Finding the Right Frames for Your Face
While it’s wonderful that we have so much choice these days in terms of frames it does make the process of choosing the right pair for you somewhat more complicated!
If you’re finding it hard to narrow down the choices, then a good place to start is thinking about your face shape. Generally speaking, people tend to fall into one of five categories: Round, heart shaped, oblong, square and oval:
Round – a softly curving face that is as wide at the forehead as it is at the jaw and with wide cheekbones.
Heart-shaped – sometimes called an inverted triangle. Wider at the forehead and gently tapering to a more pointed chin.
Oblong – sometimes called narrow. A face that is longer than it is wide.
Square – a broad forehead and squarish jaw line.
Oval – a well-balanced face with defined cheekbones and no one dominant feature.
Most people have probably never thought about which shape their face most closely aligns to, and it may be that what you instinctively think you are isn’t quite true. Rather than relying on a friend cocking their head to one side and looking at you quizzically, it’s often easiest to look in the mirror and use a lipstick or a water-based felt tip pen to draw around your reflection (please don’t pick up a permanent marker by mistake!).
Once you’ve established which shape you most align to then see if these suggestions help you find a frame that suits your contours!
Frames for a Round Face
You may find rounder, smaller frames (think John Lennon) just make your face rounder still, so try out square and rectangular frames with strong angles for balance. Ray-Ban Wayfarer or Clubmaster-type styles (think James Dean and JFK) can also work well, if you prefer a quirkier look.
Frames for a Heart Shaped Face
Heart-shaped – over-sized, pilot-styles and half-rimmed frames don’t work on this type of face as well as oval shapes do, but rimless glasses in particular will also work incredibly well for you. (Think Kate Beckinsale and Richard Gere)
Frames for an Oblong Face
Now, pilot styles do work for those with narrower faces (Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are particularly fond of these!) as well as square, angular frames. Steer clear of narrow frames as they can make your face appear longer.
Frames for a Square Face
Continuing on the opposites attract route, square faces should opt for round and oval frames that soften the angles of the features. (Think Kendall Jenner and Justin Bieber) Or go for browline frames for a vintage look. Anything too strong or geometric won’t work as well for you.
Frames for an Oval Face
We should be so lucky! Anything goes for ovals so just enjoy having the freedom to explore the entire range Patrick & Menzies has to offer and pick whatever makes your heart sing!
Whatever your face shape, pop into any of our branches to start your selection!
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Brand Spotlight | Tiffany Frames
Perhaps the world’s most loved and recognisable jeweller, Tiffany & Co. launched its own brand of frames, exclusively designed for women, and its one of our most popular ranges.
History
In the 1830s Charles Lewis Tiffany and John Young had a dream of opening a jewellery store that everyone knew and admired. From small beginnings as a ‘stationery and fancy goods store’ the company became popular with fashionable ladies and first won international recognition at the 1867 Paris World Fair. Tiffany’s introduced the engagement ring as we know it in 1878 and in the same year produced the first catalogue, with a cover in the iconic Tiffany Blue. The brand we all know today has over 200 stores worldwide, known still for its exquisite jewellery and dazzling accessories. Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman and Lady Gaga are just some of the celebrities who are often seen wearing Tiffany jewellery.
“As a luxury fashion accessory, eyewear seems like a natural addition for us” said Michael J. Kowalski, the Chairman and CEO of Tiffany’s, upon the launch of their optical collection: As you may expect from a jeweller, many of the styles are adorned with gemstone embellishments. As you would certainly expect from Tiffany, their signature blue also features heavily!
Style
The frames are romantic and glamorous – dainty charm symbols such as the lock, key and heart appear frequently and the materials used to decorate the frames include gold, silver, diamonds and other precious gems. There are styles with delicate knotworks in silver running along the arms, little clusters of gems which catch the light, or chunkier styles with a tiny Tiffany & Co. plaque! The frames themselves are mainly made from acetate, which is strong, flexible and hypoallergenic.
