The Better To See You With, My Dear...

It happened around my mid-forties.  Reading glasses!  And, soon I found them everywhere in my house!  By the sink.  On my desk.  At my vanity.  In my potting shed.  Everywhere!

Soon (way too soon!) it was time for the inevitable.  Prescription.  But I wasn't afraid of the move.  Oh no, not me.  For I had been influenced by a mentor and style icon of mine.  And, no not the infamous Iris Apfel (who is pretty amazing), but the one and the only Barbara (keeping her last name private).  From the moment I met her in the Ann Arbor Jacobson's designer salon, she became my hero.  Just three decades my senior, yet fashionably wearing her black Donna Karan opaque tights and mid-thigh St. John skirt...she looked fabulous and I wanted to be her!  Barbara understood the definition of timeless fashion and not only was her outfit on point...so were her glasses!  Those great big round Liz Claiborne tortoise frames.  If you're gonna wear glasses, then why not WEAR GLASSES, right? 

Just a bit more on Barbara...we traveled the retail Midwest and Florida together for several years becoming great friends outside of work.  She has remained an adored mentor of mine and I visit her in Texas as often as possible.  I can only hope to be as fabulous when I am ninety years young.  

Back to the glasses...

So, I just KNEW the frames for me as I marched into the nearest Sam's Club.  Alas, nothing as perfect as Liz.  But, I did discover perfection in a pair of oversized sunglasses (the regular style frames were just too itty bitty) and was relieved to know that they could be modified to accommodate clear lenses.  

Style.  It is yours when you own it.  I adore modeling after my friend.  I feel it is a tribute to her influence and a wonderful reminder of a beautiful human each time I put on my glasses.  

I'm thinking about lasik...but will still hold onto the "look" with an oversized pair of frames in my handbag.  

XO, Chris