Wearing Glasses

[George 1978]

I suppose that as people "wear" glasses (or spectacles as they are also called), and they did go through a "Dennis Taylor, Timmy Mallet, Reg Holdsworth and Christopher Biggins" phase in the 1980s and 1990s, I do think that Fashion comes into it, even though it is seen (so to speak) as being closer to something that aids you like a heading aid (which is why Eric Sykes probably wore his).

I used to wear brown or black National Health glasses in the 1980s, and a more modern pair in the early 1990s - the story goes that I had an eye test when I was three or four (according to my medical notes), and by the time I started school, I had to wear them. I was the only person in my class to wear them, right until Year 7 of Comprehensive School when someone else wore them as well. I had often got the "four eyes" treatment in the school playground as predicted, and also the "can I try your glasses on?" treatment as well, and I bet that they were wondering why I could see through them, and they probably couldn't.

One positive aspect of this was the odd Monday afternoon off school to go to the local Dolland and Aitchison because a screw or a lens had fallen out of the frame - I remember someone throwing a football in my direction, it caught my glasses and the left lens came out, and it had been like that since. I wasn't really blind without them, but as people used to say that those with glasses looked intelligent - I thought that I looked vulnerable to say the least.

The sides of my ears and nose still feel sore from when I used to wear them on a regular basis.

I continued to wear them in the mid 1990s - over two years after I had left school, I was still being recognised by people from school (which I felt uncomfortable with), and so I stopped wearing them just before my 18th birthday, and since then, hardly anyone from those days had recognised me since. It's been over 20 years since I last wore glasses on a regular basis, and I just hope that I don't need to wear them again, even if it is for reading or watching television.

Actually, the last time I did wear glasses was when I visited a Cineworld and wore those 3D pairs, which of course don't really count, but it did bring things back of having plastic or metal balanced on my nose, not to mention the memories of seeing films at the cinema when I was younger.

Did anyone on here have to wear glasses when they were younger? Did you even find it embarrassing to wear them at school or just in public?

[Arran]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I used to wear brown or black National Health glasses in the 1980s, and a more modern pair in the early 1990s

No offence, but those chunky NHS glasses used to ruin many school photos from the 1970s and 80s. They didn't seem to exist in the 1990s and the glasses that kids wore then were far more respectable in comparison. When did they stop making them?

Was it really true that kids could smash them up then get a new pair free of charge - the cycle repeats?

[darren]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I got called names in school for wearing glasses like 4 eyes etc.
Worst thing was when they got steamed up.
Yes those 3d ones i wore them for a freddy film think it was freddy's dead number 6.
I remember the glasses where just for that film.

[Richard1978]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I've worn glasses since I was 11, but somehow was never bullied because of them.

Lucky for me the NHS ones seemed to have gone by the time I had my first pair, which were steel frames.

In the mid 1990s it seemed ironically to have them, with Chris Evans, Jarvis Cocker et al wearing pairs.

[Zincubus]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I need glasses and wear bi-focals at home but contact lenses during the daytime


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[George 1978]

Re: Wearing Glasses

No offence, but those chunky NHS glasses used to ruin many school photos from the 1970s and 80s. They didn't seem to exist in the 1990s and the glasses that kids wore then were far more respectable in comparison. When did they stop making them?

Was it really true that kids could smash them up then get a new pair free of charge - the cycle repeats?

School photos probably looked horrific when one had to wear National Health glasses - my first one in the Infants was embarrassing, but my parents insisted on getting a spare print. Since the 1990s they have been associated with trainspotters and those who wear fur-trimmed parka coats. Regarding the 1990s, I was referring to a metal-rimmed pair that I wore, which was an improvement on my previous pair.

[George 1978]

Re: Wearing Glasses

In the mid 1990s it seemed ironically to have them, with Chris Evans, Jarvis Cocker et al wearing pairs.

And of course, we had a PM who wore them as well, although it was his grey hair that he mostly got stick for rather than wearing glasses.

[Zincubus]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I'm always intrigued as to why a bloke wearing glasses is sometimes seen as weakness yet put a pair on a woman with a certain look and they're regarded as very 'sexy' - ie the office secretary ..

I've seen that quite a few celebs are wearing glasses with ZERO rated lenses as fashion accessories


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[Arran]

Re: Wearing Glasses

NHS frames from around 1980. The designs had not changed since the late 1940s.

[George 1978]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I'm always intrigued as to why a bloke wearing glasses is sometimes seen as weakness yet put a pair on a woman with a certain look and they're regarded as very 'sexy' - ie the office secretary ..

If you watch the ITV3 episodes of Coronation Street at the moment, have a look at the differences between the characters of Curly Watts and Deirdre Barlow - Curly is a door-to-door salesman, while Deirdre is a councillor. Now, I would say that Curly was the weaker one in comparison. Mind you, I thought that women wearing glasses are less sexy than when they don't wear them - this is why a lot of women opt for contact lenses.

[Zincubus]

Re: Wearing Glasses

If you watch the ITV3 episodes of Coronation Street at the moment, have a look at the differences between the characters of Curly Watts and Deirdre Barlow - Curly is a door-to-door salesman, while Deirdre is a councillor. Now, I would say that Curly was the weaker one in comparison. Mind you, I thought that women wearing glasses are less sexy than when they don't wear them - this is why a lot of women opt for contact lenses.

You decide



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[Trickyvee]

Re: Wearing Glasses

I didn't need glasses until the 90's, but my school photos have one or two children in the infamous NHS frames - always black for boys and either clear pink or clear light blue for girls. My first pair had the typical wire frames of the time. In fact when I see photos of myself and others from the 90's I feel that those rounded wire framed glasses have become a key marker of the decade. Nobody really wears them now. I remember the key change in glasses style occurring in the 00's with people like Nick Robinson blazing a trail on his news reports and Gok Wan promoting them in the fashion world.

[Arran]

Re: Wearing Glasses

C524 are the chunky NHS glasses I'm referring to in post #2. The two metal frames seem much rarer in the 1970s and 80s judging by school photos. You could get C524 with pink and blue frames as well as the more common black and brown.

[Arran]

Re: Wearing Glasses

In fact when I see photos of myself and others from the 90's I feel that those rounded wire framed glasses have become a key marker of the decade. Nobody really wears them now.

You're right. In the 1980s squarish glasses with metal frames and a bar above the nose bridge were common for both kids and adults but they were largely replaced by round glasses with metal frames in the 1990s. In the late 1980s there seemed to be this brief trend for 'yuppie' glasses with plastic frames, judging from videos, but they were nowhere to be seen in the 1990s.

[George 1978]

Re: Wearing Glasses

You decide

That looks like a picture that you would see on the wall inside a Dolland and Aitchison's in the early 1990s.

I don't need glasses to see that she hasn't got a bra on.