With a legacy spanning over 160 years, Tiffany glasses are timeless but never old-fashioned. The bold colours and thoughtful details mark these frames out as something quite special and there’s lots of unusual shapes and colours you won’t find anywhere else – from cats’ eyes to rectangular; from an elegant smoky grey to a feminine and flattering blush pink.
Pop in and browse this most luxurious of collections. We feel sure you’ll be as impressed as we are with the detailing, and of course, any of them can be fitted with exactly the right lens for your needs. We look forward to seeing you.
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Back to School | Why Eye Examinations Are Important for Your Child
A survey last year by the Association of Optometrists showed a quarter of school-age children had not been taken for a sight test by their parents. But why is it so important?
Why do I need to get my child’s eyes examined?
Your child’s eye health is, of course, an important indicator of their overall health, but even if there are no concerns, regular eye examinations ensure your child has no vision problems that could affect their school performance and enjoyment of life. Early eye tests are important for several reasons: Not only because we need to ensure the visual skills that are essential for optimal learning are in place – a child who is unable to see what’s on the whiteboard can become easily frustrated – but also because children’s eyes are fully developed by the time they are 8 years old, so any problems must be detected before then. By demonstrating the importance of looking after one’s eyes we also help to create healthy habits that will hopefully mean your child continues to have their eyes tested regularly right through adulthood.
My child can’t read yet – how can you check their eyesight?
You don’t have to wait for your child to be able to read to bring them in for an examination – at Patrick and Menzies we have ways of testing that can be used with preschool children who cannot read, but even if you have no real concerns, we usually advise to bring them in for a full eye test before they start school just to make sure there aren’t any issues with their vision that could affect their early learning.
What should I be concerned about?
Once children start school it can be easier to spot the signs of a possible eye problem. If you notice any of the following, pop in and schedule an examination with us:
- squinting
- complaining of headaches or sore or achy eyes
- hold books close to their face or sitting too close to the TV
- problems with hand-eye coordination – being unusually clumsy
- regularly rubbing their eyes
- complaining that they can’t see the board at school
What can I expect at the appointment?
We’ll be able to work best with your child when they’re happy and alert – so for younger children an appointment straight after school when they’re tired and hungry may not work best, but generally an eye examination can actually be quite fun and interesting for a child. We have lots of different ways to check how well your child sees at different distances, but we’ll also check their eye movement, the back of the eye and how well they respond to light, amongst other things – our optometrists are experienced in making it a pleasant experience for your child and make sure your mind is at rest too.
Should your child need glasses we have an excellent range and are sure to have a style that will appeal, so do give us a ring or pop in to book your child’s appointment – that’s another thing you can tick off the ‘back to school’ to-do list!
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Prescriptions | What does all that information mean?
For many of us, an eye examination is more about the immediate concern of whether your current prescription has changed or, indeed, whether you actually need glasses to help you see better, than anything else!
At the end of your appointment your optometrist will issue you with your prescription: A piece of paper with a series of numbers on it that tell us the sort of lens you need to correct your eyesight. It’s rather grandly known as your ‘refractive error’. The perfect eye projects a sharp, clear image onto the retina, known as ‘emmetropic’. If your eyes don’t do this (and most don’t) it’s most commonly because they have a refractive error and that means the image you see is blurry.
You may have heard the terms ‘short-sighted’, ‘long-sighted’, ‘astigmatism’ or maybe even ‘prisms’, but do you really know what they mean?
What’s a ‘Normal’ Eye?
The power of your lens is measured in units called ‘dioptres’ and most prescriptions are relatively low in power – for comparison, the NHS considers a complex prescription to be anything over 10 dioptres.
A ‘standard’ eyeball has a focusing power of +60 dioptres. This brings light rays coming from a distance to focus on the retina at the back of the eye which is considered to be 22.22mm in length. Around +45 dioptres is provided by the cornea (the front, curved, clear part of the eye) and around +15 by the lens inside the eye. Problems occur with this system if any of these numbers differ from the norm.
