I did a stupid thing this weekend–I lost my glasses! I had my sunglasses on at the time, and my regular frames somehow fell out of my pocket while I was out walking the dogs. I retraced my steps and looked high and low for them but they are gone gone gone. So since Saturday I’ve been wearing an old pair that has an outdated prescription which hurts my head, and my regular prescription sunglasses whenever I can get away with that without looking too ridiculous.
I ordered a cool new pair yesterday that should arrive shortly, but in the meantime I thought I would see what the advice gods had to say about wearing glasses. The following is from Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, written in 1960 by Gayelord Hauser. The section on eyeglasses starts out by talking about doing eye drills and eye relaxation, enough to strengthen your eyes so you don’t need glasses. But then Hauser brushes aside that quackery and writes:
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I definitely do not belong to the school that says: “Throw away your glasses.” Unless you are willing to work on your eyes constantly and daily, I suggest that you consult the best eye doctor in your city and let him decide, after a thorough examination, whether or not you need glasses. There are few things so damaging to a woman’s looks as her straining, squinting effort to see. It is not only detrimental to the eyes, for tissues around the eyes become a mass of fine, squinting lines. Along with the muscles of the eyes, your whole face and even the muscles of your neck and shoulders become tense in the struggle to see.
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Exactly how I’m feeling! Let’s continue:
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The decision rests entirely with you and your eye doctor. If you need glasses, wear them boldly and confidently. Today women treat eyeglasses not as a handicap to good looks but as an accessory. You no longer need to change frames and shapes that will make the glasses inconspicuous. Quite the contrary–the bolder the better.
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My new ones are slightly diamond shaped. I hope that’s bold enough.