The Evolution of Glasses

From nerdy tool to fashion accessory

Originally published on October 23, 2017

Glasses are an interesting thing. They’re an aid to help with a disability. Think about it. For most people who wear glasses, they could not function in society without them. They couldn’t read, they couldn’t drive. If they lived 400 years ago, they wouldn’t have survived. Glasses became tools to help people with poor eyesight, well, survive. After some time, they became associated with nerds and other scholarly people due to the eyestrain caused by excessive reading and the subsequent large, thick glasses. Yet glasses have evolved into somewhat of a fashion accessory.

I’ve always been comfortable wearing glasses. I’ve had to since third grade, and mine were always simple, with skinny frames of brown or blue and lenses progressively getting thicker. I didn’t even wear contacts until sophomore year of high school, but that’s a different story.

I got to choose new frames this past summer after about five years of wearing the same ones. I didn’t realize how much frames had changed in those five years. It took me a while to narrow it down to what I wanted because many of the frames were similar to each other, yet completely different from mine. Bigger. Bright colors. Flashy designs. They really stood out on the face and it took me awhile to narrow it down to ones that were subtle and more my style, but still looking like the rest.

I’ve found it interesting to look at older books and read the stories where the people with glasses were picked on, called things like “four-eyes”, frames held up by tape from being punched in the nose. I really didn’t want to start wearing glasses because of these stereotypes, but it was never like that for me. By the time I had to start wearing glasses, it seemed like already there was more of a cultural shift. More people wear glasses, and it is a natural thing. It has even turned into more of a fashion statement, a stylish thing with TV commercials about how awesome it is to get a new pair of glasses (some people wear them without lenses!). That mentality has stuck to this day. In fact, there are some days when I just wear glasses because I want to. I make the choice to wear them, like I choose to put my hair in a ponytail or wear it down, or wear a sweater or sweatshirt. It’s just another part of my look.

So while society still has a long way to go in accepting some differences in people and making treating different disorders and disabilities commonplace and socially acceptable, I think we’re stepping in the right direction with glasses (though even now, if one looks up a standard “nerd” costume, those thick-frames black glasses with some tape in the middle still show up). It makes sense that the outlook on glasses has evolved over time. Perhaps others will follow suit.