courage to be seen if I had been in places where I was known. In a short time, I became acclimated to being a wearer to where vision and using them seemed natural as I drove. At one point, I stopped at a fast food restaurant and walked inside to order and eat. I had no problem wearing glasses in front of strangers. It felt as though I had discovered myself and I didn’t want that magical night to end.

SimonC 10 Sep 2009, 01:38

Hi Clare.

When I got my 'first' glasses I had to get them from a nearby town. I remember when I first put them on in the opticians and looked around across the street. I am not very good with find the right words but it was an amazing experience to see clearly. I got very excited having them. I wore them out of the opticians but took them off pretty quickly. I think I was worried or conscious of someone seeing me who knew me.

At the bus stop I remember they were in were in my jacket pocket and I kept sneeking a look at them. Cant recall if I took the day off school or had free day but it was term time again and the bus was pretty empty and I went upstairs where I was the only passenger for a good 20 minutes of the journey. I put them on on the bus, looked around at things, in the far distance, realised just how bad my eyesight was. I took the glasses off as soon as someone got on the bus upstairs. They were worn at home by me in secret and I remember being fascinated by them, what the lenses were like, how they looked on me, cut in etc etc.

I got my contacts about 2 or 3 days after the glasses.

Clare 09 Sep 2009, 12:49

SimonC - of course I mean the pair you got at 17 rather than at 8!

Clare 09 Sep 2009, 12:48

SimonC - thanks for sharing your story. How much did you wear your first pair of glasses?

SimonC 09 Sep 2009, 04:43

I have, as a lot of you do, memories from school which I will try to share with you.

As background I was prescribed glasses when I was 8 to help with the blackboard, TV etc. I absolutely hated the idea of having them and apart from a few times at home I never wore them. A few weeks after getting them my Mum and Dad split up and I stayed with my Dad and brother. My Dad was great but worked a lot and didnt really check on me wearing them.

I remember throwing the glasses away a few months later and I hated them and anything to do with glasses.

When I was 10 I had a school eyetest where it was discovered, and I knew, that I needed glasses. I tore the note up that was sent home for my Dad and that was that really.

When I went to secondary school I had started to struggle more with distance objects but I got by, a bit of copying here and there and so on. In all the time I was there I always failed the school eyetests and always tore up the notes and my Mum thought my Dad had me booked for annual eyetests and vice versa. With my Dad being so busy I always avoided any problems on this front.

Things did change at 'Big' school and friends started to get glasses or had them, and Girls of course. I started to become interested in them, and ultimately wanting them although only in secret. I had occassions of trying on peoples glasses, borrowing some and once stealing a pair of glasses (or I prefer long term loan).

At 17 I wanted to learn to drive and eventually got an eyetest and a pair of glasses (that nobody ever saw me in) and contacts - that I only ever wore. The prescription at that time was -3.25 both eyes.

I am now 35 and wear glasses 90% of the time, love wearing them and wish I had never been afraid or frightened to in the past. I am glad I can write up some of my memories.

Rachel 11 Jul 2009, 22:16

Astra. What is your rx now then? Has it increased since you left hih school or not?

Astra 11 Jul 2009, 11:15

Recently I am very much involved in my study, so not much time around here. Now it is very late at midnight. (2:30 am), and I am going to sleep.

I may tell other sightings amongst some of my mates later. (too tired at the moment, sorry)

Astra 11 Jul 2009, 11:12

I haven't been around eyescene for 3 weeks.

Re Rachel.

I left high school in 2008.

Rachel 09 Jul 2009, 08:45

Puffin. Yes it does. Both sisters had more or less the same rx. It's quite unusual that. My best friend's rx is now RE +6.00 and LE +6.50 and her elder sister who is nearly 19 is only RE +4.00 and LE +4.25. Oftern the younger one has a higher rx than the older one I've been told. It's lucky I haven't a brother or sister or they may be even higher than me.

Puffin 08 Jul 2009, 14:22

Her sister's RX wasn't very high (minus 4 or 5) when she left the school I was in (she was 17 or 18 I think). Never saw her after that.

No idea what I did for her to be horrid to me but I did take note of her again until left school, no more than minus 5 I think, again never saw her again afterwards (thankfully). But it does prove that not everyone's myopia goes ballistic in the teen years.

