Help from you folks with sweet glasses...

aenigma · March 2009

I have been wearing contact lenses almost exclusively since starting high school. I was pretty athletic back then, with a focus on somewhat aggressive sports, so it made sense to make the switch. This means that I have not gotten new frames (although I've had a lens update or two) since middle school. We're talking tortoise-shell rims, Harry-Potter round-shape, total geekazoid. (I also had braces back then. Good times.)

Well ... I've finally realized that glasses don't have to look horribly embarrassing! I dare say they're even: sexy. So I'm going to get new frames. Here's the thing: I need to get them by next weekend (it's a flexible spending account thang). Is there a place in the Slope to get some good-looking not-too-expensive frames? The only place I can think of is Eyes on the Slope. And do I need to have an eye exam before they'll sell me the frames? Ideally I'll buy the frames now and set up an appointment with my eye doctor / buy the lenses later, when timeframe is not so much an issue.

Thanks!

belzjm · March 2009

Brooklyn Eyeworks on 5th Avenue at 14th Street are PHENOMENAL!!!

they are so amazing there! and they definitely take flex spending and usually have your glasses ready in a couple days!

they are also great giving advice on what looks good, etc. the people who work there are beyond great.

puckbrooklyn · March 2009

Subject: Re: Help from you folks with sweet glasses...

Aenigma wrote: I The only place I can think of is Eyes on the Slope.

They're my go-to place for glasses, I've gotten a couple pairs there and have been really happy with the frames and service.

southsloper · March 2009

My wife and I have been going to Urban Optical on 9th street and 7th avenue for years. They have a wide selection of frames and usually have the glasses complete within a week. They're also very helpful in helping select a frame.

rockergirl77 · March 2009

I went to James Leonard Opticians on Smith Street. They were really nice - I found the perfect pair for my face, but they had a big tacky "Dior" logo on the side. I got them to unscrew the arms and replace them with plain black arms so I could keep the fronts without being a walking Dior advertisement & they were really cool about it.

My boyfriend goes to Sol Moscots in the Lower East Side & I think they do everything same-day.

hcx · March 2009

Southsloper wrote: My wife and I have been going to Urban Optical on 9th street and 7th avenue for years. They have a wide selection of frames and usually have the glasses complete within a week. They're also very helpful in helping select a frame.

Ditto - Dr. Adam and crew will set you up right. They help navigate insurance restrictions and have infinite patience in helping you pick out frames.

bkbabe · March 2009

Nope, you don't have to have an eye exam on the premises to purchase the frames.

obamanut · March 2009

Subject: Re: Help from you folks with sweet glasses...

Aenigma wrote:

Well ... I've finally realized that glasses don't have to look horribly embarrassing! I dare say they're even: sexy. So I'm going to get new frames. Here's the thing: I need to get them by next weekend (it's a flexible spending account thang). Is there a place in the Slope to get some good-looking not-too-expensive frames?

I really hope you're not referring to the type of glasses I think you're referring to.

Although, taking into account which neighborhood we're in, you probably are.

eggcream · March 2009

Southsloper wrote: My wife and I have been going to Urban Optical on 9th street and 7th avenue for years. They have a wide selection of frames and usually have the glasses complete within a week. They're also very helpful in helping select a frame.

Ditto. We've been using Urban Optical for years.

shishkab · March 2009

I enjoyed my latest experience with Eyes on the Slope and I'm thrilled with the result. Good luck, Four Eyes! (from another Four Eyes)

brooklynpotter · March 2009

you can also go to costco where frames are far less expensive

bricktop · March 2009

Having just bought new glasses myself (from Sight Improvement Center in Manhattan, which my doctor is connected with, tho they don't have the best selection of frames), I perused the frames display at Costco when passing it recently, and I thought the prices were (surprisingly) not so great. I guess if you have to have the Dior or whatever name on your temple prices might be cheaper there -- all the frames seemed to have big designer logos on them. But they were about the same as the prices I paid at Sight Improvement Center, about $150.

brooklynjack · March 2009

Bricktop wrote: Having just bought new glasses myself (from Sight Improvement Center in Manhattan, which my doctor is connected with, tho they don't have the best selection of frames), I perused the frames display at Costco when passing it recently, and I thought the prices were (surprisingly) not so great. I guess if you have to have the Dior or whatever name on your temple prices might be cheaper there -- all the frames seemed to have big designer logos on them. But they were about the same as the prices I paid at Sight Improvement Center, about $150.

