It seems that most adolescents go through their own “ugly duckling” phase, and while it might be an awkward growth spurt, a difficult to deal with complexion, or something else altogether, it happens to all of us. For me, being a school nerd with frizzy hair and braces wasn’t enough when I was in middle school, the universe had to bestow upon me the unwanted gift of glasses.
Around age 12, I started having a hard time seeing the chalkboard from the back of the classroom and, like any good parents would, mine took me to the local optometrist for a vision test. Low and behold, I needed specs to address my nearsightedness. While I didn’t have to wear them all of the time, the classroom was one of the places where I’d be donning them the most.
That ‘90s fashion!
Just to set the record straight, I’m 33, so when I got my first set of glasses at age 12 it was 1996, when optical fashion was quite different than today’s far more engaging trends. Nowhere to be found were cute and bold styles like the collection I own today, instead, round metals dominated the landscape.
I recall so vividly asking my mother if there were other options available, as I didn’t feel comfortable in any of the choices in front of me. A few weeks later we returned for me to pick up my very first pair of glasses: you guessed it, round metal with a slight tortoise-shell print.