Rachel 08 Jul 2009, 09:32

Puffin. Well why was she horrid? Its funny her rx didn't increase from being 9. Are you sure about that? I bet her teacher's were probably a higher rx anyway and she obviously enjoyed seeing with them. What rx did her sister get to Puffin?

Puffin 08 Jul 2009, 09:08

I remember a geography lesson where a certain girl with RX about 5 or so managed to break her frames (I think the screw came out). She went up to the teacher and he started trying to fix them, whilst he did this, he lent her his glasses and she exclaimed that they were okay for her (apart from being a bit big!) and happily went back to her seat and got on with whatever we were doing.

strange things about this girl: her rx never seemed to go above 5 or so, having started when she was about 9, she was absolutely horrid to me, and her big sister was really nice! (and wore glasses too)

Rachel 24 Jun 2009, 01:14

Seeker. Wow that just seems so weird. The problem for me would have been that no one else would have had glasses that were strong enough for me if had broken mine.

Seeker 23 Jun 2009, 22:34

Back in the days where if you broke your glasses it took several days to replace them and few people had spare pairs, I recall there was some borrowing old pairs from other glasses wearers with similar RX. At least one boy with a fairly stong RX borrowing from a girl as others offered were not strong enough. On one occasion two girls shared the same pair of glasses in a few classes.

Rachel 22 Jun 2009, 07:10

One of the younger girls at my school has fascinated me for for quite a while now. She is a couple of years younger than me and I first noticed her wearing glasses in assembly just over two years ago. Then I didn't see her wear them again until she got some new ones obviously with slightly stronger lenses. She didn't wear these many times and went back to not wearing glasses in assemble at all. Obviously she must have been wearing them in class, but I did not see her there. For about a year I have noticed her squinting like mad during break times and lunch times and getting really close to the food counter when she is choosing her meals. However only three weeks ago she came into assembly wearing some newer glasses still obviously with even stronger lenses and since them I haven't seen her without them on. It looks like she's finally given in to fulltime wear at last!

Rachel 21 Jun 2009, 06:56

Astra, When did you leave school then?

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 14:16

I remember I must have posted sightings about her on eyescene, about the progression of myopia, like that. (Kat is not her real name, nor does Kate, Katie, Kath???.... I just give her a name here)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 14:13

(Continued)

When I was in college I spot another mate... let's call her Kat. I can't remember I have posted my sightings about her. She was strange, in that she did not wear glasses until she was -3.5 and can't even see the edges of the tiles on the floors clearly.

(I'm sleepy, to be continued)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 14:07

(Continued)

I have said earlier there were classmates who wear glasses with the same frame, but with different rx. So Eu turned out bare-eyed for one day. (so this makes me curious about what the use of that red plastic frame... whose glasses was that?) I can't remember too much about her that day, although she appeared to manage alright, I imagine her eyesight deteriorated a bit, so even more blurry than myself without glasses.

But it turned out wrong. The next day she returned with an awkward rx. I did not ask her, so I estimated, L: -2.5 to -3 , R: -2 to -2.5 ? It is evident her left eye must have deteriorated later, as I have saw an image of her in late 2004 with slight cut-in for both lenses, 2006... well an image of her didn't seem to provide much evidence for her increased rx in left eye. But by 2007, when we are in different class, I saw an image of her showing her left lens much thicker than the right one. The left one may be -4ish and the right one still appears to be -2ish. This could possibly resulted from her awkward tendency to write closely, but inclined towards the left, so her left eye had faster increase in rx. I wonder how blurry her eyesight is, but one thing, she don't seem to have a beautiful face by 2006 or 2007... so I no longer got any intense feeling of her anymore. Moreover, I myself got older, and become less sensitive to these "stimuli".

(To be continued)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 13:48

(Continued)

The next day Eu wore her glasses almost full time. Then I can't remember... nothing particularly interesting about her for a while, but I still remember the later days when she was still with that rx, during which I remember a day when Eu was painting with Masha and me around. I thought I liked the curve of her lenses a lot, but I did not tell Eu or Masha about that. So what was peculiar about Eu painting? well, she constantly look down, so she looked a little bit apppealing, just like she was not using the lenses (just my thought at that time, I wonder I would still feel the same way now). I still remember when Eu looked up, I deliberately divert my focus on her eyes, pretending I was not looking at her eyes and lenses (I think(my personal thought) she would thought: eyes? glasses? or whatever strange?).