Well the last few frames I got came from the Alan Mikli sample sale - $500 frames for $80-$90

But the lenses at costco are cheap, My bifocal in polycarbonate with AR coating was about $100. Even if you have to buy a $50 membership it still WAY cheaper than any other place I know of ( unless you have insurance then all begts are off)

I think the frames at Costco where like $40 - $100 but not much sellection

danielle123 · March 2009

I used to go to Eyes on the Slope about 10 years ago. They gave me the wrong size case for the glasses they sold me and I had to keep checking back to see when the right size case would come in. I finally checked in at the right time, they gave me the right size case but then seemed pissed that I didn't return the oversized case they had originally given me (I didn't have it with me that day).

I go to Eyes on Broadway now (2 blocks north of Houston). Barry is the best at figuring out what frame looks good on m face (it's usually the first frame he picks but I always make him go through the motions of showing me every frame in the store before I inevitably go back to the first frames he showed me). They have a lot of frames but they tend to be established brands (Dior, Calvin Klein, DKNY) as opposed to cutting-edge brands, if that matters.

Good luck!

anastasia beaverhausen · March 2009

brooklynpotter wrote: you can also go to costco where frames are far less expensive

Yep. I got two pairs for under 300.00

xlizellx · March 2009

it's not in the slope, but the chain of cohens actually has good service and nice frames. i've had good luck both at the one on montague in brooklyn heights and with the one in the west village in the city.

puckbrooklyn · March 2009

xlizellx wrote: it's not in the slope, but the chain of cohens actually has good service and nice frames.

I think they just opened one up on 7th Ave around 8th street.

caseopele · March 2009

I got my glasses at Eye Shoppe on 7th, purplish-blue with rhinestones. I really like them and they had a bunch of other cool frames.

seespaces · March 2009

xlizellx wrote: it's not in the slope, but the chain of cohens actually has good service and nice frames. i've had good luck both at the one on montague in brooklyn heights and with the one in the west village in the city.

the thing with cohen's is they won't tell you the model and make of the frames, out of fear you'll go buy them online. so if you try on a pair and they get sold while you're deciding, you just have to hope they reorder it.

aenigma · March 2009

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. On Saturday I went to Eyes on the Slope - it's the closest to me - and had a very positive experience. I am possibly the most indecisive person ever, especially when it comes to aesthetic decisions regarding my face. (I can't really tell what looks good. Let me use your eyes as my mirror, Inez. L'enfer c'est les autres. Etc.) Nonetheless, Henry was very patient as I tried on approximately every single pair of glasses in the shop. I also appreciated his honesty, which ranged from "That look very good on you" to "You look like old teacher from 1950s." Any time I asked him a price, he had to check, so I didn't get the sense that he was trying to upsell me. When I was finally stuck between two pairs, all the employees (Enzo, Jackie, another friendly lady) weighed in on which they liked better. They also dropped the price of the more expensive pair by about 10% to match the price of the other pair, so I could make a decision based entirely on which I liked better, not which one was cheaper. Not that either pair was cheap. But still: I thought it was a nice touch.

So I picked them up today and everything was cool. The case they gave me did seem excessively large, but whatever, I can probably use it productively to hold other things. Bottom line is: they were friendly and low-pressure and patient. I warmly recommend.

pastoralia · March 2009

Whatever happens to anyone out there...DO NOT go to the eyeglass store on Ninth street across from C-Town. My wife went there for the first time using my eye insurance and they made her pay for exam, fitting fee, and that little puffing thing in the eye they do. None of which should have cost her a dime since it was all covered under the insurance.

When I went in to ask them what the hell they were doing charging my wife they couldn't give me a straight answer and told me it was my insurance's problem. I called my insurance and told them about it and they were so surprised they said they would audit the business to see what they were doing.

My wife went to Urban Optical afterwards and loved the service and people. When I asked her why she ever went to that other place she said it was because it was 'on the way to the gym.' My advice: Don't go to eye doctors that share offices with dentists and have smoke-wrinkled Russian receptionists with powder blue, bedazzled fingernails.

rockingood · March 2009

pastoralia wrote: Whatever happens to anyone out there...DO NOT go to the eyeglass store on Ninth street across from C-Town. My wife went there for the first time using my eye insurance and they made her pay for exam, fitting fee, and that little puffing thing in the eye they do. None of which should have cost her a dime since it was all covered under the insurance.

My husband had the same experience there. Stay away.

brooklynjack · March 2009

I had a similar experience as pastoralia's wife at Park West on Prospect Park West. I went in with my insurance, I had the prices printed out from the website and they still managed to come up with a price of $240 some odd for lenses, I went back to my regular optician, Manhattan Optical in the East Village and got the prices my insurance company said should, $135

Help from you folks with sweet glasses...

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