"You’re ordering glasses from the Internet? You’re braver than I am!" was the almost-unanimous sentiment I heard when I told people how my previous set of frames had fallen apart and that I wasn’t too keen on spending hundreds of dollars on a new pair. The sole dissenter was ubercool Leigh Honeywell, who told me that she had picked up a couple of pairs from Zenni Optical.

On her recommendation, I picked up two pairs. Both of them are fantastic. =) Prescription is right on. The frames are a little wider than I’m used to, but they’re both memory frames, so they fit securely on my head. And they’re way cheaper than frames bought in-store would be, not to mention the lenses.

Frame#:  3413 Half Rim Hingeless Stainless Steel $12.95 (Black)
Lens Width 49mm, Height 27mm, Bridge 17mm
FrameWidth 136mm,Temple Arm Length 140mm
Frame Weight with 1.57 index lens 11 grams

and

Frame#:  3412 Stainless Steel Half Rim Frame with Flexible (Memory) Plastic Temples $12.95 (Burgundy)
Lens Width 50mm, Height 28mm, Bridge 19mm
FrameWidth 136mm, Temple Arm Length 140mm
Frame Weight with 1.57 index lens 12 grams

Lenses are included in the frame price, although I paid an extra ~$5 for anti-reflective coating. Compare with… what… $200, $300 per frame, plus more for lenses?

I picked fairly conservative designs, but there are tons of styles on Zenni and other online retailers. =) Someday I may experiment with styles a bit more. These are fine. They’re hingeless: interesting.

Recommend, particularly for people who find optical shops way more expensive than they should be. Measure your old glasses to find out what frame dimensions you’re comfy with, then pick out a pair or two. =)