4 Tips to Buying Unique Glasses

So, it’s time to get yourself a new pair of eyeglasses and you don’t want to look like everyone else.  Here are 4 tips to make your experience, vision and look stand out::

1. A quality comprehensive eye examination experience at a location that tests to your personal best vision (not just normal 20/20) will make provide you with a unique outlook.  Visit a small business rather than a chain practice if you are looking for a unique experience.
2. Opt for the preventative wellness care when you can provide the doctor with better information about your eyes, s/he can do a better job providing you with a clean bill of health and your best vision.
3. Shop for frames that do not have a name designer on the side like that of most optical chains.  If you want unique, don’t buy a brand that advertises on television.  Best way to find unique frames is to shop small as in Small Business Saturday this November.
4. Avoid frames manufactured by the largest frame manufacturers in the world.  Do your research to find small manufacturers and stay away from large ones like Luxottica.  The illusion of choice often comes as a surprise to consumers at Luxottica owned locations, but all of their designers are licensed and manufactured out of the same parts by the big L.  If you’ve seen the frames for sale at chain opticals that advertise on television everyone else is likely to be wearing those designs.

In the end, it comes down to visiting a local eye doctor office that isn’t owned and operated by a large corporation but rather a doctor interested in serving his/her patients.  If you shop small you are likely to find independent practitioners who stock independent, unique frame lines that make the chain stores and their clientele all look the same.  You will not find something unique if it is so ubiquitous that you can buy the frame at your local grocery chain as with the following Luxottica Brands: Dolce & Gabana, Prada, Tiffany, Ray Ban, Vogue, Michael Kors, Giorgio Armani, DKNY, Oakley, Versace, Bulgari, Coach, Polo, Oliver Peoples, Burberry, Chanel, and more…  Yes you read correctly, these are all owned by the same design and manufacturing company (talk about false choice: would you like to drink a Coca-Cola Product or a Coca-Cola Product, or maybe a um Coca-Cola Product with your meal?), and it’s just a matter location that determines which brands are in your local grocery store and/or chain optical.