Short-sightedness
Let’s start with the most common problem: Short-sightedness. Short-sightedness is correctly known as myopia, which means you can only see objects close to you: The closer you have to be, the more short-sighted you are. If you have myopia then objects at a distance create a blurry image on the back of the eye. This happens because the parts of the eye that bend the light rays are too strong or the eyeball is too long. When you get closer to the object, the light rays arriving at the eye start to diverge, which counteracts the ‘over convergence’ of the light rays and pushes the focus back onto the retina.
Someone who has a myopic prescription will have a minus figure at the start of their prescription, meaning the lenses in their specs (or contact lenses) are diverging: This counters the eye which is effectively over-plussed.
Long-sightedness
Now let’s get onto the more difficult one! Long-sightedness! Hyperopia (sometimes called Hypermetropia) is more difficult to explain. If short-sightedness means you can see things up close, then being long-sighted means you can see things far away, right? Well, not really… although sometimes, yes, that is true! Bear with us!
In this case those light rays coming from a distant object are focused behind the retina. This happens because the parts of the eye that bend the light are not strong enough and the eye effectively doesn’t have enough power to bring the rays to the correct point on the retina.
Some people with a relatively low amount of long-sightedness can see objects clearer if they are really far away – for example, we hear of sailors saying they can see a buoy on the horizon, but they struggle to see the TV, or an HGV driver who can see motorway signs in the distance but not the train times on the monitors at the station.
Someone who is long-sighted will have a plus figure at the start of their prescription, their lenses are plus powered (converging). This compensates for the fact that the eyeball is too short.
Astigmatism
Ok, now let’s get into the tricky diagnosis: Astigmatism. If you have an astigmatism then your eyes don’t produce a single point focus, but actually produce two ‘line foci’. Effectively the eye has two different powers at 90 degrees to each other. This is caused most commonly by the cornea having two different curvatures. In an astigmatic eye the curvature of the cornea will vary: It will have two different curves, one steeper than the other, at 90 degrees to each other.
These curves mean that the eye may be more shortsighted in one meridian than the other, or more longsighted in one, or even long sighted in one and shortsighted in the other, which, as you can imagine, requires a more complex prescription.
Prism
Our eyes produce two images and send these back to your brain. These images are also upside down just to make things more complicated! So how do we see one of everything, the right way up?
Well, that relies on the precise co-ordination of both eyes and the fact that they both line up and point at the same object at the same time. The eyes do in fact produce two very slightly different images and that is how we perceive depth properly, but the difference between them is only slight. The images have to fall in corresponding areas on the right and left retinas for you to only see one of the object you are looking at. If the images fall partly or wholly outside these areas, the brain cannot match them up properly and they become blurred, or even double. The direction of gaze and how well controlled it is, is governed by six muscles around each eye which move left, right, up, down and obliquely. If you have a problem with one or more of those muscles, then it can mean that the images produced become too different from one another.
As the brain senses this mismatch it will tell the muscles to work harder to overcome the problem, sometimes they can but often this will lead to eyes feeling tired (it’s hard work!) or achy. Sometimes this can cause headaches too.
If we detect this issue in an eye examination, then in some circumstances we’ll prescribe prism. This allows the eyes to take up their comfortable position, thus removing the symptoms; and shifts the images on the retina, lining them up so the eyes don’t have to work so hard. In the vast majority of cases you wouldn’t know someone with prism has this correction as the deviation of their eyes is so small it’s not cosmetically noticeable.
You don’t need to worry too much about what your prescription says – that’s our job. But you do need to make sure you’re having regular check-ups to keep the information correct. Pop in and see us at any of our branches for an appointment so we can keep your sight crystal clear.
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A Short History of Contact Lenses
Isn’t it something of an everyday miracle – pop a tiny little lens in your eye and suddenly, 20-20 vision! For many of us, contact lenses are a lifesaver, but did you ever think how they might have come about?
