I adore wearing all types of eyewear. Growing up in sunny Florida with light-colored eyes meant sunglasses became my constant accessory from a young age. It was the eighties and cool sunglasses were everywhere. Think Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan, aviator sunglasses in Top Gun, and Ferris Bueller’s crew taking a day off to drive to Chicago in Cameron’s dad’s convertible. Timbuk 3’s song The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades was the total vibe. 

Then as I got a bit older and needed corrective lens to see, I started to feel left out. Contacts were having their heyday but those were not an option for me (thanks to my unfortunate dry eye and astigmatism combo).  Luckily after some delightful visits to try on frames, I began seeing eyeglasses as a way to express my style and look sharp. You gotta admit Superman does look great in those Clark Kent glasses. 

Nowadays I enjoy noticing the frames people wear. I am often complimenting my fellow four-eyes on Team MMD about their glasses, then immediately inquiring about where they got them, of course. Having a selection of colorful and unique choices to switch up depending on the day is my goal. Afterall, they truly are the one of the first things we see. Like one of my style icons, Prue Leith, who collects bright and colorful glasses instead of  expensive purses and shoes, says “your specs are bang on your face, exactly where everybody looks at you.”

Yet, I am rough on glasses. I lose them easily and often. I still miss the one (and only) expensive pair of sunglasses I ever bought; they were swept to the deep while swimming in Cinque Terre about 20 years ago. There are too many broken pairs in my past to count. My everyday life simply puts wear and tear on my spectacles, which is difficult since eyewear is often expensive and time consuming to order. This led me to seek out more affordable and easy-to-order choices. Plus, I am picky and don’t like certain features I find restrictive, like nose pads, metal arms, and heavy frames. You can often catch me asking friends, coworkers, and people I meet on the street for their out of sight recommendations. Seeing truly is believing when it comes to durability, value, and comfort.

But to quote LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it. Our team here at MMD wears a lot of different types of specs (prescription and non-prescription) in our bookish daily lives. Many of our Zoom meetings start with a quick gab about our current frames. You could call us quite the inadvertent group of vision product testers, researchers, and reviewers. With so many choices out there, I’m delighted to share this fabulous collection of our favorite readers, eyeglasses, and sunglasses. Let’s take a look!

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Warby Parker

Anne’s favorite shades and regular glasses are both from Warby Parker. She loves them and has had them for many, many years. (Nearly ten at this point!) Her preferred styles (the Clyde frames and Upshaw shades) have been discontinued, but are sometimes found on sites like ebay and The RealReal. I like their durable and effortlessly cool frames too, especially the Chelsea style that I have had for over eight years.

Peepers

With colorful options and cute frame styles, I can see why Leigh’s favorite readers are from Peepers. She has the Flower Child and Tycoon styles, both in blue. While they are known for their readers, they also offer progressives, bifocals, and sunglasses. I don’t need bifocals yet, but I am keeping my eye on these (ha!) for when I inevitably do.

Goodr

These lightweight, inexpensive, and polarized sunglasses are a Team MMD fave! Holly was an Oakley devotee for years until she switched over to Goodr sunglasses. She loves their fun colors, unique names, and low cost. Her current sunnies are Falkor’s Fever Dream. I have a pair of vibrant Carl is My Co-Pilot that are great for pool days. They also make the perfect present. I have been gifting them for years to friends, family, teachers, and our school crossing guard with rave reviews all around. The National Park Foundation collection is my go-to selection for gifts. 

While Goodr offer options for prescription sunglasses, they are honestly out of my budget, making their normal sunglasses a good choice for contact wearers and people who can get by without corrective lenses outdoors.

Zenni

I raved about Zenni’s Glow-in-the-Dark eyeglasses and readers in my bookish accessories post.  Turns out I am not the only one who loves their frames. Ginger adores her Good To Be Square glasses from their Iris Apfel collection. (Talk about a style ICON!) She reaches for them the most, even beating out her pricey prescription pair from the eye doctor! 

Zenni also makes my absolute favorite prescription sunglasses, I have reordered them 5 times over the last decade. (That has nothing to do with the durability, just my above-mentioned penchant for losing and breaking glasses.) They are super customizable. I always get black frames with the Dark Gray sunglass tint, while my husband likes their gradient options. Plus, you can add engraving to the inside arm of the frame on many of their styles for a small price. It is such a cute and unique detail to make the glasses your own. 

Multipacks of readers

For a few of our team members, sets of multiple reading glasses come in real handy when they need to quickly find a pair. Will really likes this multipack of readers from Amazon that Anne ordered for him because he never seemed to have his readers handy. They are available in packs of four or six with several colors so you can be particular about which ones you wear.  Or you can leave them all over the house like Will does: on his nightstand, desk, living room table, and in his laptop bag. They are super lightweight and inexpensive but he hasn’t had any issues with them feeling cheap and getting bent. Leigh also keeps this three pack of blue light-blocking readers from Amazon around less-frequented areas of her home as backups to the Peepers frames she prefers. 

Eyebuydirect

My eye doctor recently prescribed me dedicated “computer” glasses and I cannot stop talking about the difference in my sight. Absolutely amazing! They are basically my normal prescription with a minor magnification added over the whole lens for the distance between my eyes and the screen. Since I was trying something new in my lenses, I went with a simple black frame I already knew I was smitten with so there would be no surprises there. The Dutchess is a lightweight and easy to wear round shape that I also have in neon pink for my everyday prescription. 

In addition, this pair of rainbow frames is such a great conversation starter and they go with nearly everything in my closet. Now I just have to get some more colorful options for my computer pair. 

Got a favorite spectacular pair to share? We would love to hear about all the frames and shades you adore in the comments.

P.S. 6 work-from-home wardrobe staples, Tried and true beauty and skincare products I never want to be without, and Elevate your reading experience with these favorite bookish things.

About the author

Brigid Misselhorn is our MMD Book Club Community Administrator. Her go-to genres are mystery, romance, and sci-fi. You can find Brigid on Instagram @brigid_emily.