I could see my computer in my old reading specs, but not in the new ones. What do I do now for work?!

This is an easy one, and we come across it fairly regularly. To enable you to see to read we give you a magnifying lens that allows you to see small print and fine detail. When you need it strengthening, the focal length will be shorter than in your old weaker pair. You’ll see to read in the new ones, but not see so well far away. Just use the old pair for the screen, as they are what we would prescribe for a middle distance lenses. If you constantly refer to small print and the screen however, you’ll need varifocals or vocational lenses, to allow you to do more than one thing at once.

I love the look of my new flat lenses, but my table is weirdly sloped away from me, and the walls are kind of curving in!

If you switch from a standard to a flatter lens design you will see some distortion at the edges of the lenses, but it will wear off. It just feels very odd to start with, so the key is to put the specs on and leave them on! Your brain will adjust and after a day or two the odd effects will be gone.

I know I’ve got Cataracts starting and my sight isn’t as good as it was, but I can’t see as well in my new glasses as with my old ones. Are they wrong?

Of course there could be a problem with the prescription or with the way the glasses have been made, but the answer here may be about your Cataracts. The lens inside your eye will have little opacities in it, which obscure your sight. If the old specs are weaker and you’re not seeing as clearly then you won’t see the opacities as clearly either! The new power is probably showing your visual defects up. Get the spex checked out, but patience is probably all that’s required, when you are ready for your Op your sight will be restored.

If you have any concerns about your glasses or your vision then mail us at the Internet Glasses Company for an individual and confidential reply.

How come you offer varifocals when so many other online optical sellers don’t?

We can’t speak for other retailers, but our team are qualified opticians with a wealth of experience, both in testing sight and dispensing spectacles. We decided from the outset that we would not be offering a complete service if we didn’t sell varifocals. Our expertise means that we have a very high success rate, with less than 1% returned to us. This is a higher success rate than most opticians have in High Street stores.

How can they work when you don’t see people face to face?

For the vast majority of patients, with average facial measurements and a straightforward prescription, varifocals fitted to our standard measurements will work perfectly. They may need a slight adjustment, but we send out instructions on successful wear with the specs, and will always talk to people if they do come across any problems. This is usually easily rectified.

How long do they take to get used to?

Within a week, most wearers will have forgotten they’ve got them on! It’s rare that after two weeks anyone has any difficulties. They just take a day or two to settle down, and for that first couple of days you might feel a bit wobbly. Put them on, leave them on, and read and take note of the wearer tips we send to you.

What if I don’t get on with them?

In the unlikely event that there is a problem, we will mail you and also chat to you on the phone about what might be wrong. Often the client just needs reassurance that the specs take time to adjust to. We offer a no quibble refund at any stage, but most people want to find a solution that makes the specs work. We can also suggest alternative types of lens to the varifocal if all else fails!

Firstly, try and think about this purchase as a treat, the chance to splash out on a designer piece with none of the guilt! Spend plenty of time making your choice and canvass the opinions of friends, colleagues, and all those who know you best. Try frames on with a selection of clothes and your usual different hair styles. Look upon your glasses as an accessory to enjoy!

When you get them, play around with jewellery, scarves and hair styles, matching the glasses into your personal look. You may also need to re-think your make-up. Firstly, glasses may throw shadows onto your face beneath your eyes. A highlighter concealer like YSL Touche Eclat is useful here, a stroke under the eyes, well blended, will reflect light back and banish those shadows. To bring attention to your eyes behind your specs, don’t skimp on mascara or eyeliner. Eyelash curlers are great too, to open up your eyes and make the most of what you’ve got! Any tricks to make your eyes look bigger will help to add definition.

Foundation and powder can clog behind nose pads and smear across lenses, so keep this light around the bridge of your frame. Wash specs daily in soapy water to stop make up building up around your frame.

Tinted lenses can alter the colour of your eyes and your make up, so try the specs on in good light, even step out into the sun with a mirror to make sure you’re happy with the colours you’re wearing in daylight. Brown photochromics can make the skin look red, so cool your make up colours down. Grey will make your skin look colder, so use warmer tones.

Bringing your glasses in to blend with your look will help you to feel comfortable in them. Enjoy experimentation and see it as an opportunity to try some different colours, it’s all to easy to get stuck in a rut and this may be the time to be brave! Browse around the cosmetic counters in big stores and ask for help with the experts. Before you know it all your friends will want to wear specs too!

The first thing you need to consider is what you will use your glasses for. If you go on lots of holidays in the sunshine, if you ski or work outdoors, then a fixed tint may be the best option for you. It will give full UV protection, and you can choose the level of colour to suit your requirements. If you want full sunspec coverage go for 85% darkness upwards. You can choose a big, bold, sunglass style frame and have plenty of practicality and style.

If you live less of an outdoor life, and like to wear a tinted lens but don’t spend all day outdoors, then a photochromic lens allows you to go in and out without messing around and swapping your glasses over. You still get full UV protection, with the tint changing from about 15% indoors, to 85% in full sun. Only the UV in sunshine changes the lenses, so they won’t be dark inside. You only need one pair of specs for all conditions, and don’t need to carry your clear pair with you.

The downsides? Some people don’t like the fact that photochromics go very dark on cold sunny days, and they always look dark on photographs. If you damage one lens, you’ll need to replace both as the colour balance will alter over time. If you have permanent tints you always need your clear glasses about your person, as it’s illegal to drive in tints at night. So take the time to consider your lifestyle before you place your order, and get set for spring!

I’ve been looking for a new pair of specs for ages, and really wanted something different this time. I’ve done rimless, tiny black metal, bright red plastic and everything in between. It’s always difficult to find something really wow, but having scoured the fashion pages I decided it was time to go big, and chose a huge blue Christian Dior, with very cool diamante bits on the sides.

