Seeing is believing

If like me, you’re a spectacle wearer, then you know the excitement was real when I heard that a Dutch purveyor of seriously cool frames was opening up on Oliver Plunkett St.

Off I headed to the opening recently where we were treated to an evening of tarot and an introduction to mysticism by Cork’s very own Modern Mystic Tara Marzuki (@tarmar) and I got to preview some lovely glasses.

There are a few things to consider when getting your new frames and one of them is choosing your frame colour. Whether it's with shape or with colour, you always want to create some visual contrast so while I quite like darker frames, they can be too heavy for my colouring and in fact lighter, warmer tone frames suit me better. Importantly, have a look at your face shape; oval face shapes can wear pretty much any shape frame but a round face shape should opt for square or rectangle frames to give the face some definition. On the opposite spectrum you can soften more square, angular face shapes with a round frame or an oval shape. Width is also very important and generally they should be just a little bit wider than the widest part of your face.

I tried on some very small frames, and they looked almost comedic on my face which is not the look we want with our new spectacles.

Even more essentially, they must feel right on your face, and I always need to make sure that my glasses sit comfortably on the bridge of my nose. I once bought a really statement pair of glasses, but they were so heavy that they became almost unbearable to wear so I never ended up wearing them. A waste of money and something I would never do again especially when we wear our glasses so much.

Lastly think about your own personal style when choosing your glasses and with the right pair of frames, they can become your best, most practical accessory.

Ace & Tate is an Amsterdam-based eyewear brand founded in 2013, which designs its frames in-house. I also got an eye test on the evening and realised to my shame that I hadn’t had my eyes tested in at least five years! Really when you think about it, we should factor in checking up on our eyes regularly as part of our health screening.

I got to try on lots of really great styles and shapes of frames and while I always go for a big, oversized frame I was surprised to find that some of the more subtle frames looked quite good.

I was particularly taken with the Giacomo frames in a light tan/brown colour which had an aviator feel to them. I always find it so hard to decide on frames!