In 1508 Leonardo da Vinci recorded the idea that the optics of the human eye could be altered by submerging the cornea in a bowl of water in his work Codex of the Eye. Later, in 1636, after reviewing Leonardo’s work, the French scientist Descartes wrote an essay in which he discussed placing a glass tube filled with liquid in direct contact with the cornea to improve eyesight. These ideas, while visionary (do you see what I did there?) were sadly impractical and no significant advances were made for almost two hundred years.
In 1801 Thomas Young made ground-breaking advances in describing astigmatism, and also, the very bold move of gluing water-filled glass tubes to his eyes with wax, building on Descartes’ work. Unsurprisingly this didn’t catch on and it wasn’t until 1845 that another British scientist, John Herschel came up with the idea of casting a mould of an individual cornea and making corrective lenses for that eye. No-one could quite come up with a way of doing that until over 50 years later, when within a year of each other a German false-eye manufacturer called Mueller and a Swiss physician called Flick both made prototypes of glass lenses which fitted over the entire white of the eye. While huge steps forward, these lenses were heavy, uncomfortable and essentially ‘suffocated’ the eye of oxygen so could be tolerated for a few hours at most.
The Americans took over in the 1900s with Feinbloom combining the glass lenses that sat on the cornea with a plastic surround which was more permeable and therefore more comfortable. (This was possible because of advances made by the Hungarian Dr Dallos who had worked on Herschel’s theory of mould-casting and perfected a method of doing so.) Later Kevin Touhy, in a happy accident, broke off the plastic surround of his lens and discovered that his vision was still corrected by using only the part that sat on his cornea. This meant the white of the eye could be left to breathe and so lenses could be tolerated for longer.
After this breakthrough the advances in lens technology came thick and fast: Leonardo’s insistence on the importance of water was borne out by the invention of the hydrogel lens: In 1958 Czech chemist Wichterle, together with his colleague Lim, created the first ‘soft’ lenses that were permeable, pliable and much thinner than glass lenses.
By the 1970s and 80s lenses were becoming more comfortable and could be worn for much longer periods. Today of course we have disposable lenses and even lenses that can be worn overnight or for weeks at a time, with better oxygen permeability and water content, making them a safe, comfortable and convenient option for many people.
Why not come and have a chat with one of our knowledgeable team to find out which type of contact lens may be best for you!
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Do I Need to Wear Sunglasses While Driving?
Summer is officially here! Hurrah! And while we may pop on our sunnies for holidays of lazing in the pool and weekends of barbecues and beers, do we give much thought to the importance of the right eyewear while driving?
Truth is, choosing the right pair of sunglasses can make driving in the summer sun not only a whole lot more comfortable, but significantly safer too. And it’s not always just a case of digging out the ol’ Ray-Bans, the shape, tint and type of lens needs to be given some thought.
Why do we need to wear sunglasses while driving?
Well, first of all, sunglasses reduce glare from the sun, meaning you don’t need to squint – and that can not only be the difference between feeling well and having a pounding headache, but also between arriving safely at your destination and being involved in a collision. On foggy days the correct lens can make things clearer, and on rainy days light reflecting off wet roads won’t distract or confuse.
Will any old pair of sunglasses do?
Unfortunately not! There are a few things to take into consideration:
Lens Type
You can choose between a ‘standard’ lens that reduces the brightness and provides UV protection or a polarized lens which not only reduces the brightness and provides UV protection, but also give superior glare reduction compared to a standard lens. They will improve contrast, sharpen detail and reduce strain.
Lens Colour
No fashion choices here, please! Yellow, blue, green and pink can interfere with your perception of colour and therefore contrast and detail. The safest and most common colour choices are grey, grey/green and brown. They reduce the brightness but don’t affect the contrast too much, maintaining or even improving the detail you see. Colour is a subjective thing and what’s right for one person won’t necessarily be right for another, so it’s always important to try different lenses when buying sunspecs.
Lens Tint
It’s a mistake to think you can just buy a pair of glasses with a dark tint and only wear them on the sunniest days as even if there is less sun, sunglasses can improve vision and make your eyes feel more comfortable. But if the glasses allow too much light to reach your eyes however, then you’re wasting your time. We can help and advise on the level of tint required, depending on your sensitivity and requirements. If you don’t want to have to buy more than one pair, then sometimes photochromic lenses, which change automatically depending on the light levels, may be the answer. A graduated tint that is lighter towards the bottom of the lenses may also be useful in some circumstances.