I mailed the Internet Glasses Company to ask about my lens strength, as my Mum always had to have small frames because she’s very short sighted. Apparently it’s ok to go large with my prescription, which is quite low. They told me I could still have had big frames even with high power lenses if I ordered special thin lenses, but in the end I had thin lenses anyway to make sure they weren’t too heavy.

When the postman staggered up the path with my new specs I was very very excited, and couldn’t wait to hit the streets. For a start, I loved the sense of space – I could hardly see the rims around the frame, it was like contact lenses but without the pain! As the frame is plastic it didn’t feel too heavy although it’s twice the size of my old little metal specs. I was glad I had thin lenses though, they feel very light and apparently this lens is tougher. I’m sure I’ll get a few strange looks to start with, but I’m loving my new look, and setting a trend!

I can’t see without my prescription when I try them on!

This is a difficult one, but there are lots of ways around it. Firstly, enlist the help of whoever you trust the most, partner, friend, mother. Browse as many styles as possible. Some opticians have a computer system that lets you see yourself in the frame; some will let you try them at home. Take a quick picture on a digital camera and then you can see yourself. Order try before you buy from the Internet Glasses Company and get the neighbours round; make a party out of taking a vote!!

I‘ve got no idea what’s in fashion

Spec fashion is not quite in the forefront of the news like clothes etc, but it’s there if you look for it. Up market mags like Vogue do have ads for glasses, so scour them for the newest designer collections, then find the nearest from an online optician for all the style but a fraction of the cost. Check out what Celebs are wearing. Colour palettes will reflect what’s in the shops for clothes.

They’re really expensive – how do I decide on one pair for everything I want?

The easy answer is that you don’t – would you wear the same dress for the school run and a ball? An eyewear wardrobe will help you to enjoy wearing glasses and make you more confident in them. Something funky for daywear, glitzy for evening glamour, and simple for walking the dog!

I hate glasses, nothing suits me

There is a frame for every face; you just have to find yours. Try lots on, canvass the opinions of friends and professionals, look in magazines and all around you in city centres etc. Decide on a look – bold chunky plastic or slim and classic metal. Then colour – stick to something that compliments your colouring if you’re not too confident to begin with. Then whittle it down to the subtle detail of shape and trim. Easy!

I want a pair like my old ones, why don’t they make them anymore?

For the same reason we don’t have bubble perms and Abba blue eye shadow – get with the times! You have to move on, as you should with your hair, clothes and make up. Specs are the first thing anyone notices about you, so make the most of new technology and materials. Enjoy wearing something different!

Steve – Technician – I started wearing glasses when I was fifteen. This was not a good age, and not good for my confidence when added to my brace and my lack of control of my suddenly gangly limbs. (Sounds gorgeous!)  I trod on them just before a really important football match, and as I was only on the team because they were desperate I had to act fast. I used some superglue to stick the lens back in. This had a dramatic effect, the lens went frosted and the frame got stuck to my left eyebrow. I nearly passed out from the fumes, and got hit by the ball because I couldn’t see out of the left side. I had to spend two hours waiting in casualty to have the frame removed, and had a bald eyebrow for weeks.

Lucy – Dispenser – I got some sunglasses made up when I worked for one of the multiple opticians. They were dead trendy huge Versace frames, and the workshop did tell me the frame was not ideal for my prescription, but I got them anyway. I wore them all the time, even when it wasn’t sunny. One day I wore them on the train, and this way hot guy kept looking at me. I was really excited until I got to work and discovered that one of the black lenses was still in the case. I’d spent all morning with one black lens and one totally clear. I started driving to work after that.

Charlie – Admin – I’m a disaster with my glasses. I went to Scotland to be best man at a wedding and forgot my reading specs. I had to give the speech wearing some pink leopard print ready readers that I borrowed off the bride’s mother. A lens popped out of my first pair of varifocals and I put it back in, then had blinding headaches all day. When I took them back to the optician he told me I’d put the lens in upside down. I left my photochromics on the windowsill one afternoon, and half of one lens got baked black in the sun. I then stuck them on to drive into town, and had one clear lens and one half coloured for about four hours. It was never quite the same again!

Sue – Admin – I had an old car with a really rubbish heater, and I always wore gloves to drive. One morning I reached up to wipe a smudge off the lens and got my glove caught on one of the screws, just as I had to get through the traffic lights. I had to stop in the middle of the junction to extricate myself, and ended up negotiating it with a bright red glove dangling off my specs.

So there you go – even us experts have our spectacular disasters! Anyone got any they’d like to share with us? Go on – mailing us will make us feel so much better!

When the NHS was in charge of our eyewear decisions, frames were tiny and round – John Lennon rolled gold rims – or square and plastic – Michael Caine. Then came the heady days of the Seventies and frames got bigger and bigger. The shape then was flat across the brows and deep down on the cheekbones. Then it got rounder again – remember Timmy Mallet?! And preferably multi coloured. For men it was metal Aviators all the way, with varying degrees of droop and curve. For the daring few who did not like the double bridge, there were deep square frames, slightly rounded on the rims. The key factor with all these looks was the frame proportion – deep and fairly narrow across the face.

Michael Caine in his square plastic glasses

Things got exciting in the nineties, when frames got radically smaller and round again. The evolution from this was oval frames, and gradually the proportion changed to shallow and wide. Varifocal manufacturers had to step up their game and produce lenses which would fit into small frames. People got used to smaller frames that were light weight.

Now we have squarer or rectangular versions of this shape, and the size for next year is gradually increasing again. Vintage shapes of Christian Dior and Cazal frames are on the market again, and hip designers like Tom Ford and Paul Smith are showcasing very retro round shapes. Like the return of the shoulder pad it proves there’s nothing new in fashion!