I don't know why, but I still think those was her most beautiful days when she was usually wearing that pair of lenses, especially when she removed them to clean her glasses.

The next year though, I wore glasses to see the board, a black square metal frame with an old rx. (about -2.00), because I couldn't tolerate the blur without anymore. But I always remove the glasses when I am reading or at home, otherwise I would feel dizzy.

I still remember seeing the nose pads of Eu's glasses turned yellow after used for around 2 years. I thought it was amazing to wear those flimsy frames for 2 years. One day, Eu wore a red plastic frame. I surely don't think she liked the frame, but by then I was no longer very friendly with her. And I had no idea about the rx in that red plastic frame, and I never saw her wearing that frame after that day.

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 13:19

(Continued)

Later on that day, Eu went to my home to discuss about our homework projects, (phew, why did we are that serious about those silly projects, can't understand with my brain now). Eu suddenly wore her glasses, and looked around, then she seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable and took them off within a minute or so. After we finished the day's other homework and talked about the projects, Eu chatted with me and Masha (another classmate, never seen her wearing her own glasses anytime because she seems to have normal eyesight, even last month I didn't see her with any glasses or contact). Eu told me she got a glasses, but the eye didn't adjust well with them. Masha tried Eu's glasses, and told me she was blind with them. I tried Eu's glasses, and I told them I was comfortable with her glasses, "interesting." (Actually I knew why...), I tried the glasses for a while, played them around, took some images of me in her glasses which has all been deleted now.

(To be continued)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 13:02

(Continued)

Right after the day which she had the aforementioned eye check, I didn't realise Eu had already got an rx. But I noticed an interesting thing. Eu asked me (ha, she didn't know I was myopic) about what was written on the board. I could barely figure out the words and told her. Thus I suspect, her myopia could be a bit worse than mine.

The next day, she still didn't get her glasses, but I just figured out some squinting. I got a guess of her supposed rx secretly, around -2.25 both eyes? (Just a wild guess)

The next week she got her glasses, but did not wear them at first. But I spotted her glasses case. So when she went to toilet, I opened the case and saw a pair of rimless glasses, beautiful, I thought, seemed we have similar rx? But I notice the lenses were very thin in the middle, possibly a hi-index? I never confirmed that but I always suspected the possibility. At the same time, I realised her glasses was much lighter (and more comfortable) than mine (that I stored in my home).

(Continued in the next post)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 12:47

Depends on my position, particularly so because of my short height, often reading the board is still possible with my myopia back then.

There were some funny incidence. I had a classmate, let's call her Eu. Back then, I always thought those who write very closely would eventually need glasses to read the board within a year. So Eu was that kind of girl when I first know her. Later on that month we got rather friendly each other, but she appeared to got about right back then. It was perhaps Feb 2004 (6 months later), and we were attending lessons on a school laboratory. I started to saw Eu squinted a little to see the board. Interestingly though, when I later that day asked whether she found difficult to read the board, she told me she could figure out the words normally. I couldn't believe that at all, and I believed her myopia progressed really fast, as the next day she was supposed to have her annual eye check. Interesting, how come she got normal eyesight (20/20) each year?

(Continued on next post)

Astra 20 Jun 2009, 12:30

(Continued from a post on thread "New Glasses")

The reason why I got curious about gwg was originated from my experience of being myopic (about -2) without glasses at school for more than 10 years. I remember I got very curious about other girl's glasses. Noticing the thickness of other girl's minus lenses, and the cut. Sort of, trying to compare myself to others, also observing the variations of rx, or even progression of rx when they had new glasses, or just new lenses with much stronger rx but with the same frame.

Now my nose is so stimulated to think about those experience again... and results in sneezing.

Back in those days I had the same problem. I remember I just pretend I had nose problems when I was actually got the nose excited because of noticing others' lenses.

