“Stag, be my eyes” is a phrase you will hear quite frequently in the life of Wolf & Stag. It’s not that I don’t own glasses. Indeed, the one pair I owned prior to this post — old, scratched and worn, probably with a prescription from 1855 — banged around dutifully in my handbag every day for years, like penance.
It’s just that I stubbornly refused to put them on.
Even in circumstances when, let’s be honest, I really should’ve: train stations, airports, cinema outings. You know, times when you may want to see.
And prescription sunglasses, so I could feast my eyes upon sight-seeing wonders on a sunny holiday? Don’t even get me started. My fabulous look of sunglasses layered with normal glasses on top was a vision to behold.
Needless to say, I was in desperate need of a glasses update. Something to bring me into 2018 (out of 1855 bifocals?), and to compliment both my daily computer work and life in sunny California.
Enter in: Coastal, the largest online eyewear company in the world, purveyors of frames for every person at every budget. Now I will admit to you: prior to this experience, the world of Buying Glasses Online terrified me a bit. What if they didn’t fit? How do I know what will suit me?
Well, let me debunk those fears for you. Coastal offers a very-clever MyFit tool, which is essentially a “Will it fit me?” clothing filter, but with glasses. You enter measurements from a pair of glasses you already have and love, and presto, out comes a curated list of glasses that will fit similarly. It made buying glasses online so much easier.
There is also such a range of shapes, styles, colours and lenses that it’d be hard not to find something you like. No, seriously: I tried, and failed, because I wound up loving about 150 frames and had to narrow it down to two. Talk about Indecisive Libra Problems.
Of course, I saved the best for last. As you lovely readers are well aware, I try to only promote brands on this glorious Internet Slice that do good in some way. One of Coastal’s best selling points is their ‘buy one, give one’ initiative, which donates a pair of glasses to someone in need with every pair purchased. I wish all my shopping habits did such good for the world.
Because I am not one for excess — I’ve been on a mission to only have fewer, better things — I chose one pair of normal glasses and one pair of prescription sunglasses.
For my everyday normal glasses, I paired my Kam Dhillon Brinkley frames with BlueReflect for digital screens lenses, which reduce glare and limit exposure to blue light from digital screens. Admittedly, these do have a rather blue-ish sheen, but they make such a difference when using a computer. If you, like me, spend your days screen-staring for hours-on-end, this is the lens choice for you.
My second pair is — wait for it, because I’m so excited people — a pair of prescription sunglasses. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted a pair of these. Now I can be in the sun and SEE FAR AWAY, which is like some Christmas Miracle that I never thought possible. These Kam Dhillon Crawford beauts are stylish and classic, meaning I’ll keep them for years.
With these two pairs of glasses in tow, I was completely ready for our recent holiday to Las Vegas. My prescription sunglasses saw me through a hot, hot day reading by the pool, and my everyday glasses were perfect for watching our shows in the evening.
Two pairs of prescription glasses: one life, sorted. Thanks, Coastal, for the much-needed glasses update!
Wearing the Kam Dhillon Brinkley Frames in’ Havana,’ with a Blue Reflect Glasses Lens
Wearing the Kam Dhillon Crawford Frames in ‘White Tortoise,’ with a Grey Polarized Sunglasses Lens
This post is in collaboration with Coastal, who kindly gifted me these glasses. However, as per usual, all opinions, thoughts and ramblings are nothing but my own.