The most surprising thing I noticed about this year's election season was the huge amount of attention to the eyeglasses worn by vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Who knew that a pair of glasses would cause such a sensation? Women all over the world suddenly wanted those glasses, and there was even talk of people buying glasses with plain glass in them, because they didn't need prescription lenses, but just wanted the look. 
I've been a full-time eyeglass wearer since the age of twelve. And I think I've been through most of the eyeglass fashions: the smoky frames with the photo-gray lenses that got dark when you went outside and never were actually clear; the wire aviator frames, the glasses so big that they sat on the cheekbones or even below them...I've had them all. It's been hard, after having lenses the size of tennis balls, to get used to wearing glasses that are so small that you can see around the frames on all sides. But I'm sure that big glasses will be in fashion again sometime soon, and I'll have peripheral vision that's as clear as my straight-ahead vision.
If I had a dollar for every person who's asked me over the years why I don't try contacts, I'd have enough money to buy any designer eyeglasses I wanted for the rest of my life. For the most part, the glasses don't bother me, though sometimes it is tempting--especially when I see pictures of myself where the flash is bouncing off my glasses. And the idea of being able to change my eye color at will is interesting. (I'd pick green!)
My daughter has a thing for sunglasses. She doesn't need prescription lenses, but she likes to come along with me when I get new glasses so she can try on all the frames. Most of them look great on her, and she dreams of having a whole wardrobe of sunglasses. Her latest pair have a kind of "Venetian blind" effect--just plastic bars going across where the lenses should be. But she can wear them any time of day--they don't darken anything.
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