As I get older, my taste in glasses seems to get older with me. Retro glasses have always been on my radar, but now that there are so many options for affordable prescription glasses, I really have my pick of whatever style I want… and I’m constantly picking styles that were popular in the 1940s-1960s.
I’ve never bought a pair of glasses from GlassesUSA. They reached out to me for a review, and I was all over it because buying prescription glasses online can be a gamble, so I do my best to cover all of the affordable glasses websites and give an honest review. I’ve definitely seen my fair share of ups and downs when buying glasses online, but I’m pleased to report that GlassesUSA is one of the good ones.
Their selection was impressive and gave my decision-making skills a run for their money. After reviewing my rapidly growing prescription glasses collection, I realized there was a pair I was missing: a pair of black, half horn-rim glasses, one of the most popular glasses from the 1950s and 1960s.
My Newest Affordable Rx Glasses: Retro Tortoiseshell Horn-Rim Glasses
More specifically, I got the Elliot frames in tortoiseshell & gold which are only $89 including prescription lenses.
They are impressive glasses. I told GlassesUSA that I would be using them mostly for working on the computer, and the glasses arrived with a blue light cancelling coating that is said to help your eyes get ready for sleeping (& maybe even get better sleep) after a long day of computering. Blue light is so stimulating for eyes that it can make you forget that you, like, need sleep to live.
I had two color options for this style – black and silver, or tortoiseshell and gold. Since I’m deep into my stereotypical early 30s gaudy gold phase, I snapped up that tortoiseshell pair without a second thought.
The frames themselves are very lightweight due to the fact that it’s plastic and only a touch of metal. The vibe I wanted from these, I definitely got. They’re retro, but also kind of modern thank to the gold accents and tortoiseshell. I use these as my “neutral” glasses for when I just want to look put-together but still don’t want to wear basic, black wayfarers. Let’s just say I’ve been guilty of glasses monotony and actively fight against it.
About that Blue-Light Cancelling Coating…
The coating works (I think) but you should take a couple things into account before ordering up a pair of computer glasses for yourself.
- The tint is visible. You can see it in these pictures. It’s a yellow-ish tint that definitely distorts the appearance of your skin.
- Everything is warmer. As a photographer, I rely on my dumb eyeballs to do a good job capturing reality. This blue-negating coating makes everything look a little bit warmer in color tone. When editing pictures, this can be very misleading and result in a product that isn’t true to life.
- It casts a blue reflection. In addition to appearing yellow-tinted, the reflection off of the lenses is a bright, supernova blue. It’s not uncool, but it is definitely noticeable.
I don’t mind most of these “side effects” of the coating, but every once in awhile I catch that yellow tint… and it makes me look sickly or jaundiced. If I were more sure of any positive effects that it has on my eyes, I wouldn’t care.
All in all, these were a welcome addition to my glasses portfolio (which is ever-growing). These GlassesUSA specs are the most expensive glasses in my affordable glasses collection, and I’m not entirely sure they’re worth the extra cost. They haven’t broken on me or anything, but they feel more cheap than any of my other pairs. They are the one pair that have this blue light negating coating, though, so that’s something.
If you fall in love with one of their many, many styles (including sunglasses), I would suggest waiting for a sale or using one of their many coupon codes. Right now, you can take 55% off of full priced glasses & free shipping with the code SUMMER55. If you’re in need of new glasses, go play around on their website and see if you find something you like!