Frame Style
Most sunspecs have larger lens shapes that clear glasses, this is party a style choice but partly because a larger lens cuts out more light! It’s a good idea to find a pair which fit really well and relatively close to the eyes to cut out as much light as possible, while maintaining good peripheral vision.
Prescription or Not?
It’s surprising how many people who wear specs for driving and are dependent in a prescription for doing so, but don’t consider this in their sun protection, or even know it’s possible. If you are reliant on specs for distance vision and driving, then ideally you should really have the same prescription in your sunspecs. It’s relatively straightforward to do and 99% of the sunglasses we supply can be made to your exact prescription specification as well as the lens type/colour/tint and frame combination.
Hmm… so, not quite as simple as one may have thought?
Never fear – our opticians and optical assistants will be happy to help you make the right choice for your needs. Just give us a call, pop in to one of our branches or book an appointment.
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A Short History of Sunglasses
We often imagine sunglasses to be a recent invention – a modern way to look cool and avoid making crow’s feet! But our ancestors too, weren’t keen on squinting in sunny weather and came up with the idea a very long time ago: As long as 2,000 years ago, in fact, the Inuits were fashioning what they called sun goggles out of bone or wood. Cut to sit close to the face they had narrow slits in them to limit the amount of light and glare that could reach the eye and would have been an essential item in a world where snow blindness was a real possibility.
The Chinese experimented with the use of flat lenses made of smoky quartz to minimise glare in the 12th century and there are even reports that the covert look created by wearing sunglasses was utilised by magistrates to avoid giving away their facial expressions! James Dean, eat your heart out!
Many believe it was the gondoliers of 18th century Venice who first wore tinted glasses specifically designed to offer protection against the sun’s rays. They were called Goldoni glasses, after the actor and playwright Carlos Goldoni, who, it is said was partial to wearing green sunglasses with green silk shades sewn to the rim! Simultaneously, around 1752 James Ayscough began experimenting with using coloured lenses to correct vision problems – an idea which we now know has much merit.
In 1885 we are told by a military surgeon in his work ‘The Optical Manual’, that British soldiers were given ‘two oval flat pieces of blue-tinted glass, set in front of two boat-shaped fine wire-gauze sides’ to act as ‘eye-protectors’ in countries such as India and Egypt.
The first recorded use of the word ‘sunglasses’, however, was in 1891 when a sports journalist reporting on a baseball game in Chicago, noted that a player ‘had lost his sunglasses and misjudged the ball frightfully’! Numerous American newspaper adverts from the late 19th and early 20th century offered sunglasses in different shades of amber and smoke.
In the golden age of Hollywood actors and actresses made sunglasses the fashion accessory they are today – not only did it make them more mysterious (like the Chinese judges!) but the dark lenses also hid the red eyes caused by late nights and studio lights! The market caught on and mass-produced sunglasses soon made the trend accessible to the man on the street. By 1937, 20 million pairs of sunglasses were being sold per year.
Polarised lenses had been invented in 1936, which provided much greater protection against the sun’s damaging rays, and when Ray Ban began making them into aviator glasses for pilots, the ‘cool factor’ of a stylish pair of sunglasses was guaranteed.
It’s a trend that’s here to stay so whether you simply want to look like a movie star, or need some serious protection against the summer sun, pop into any one of our stores and take your pick!
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A Brief History of Spectacles
Glasses are so ubiquitous these days we don’t often stop to think about how they came about – who, we may wonder, first had the notion that looking through a shaped glass lens could help so many of us to see better?!
Well, while the name of the inventor of spectacles has been lost to history, we do know the Romans experimented with using glass and precious stones to improve their vision. Pliny tells us that “Nero viewed the combats of the gladiators in a smaragdus” or emerald, perhaps used to aid his near-sightedness. We also know that there was a long history of the use of convex lenses in the ancient world. The British Museum contains the Nimrud Lens found in modern day Iraq and dating from 750 BC!
