The Evolution of Glasses

In my one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, "The Princess Diaries," Anne Hathaway gets a complete makeover that turns her into a princess. Her hair is straightened, her eyebrows are plucked, her makeup is done flawlessly, and her glasses are taken off her head and snapped in half.

The idea that no makeover is complete without the removal of glasses is not unique to the Princess Diaries. It’s present in "She’s All That," "Kill Bill," and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," just to name a few. It’s become such a trope that it was even parodied in "Not Another Teen Movie." I watched all of these movies growing up, and it’s easy to get the idea from these movies that glasses are a symbol of geekiness—what a girl wears before she becomes beautiful.

However, if you look anywhere from fashion runways to around campus, it is clear that that idea is completely ridiculous. In fact, glasses have become a serious fashion statement that many companies have embraced. High fashion brands like Prada and Chanel have their own eyewear campaigns, stores like Warby Parker offer more affordable prices that you can try on at home, and Urban Outfitters even offers non-prescription options for those lucky shoppers with perfect vision.

So, why were glasses represented in such a negative way in all these older movies? Well, only recently have fashionable glasses actually become so widely available. In the 1930s, glasses were solely seen as medical devices, not fashion accessories. Once fashion companies began to manufacture glasses that were useful and chic, more people began to wear glasses. With brands like Max Mara that put every model in a pair of glasses in their fall 2015 show, and celebrities like Lupita Nyong’o rocking them at red carpet events, glasses have gone from a mere trend to a full on, well-recognized accessory that everyone can explore.

So, near-sighted and far-sighted fashionistas alike, no need to force contact lenses into your eyes every time you want to look stylish— throw on a trendy pair of frames and call it a day!