Nova man 15 Jun 2009, 21:07

Another one of my girlfriends who I was dating around 97' had just gotten a new pair from walmart (VERY slight +) and the name on the lenses was "boulevard" they were gold with black on the fronts of the frame and big black ear pieces. They had HUGE nose pads and they werent adjusted well at all. The ear pieces were about an inch behind her ear and they slipped down constantly, I loved it. Afet about a month the nose pads turned a bright yellow color another perk!!She later lost them. by this time we had moved in together. She went back to walmart and got a pair of large wire rim oval black frames, shortly thereafter she got another pair of small oval wire rim "vogue". They had orange ear pieces and were tight she would get irate if I pulled them down saying it hurt her ears......more to come

Rachel J 12 Jun 2009, 23:23

Melyssa, Nova man. Well I never take the case to school. I just go in my glasses.

Melyssa 12 Jun 2009, 12:43

Nova Man,

I know what you mean by that "new glasses smell." Every time I get a new case (and usually a new pair of glasses to go with it), I can distinguish that aroma. It helps clear my sinuses for about a week, even. LOL

Nova man  12 Jun 2009, 09:55

It sounds to me like you ARE a winner ( no sarcasm) You wear glasses and enjoy it , and enjoy discussing them!!! what could be better

Rachel J 12 Jun 2009, 06:15

Nova man. Wow, pretty cool by the sounds of it. If you have your glasses tight to your face like, it's much better for seeing I find. Maybe that's why she was so insistent about it. It depends on the shape of your nos though I reckon, cos Niccy who I knwo has a little flat nose and her specs are always slipping down a lot. She's plus as well. My nose is kind of pretty thin, so my glasses slipt down a bit unless the ear pieces are really bent over tight. Then it tends to hurt my ears, so I can't really win.

Nova man 12 Jun 2009, 04:32

I started is so I guess I will tell it. My previous mentions girlfrined and I had "technically" split but still were "seeing" each other and I had started seeing one of her friends who was a about a -4.5 she wore these huge metal rim sort of but not perfectly square frames. I remember like yesterday. She was a full time wearer the rims were silver the nose pads has turned that greyish-white from the oilk in her skin and the plastic on the ear pieces was bright grey. The thing I remember the most about her was she was obsessed with here specs to but not in a fetish way. The had to sit perfectly on her face and not slip down at all. I can still remember how tight the arms and ear pieces were they camee straight down behind her ears and actually you could see them by her earing. She asked me to try them on once and there ws no way they were just too tight. Later she got some smaller ones , gold half wire frames, with orange ear piecs and they were the same way they didnt move an inch in any "condition".

Nova man 12 Jun 2009, 04:14

She wasnt a 100% full time wearer as she was a very slight plus. We went to 2 different schools but she used to tell me how she had to wear them cause she got headaches. But when I would go over to her house or we went out somwhere she always wore them. We split up around late 96....she had other friends that wore glasses too and I guess she didnt like me spending time with them. But thats for another thread!

Rachel J 11 Jun 2009, 22:56

Novo man. Did she wear them all the time for you then? I bet not many girls wore glasses for school in those days like they do now, so you were lucky.

Nova man 11 Jun 2009, 15:20

One of my h.s girlfriends got glasses when we were seniors, I had convinced her to wear glasses during "intimate" time before that albiet her mothers or what ever we could find.She didnt reall car so long as we could sneak out and get wild. Anyhow I remember the day she got her own It was in 95 and they were Identical to Andreas on 90210. Gold ,tortise shell on the fronts pretty high temples with gold arms and brown ear pieces. WOW I remember when she took them out the case and put them on they had a smell..... its hard to explain unless you have smelled that "new" glasses smell.....good times back then.

Rachel 04 Jun 2009, 22:30

I think another Rachel posts sometimes.

Rachel 28 May 2009, 22:53

Rick. No I don't think so. Not me. I've never had any need or wnated them. Not yet anyway! lol.

Rick 28 May 2009, 06:57

Rachel, do I remember you writing about your need for bifocal lenses several years ago? Was wondering why you have not joined the rest of us?

Rachel 28 May 2009, 01:38

Like Lenses. Possibly. I'm not really sure. The 20/30 was pretty tiny when I had my last test but I was just able to make it out. The thing I enjoy most about having extra minus is seeing eveything so clearly when I'm out. Like the tiny leaves on the trees looking really clear and the petals of flowers looking clearly defined down on the ground. It's seems so amazing when normally they just appear as a blob or something. I think it's worth it just for that. Also I'm not botherd about my eyes getting worse providing they can be corrected OK. When it comes to learning to