I need new glasses. My current frames are beat to hell, and I've been using them with various lenses for over ten years now. This, plus the fact that Tiffany Arment and Casey Liss both spoke very highly of their experience with Warby Parker on a recent ad on Accidental Tech Podcast persuaded me to give Warby Parker a shot.
Taking Warby Parker up on their Home Try-On Program offer, I picked out five frames that I thought I'd like and ordered them. The Home Try-On Program is a free service in which they send you five frames, for free. You try them on, and within 5 days, put them back in the same box and drop them off at a nearby UPS store, where Warby Parker ships them back for free. You have nothing to lose, what-so-ever, by trying this. I placed my order on Thursday of last week, and they arrived around noon today.
My wife agreed to take 5 quick pictures of me wearing the various frames. What do you think? Which one should I go with? I've written my thoughts about each pair of frames below the corresponding picture.
Webb in "Revolver Black Crystal"
Visually, I liked these a lot. You cannot really tell from this picture, but the frames have a clear backing along the interior edges which make peripheral vision very nice (no dark outline of a frame all around your eyes). These frames fit horribly though. They were too tight on the sides, too loose in the back and kept feeling like they are about to fall off the bridge of my nose. These felt a little more like a rounded rectangle rather than a circle as well, and were a tad narrow in height.
Fillmore in "Revolver Black
These felt too tight along most of the stem. From the front they felt wide enough for me but overall I just didn't like the style - mostly the bridge. Because these hugged the side of my head so tightly, they were slightly lifted off the bridge of my nose and overall just did not fit well.
Wiloughby in "Revolver Black
This was my oddball choice. I picked one very square frame just to verify that I wanted round. I thought I wouldn't like them, but had to try them on to be sure. I confirmed my suspicions. I definitely want round frames again. I had a pair of rectangles such as these back in the '90s and grew sick of them after a short while. The lenses are too narrow in height which results in my seeing either the tops or the bottoms of the frames in my view most of the time. This is annoying.
These fit okay. They were a little tight in the middle of the stems but loose towards the back over my ears.
Begley in "Whiskey Tortoise"
In the mirror, I felt these were not wide enough from the front. However, these felt too loose - almost as if they were going to fall off. The stems that extend over my ears actually get wider near the back of my head. Too wide. I like the shape and would probably choose these if they were widget from the front but narrower at the back.
Watts in "Sugar Maple"
As soon as I put these on I could tell the difference. They fit perfectly, and felt it. These were not too tight or too loose. Also, you cannot tell from the photo, but the stem of each side of the frames curve inwardly, slightly, behind the ear and sort of wrap around the head behind the ear. This gives a comfortable feeling that they will not fall off. The lenses do not feel too large or too small when worn. They seem to be the appropriate width, and overall, I like this pair the most.
The more I wear these, the more I like them. They also feel nice when wearing headphones (which I do for 6-12 hours a day.
This second photo gives you an example of the rock base around the home & porch, but keep in mind it has the dormers on the roof and the garage is facing the wrong way - both of which we aren't getting.
