I might need glasses rehab.

My online glasses fixation has reached near-obsessive levels.  I decided to order a slew of new glasses in an attempt to try different styles, and also to practice what I've learned from my first orders to end up with better pairs.  My order history began in December 2008 as follows:

• 1 pair of metal glasses with acetate temples - trapezoidal lenses.  View them here. Cost: $36.
  
  
• 1 pair of black, rectangular flexible titanium frames.  Very plain; view here.   Cost: $45.  

 Then I decided to delve into sunglasses right after I ordered the first pair above.  Here are the results:

• 1 pair of metal, angular steel-framed sunglasses (in grey).  View them here.   Cost: $45.  
  
  
• 1 pair of Optic Nerve sports sunglasses with Rx insert; view them here.   I then sent them to the one online store I know of that does re-lensing of your old frames for $39.  Total combined cost: $60.  Perfect for cycling, kickball etc.

I sat on my laurels for a while, satisfied with a job well done, until I realized a few things.  Number one: though I liked my orders, they weren't perfect.  My first pair of online-ordered glasses were a bit small for my facial features.  (I have a big head, which can make it hard to find glasses in both a store and online.)  I mean, they were adjusted and fit ok, but I preferred the look and comfort of the second pair based on size alone.  Unfortunately, the second (titanium) pair were also very conservative.  They didn't "pop".  The idea was to have one pair to go with brown-matching outfits and another pair to go with black ones....but that wouldn't work if I was constantly picking one pair over one other pair, and the one pair was rather unexciting. 

Finally, I realized that the non-sports sunglasses I ordered were great on very bright days, but since I ordered the darkest tint they were TOO dark in many situations.  One incident had me wearing my sunglasses as the sun was going down.  The glare was severe opn that day (I was driing towards the setting sun), but the overall light out was dim...and I started falling asleep at the wheel.  When I removed my sunglasses, the drowsiness went away.  Yikes.  Plus I wanted a backup pair of regular sunglasses, because they are easy to lose.  So why not try out some different styles?  

Number two was that I could afford to try out multiple styles.  Why not?  At $50 per pair at the most, I could have as many pairs of glasses as I wanted.  And with a re-lensing service available, I could keep every pair until they wore out -- which would take longer to happen because I would have multiple pairs. 

So I went on a second glasses shopping spree.  I wanted to get a black-matching pair that was more stylish, a black plastic frame, and a brown plastic frame to match with brown-based outfits.  I ended up with the following:

• Black plastic frames with blue highlights: you can view them here.   These were on special sale, so the total cost was only $30(!).  
  
  
• Brown plastic frames; you can view those here.   Total cost: $28.  The frames are really cheap, but who cares? 
  
  
• Grey stylin' frames (so I can wear them with either black or brown, depending on how dark the temples end up being; the 360-degree view is best).  You can see those here.   Total cost: $32.
  

• "Gradient-tinted" sunglasses with a funky design, only medium-tinted this time.  View here.   Total cost: $71.  The tint goes from grey at the top of the lens to clear at the bottom, and that's $10 extra.  This pair was my most indulgent experiment in terms of price. 
  

So far, I've received the black plastic pair and the new sunglasses, and I am happy with both -- especially the black plastic.  When the brown and the grey pairs come in, I will have 5 pairs of prescription glasses to go with 3 pairs of prescription sunglasses (one for sport).  Total cost for all 8 pairs? $347.  My last pair of prescription sunglasses bought in a boutique cost me about $300.  Without insurance, they would have cost me north of $600.  And I can probably reimburse myself for some of these glasses with my medical FSA.    

I'm done this time, I swear!  Assuming all these new pairs work out (and they probably will, given that all of the glasses Ive ordered have sported solid workmanship that compares well with what one finds at a place like LensCrafters...or better), I will be able to rotate them in and out.  And if my prescription changes, I will be able to have them re-lensed (either at an optician or online) for relatively small amounts of money.  My prescription has been very stable since I started wearing glasses, so I don't anticipate having to even think about that for the next couple of years at least. 

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