Grace in Glasses (Again? Really?)

In the four years that I've been a blogger, I've written not one, but two (two!) posts dedicated to Grace Kelly and the fact that she wore glasses.  On December 13, 2012, there was this one called "Grace in Glasses":

 And then on February 7, 2013, there was this one, called "Grace in Glasses (Again!)" :

Well, it's 2015 now (where did the time go, readers?), and I haven't talked about Grace Kelly and her glasses in quite a while.  So I think it's time for another installment of "Grace in Glasses."

You were just waiting for this, I know you were.  Or maybe not.  But if you were, you can read on, 'kay?

The other night my husband and I were looking through some old photos I'd scanned to my computer, and we came across this one, taken right after son #3 was born in 1986.

My husband smiled when he saw it and exclaimed, "Look at you!"

Yes, I thought, grimacing.  Look at me indeed.  I look puffy-eyed, exhausted (this was the third baby boy I'd given birth to in a two-and-a-half-year span, mind you, and he weighed in at 9 lbs. 13 oz.!), and...what are those things on my face?  Ski goggles?!

Egads!!  Holy backfire, Batman.  Holy costume party.  Holy horrible day-mare.  (Those are actual Robin quotes from that wonderfully cheesy old TV show.  I googled "Robin's sayings," readers, because I wanted to keep it real here; I care about this blog that much.)

Anyway, after seeing that day-marish photo, I found myself musing that my fashion idol, Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, would never have been caught dead in such ridiculous-looking glasses.

Or would she?

Oh no, Grace.   Say it ain't so! The 80's got to you, too!!

For years now, I've been wearing rather smallish frames, usually wire ones, because they've been the style that's "in."  I was never, ever, ever going to go back to wearing ginormous plastic frames again.  (Refer back to the above picture of me with newborn son #3, in case you need to be reminded why I didn't dare entertain the idea.)

Yes, I was actually in Monaco here!  These photos are from December of 2011,
when I tagged along on one of my husband's trips.
And I'm wearing nice, normal-sized wire-framed glasses, not goggles.

But, as they say...never say never. 

I've always been as blind as a bat (or almost, anyway), but my husband's eyes were always better than perfect.  He had 20/15 vision--something that I never even knew existed before I met him.  I thought 20/20 vision, which had left me in the dust by my 11th birthday, was the be-all-and-end-all of good vision;  but I was so wrong.

Over the years, I've tried contacts from time to time (in college, and in my early motherhood years); but mostly, I've just worn glasses.  They're easier, for one thing; and I like to sort of hide behind them, for another.  Meanwhile, that guy of mine with the Superman-like vision never had to don specs, because those enormous baby blues of his were always able to see the world with razor-sharp clarity.

Then middle age hit, and suddenly my superhero was forced to wear "cheaters" in order to read.  Eventually, his worsening vision required him to break down and get actual prescription progressive lenses to wear while on the job.  Suddenly, we were in the same-ish boat.

This summer, we both were due for eye check-ups.  So about a month ago, my husband and I did something that we've never done before: we went for back-to-back eye appointments and then shopping for glasses together.   It was a super fun glasses-shopping date, where we tried on a multitude of frames and helped each other to choose which ones we should get.

Long story short (is this story short, Laura?  Is it?), I am now back to wearing big old plastic frames.  (Holy throwback, Batman!)

I thought they looked extremely goofy on me, but my husband LOVES them, for some reason.  He strongly encouraged me to get them, and I have a hard time saying no to him.

Actually, he got himself some retro-style glasses, too.  I think they make him look like Clark Kent.


Do these glasses make us look smarter?

While doing research for this post, aside from looking up Robin quotes I also googled "Grace in glasses," just for grins.  And I found these pictures of the young actress wearing frames almost exactly like my new ones.

Here they are, the Grace Kelly frames.

And they are just about the same shape and size as the ones my husband convinced me to get.

When I showed him these pictures, he said, "See?"  (No pun intended.)

It's true that Grace Kelly would have looked good in anything...I mean, even those awful 70's and 80's monstrosities couldn't mask the beauty of her perfectly proportioned face.  I, on the other hand, can look pretty bad in bad glasses.  But you know what--I think if big plastic frames are good enough for Grace Kelly (and of course, for my husband), then they're good enough for me, too.