Most scholars agree that the earliest prototype of what we would recognise as spectacles emerged in the 13th century in Italy, when lenses were set in wood or leather frames and held in front of the face, particularly used by monks working on detailed manuscripts. These early types of glasses were soon to become a symbol of learning and wealth and spread throughout Europe. With the invention of the printing press in 1450, books became widely available and with them, of course, the need for reading glasses!
Florence was the epicentre of the spectacle making world for some time but it was the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers formed in Britain in 1629 that first started actively marketing glasses as a reading aid for the common man under the slogan, “A blessing to the aged”!
At this time Spanish manufacturers tried to come up with a way of keeping these wobbly frames that balanced on the nose on the wearer’s face by attaching silk ribbons which would hook around the ears. The Chinese added little weights to counterbalance and stop them falling off, and finally in 1730 Edward Scarlett added two stiff rods to the frames which sat on top of the ears. The hinge was added by James Ayscough some twenty-two years later and voila, our modern foldable spectacles (or scissor spectacles as they were known in the 18th century) were born.
You may have heard that bifocals were invented by Benjamin Franklin, but much like the story of the kite and lightning this may be a myth! He did write to a friend that he was “happy in the invention of double spectacles, which serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my eyes as useful to me as ever they were,” but he didn’t take credit for it!
By the 20th century the advances in lens manufacture and the range of materials available for frames meant that spectacles became as much a fashion accessory as they were a necessity for many – film stars and pop icons like Marilyn Monroe and Buddy Holly helped to boost the popularity of wearing spectacles for glamour or to create a unique look.
Today, happily, we have a wonderful choice of stylish, easy to wear, effective and affordable spectacles at our fingertips – and nowhere more so than at Patrick & Menzies!
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Get Some Colour in Your Life! Introducing Mattisse
Until fairly recently, spectacle wearers had a fairly limited choice – perhaps silver, gold or bronze coloured frames, in a limited number of styles. In the last twenty years or so plastic frames have given us a few more options – if we’re lucky we might have some red, purple or brown choices. Now, Patrick & Menzies can give you a veritable colour spectrum to choose from! We are proud to announce that we are officially stocking the gorgeous range of frames from Mattisse Eyewear!
Mattisse produce fashion-forward eyewear that gives the wearer the opportunity to express their individual personal style. Their designers travel the world and are inspired by nature (especially butterflies!), geometric design and abstract impressionist artists like Matisse to produce vibrant, pack-a-punch eyewear in a glorious range of stunning colourways, patterns and shapes.
These are no ordinary glasses – hand-painted in Italy, the frames are then put through a state-of-the-art laminate process, which means they are optics-ready and made to last. Peeling and discoloration won’t ever be an issue: And that’s a very good thing, because we are sure you’re going to want to wear them every day!
Indeed, we wouldn’t be surprised if you find choosing just one pair impossible – take a look through the product catalogue and you’ll see the collection offers outstanding colours with contemporary styling, all at an exceptional price-point that gives true value for money.
Mattisse Eyewear is suitable for every age group and they truly have something for everyone; styles that will appeal to men, women and children. There are frames in hand-painted tortoiseshell, delicate butterfly patterns in cyan and turquoise, Mondrian style geometric patterns in primary colours, unusual and stylish frames with leather temples, pastel rainbow stripes and more muted and sombre styles that still stand out from the crowd.
Patrick & Menzies is delighted to be one of very few distributors of this very special range of frames in the UK. Factor in our personalised service and impeccable eye-health credentials and you’ve found a winning combination.
If you enjoy fashion and find currently available eyewear choices uninspiring, then Mattisse Eyewear will be your new favourite brand. If you value customer care that’s second to none and a level of service that’s incomparable, then Patrick & Menzies will be your go-to opticians. Pop into any of our three branches and have a chat with our friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can show you our wide range of frames and help you get some colour into your life!
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