FramesDirect Eyeglasses: The Shop That Put Prescription Frames Online in 1996

In 1996, two optometrists in Houston decided that the best way to get people into good glasses was a website. Dhavid Cooper and Guy Hodgson built FramesDirect as the first site to offer prescription glasses online, which in 1996 was a strange idea and now feels like the obvious one. Mid-October is when I start thinking about new frames anyway, with the light going early and everyone back at a desk or a screen.

 

What I like about FramesDirect eyeglasses is that the shop was started by people who fit glasses for a living. The company moved its office to Austin, Texas in 2008 after Hurricanes Rita and Ike hit the Houston area, and it still carries more than 200 brands, Ray-Ban, Versace and Prada among them. So this is a shop with a point of view about lenses and fit, and the frames come from the brands you already know.

 

Cat-eye frames are where I would begin. In my fashion dreams she is on the train with a paperback, wearing the Ray-Ban Skyler in havana with a camel coat. The Burberry BE2467F in black and the Ralph Lauren RL6271U in shiny black are the sharp, serious pair for a desk. The Versace VE3399U in transparent green and the Kate Spade Kamila in crystal are the ones for a plain gray knit, where the frame becomes the only color in the outfit. The Tory Burch TY2177U is a quieter black option.

 

Practical tip: hold a frame up beside your brows. A cat-eye should lift at the outer corner, not sit below the line of the eyebrow.

The easiest face shape rule I know comes from a vision guide that calls it opposites attract: with a round face, stay away from circular glasses, and let angles do the work. Round frames are still lovely, so this is a rule to test in front of a mirror, not a law.

 

The round pairs here are a good test. The Burberry BE2473D in black acetate is the heavier, bolder take, while the Burberry BE1405 in black metal is thin and almost drawn on. The Versace VE1323 in gold metal and the Tory Burch TY1103 in shiny light gold are the ones I would wear with a black turtleneck and small hoops. The Ralph Lauren RL6267U in shiny black and the Michael Kors MK4213U in black horn read more like a library than a runway.

 

Picture her cycling to work in a long scarf, the Vogue VO4370 phantos in gold sitting just above her cheeks. The Coach HC6301U in black is the one I would choose for a first pair of round glasses.

 

Check the frame width against your cheekbones, and see that the lower rim clears your cheek when you smile.

 

What I would skip: very small circles on a face that is already round, if you want definition.

Start from the shape you already own. Square and rectangle frames are the quiet workhorses, and the face shape guide I trust says they add length and sharper lines to a soft, round face.

 

The Burberry BE2073 in tortoise is the classic, the one I would wear with a navy blazer. The Ralph Lauren RL6056 in shiny transparent pink is lighter, and it works well with an oatmeal sweater. The Versace VE1175B in gold metal is slim and polished. The Kate Spade Natalia in gray suits a white shirt. The Coach HC6308U and the Dolce & Gabbana DG3454 are both black acetate rectangles, a little different in weight, so try them side by side if you can. The Tory Burch TY2175U and Carolina Herrera HER-0358/G are the squarer black options.

 

In my fashion dreams, she is in a camel coat with a leather tote on a Monday morning, black rectangles on her face and a coffee in her hand.

 

A square face usually looks softer in round or oval shapes, so if your jaw is strong, test one curved pair first.

 

What I would skip: a rectangle that is wider than your face, because the temples will push outward and the arms will not sit flat.

FramesDirect has a lens story as well as a frame one. In 1999 it was the first company to sell progressive lenses online, and in 2005 the first to sell prescription sunglasses online, in partnership with Oakley. I keep that in mind when I look at big frames, because large lenses are where a good optician matters.

 

The clear ones are the easy entrance into oversized frames. The Versace VE3388U in transparent crystal is nearly invisible at a distance. The Ralph by Ralph Lauren RA7190U in transparent rose is soft and a little sweet, and the Versace VE3398 in transparent pink is a cat-eye with attitude. The Coach HC6289U in transparent gray and the Coach HC6302U in transparent beige keep things neutral. The Tory Burch TY2174U in transparent olive is my favorite for fall, and the Vogue VO5702F in transparent caramel looks like tortoise without the pattern.

 

Picture her at a gallery opening in a black turtleneck, the Giorgio Armani AR7297U in black taking up half her face.

 

Look at the lens height before you fall for a frame, and ask whether the frame still sits on your cheeks when you laugh.

 

What I would skip: a pale clear frame with a pale complexion and no makeup, if you want your eyes to read.

Every prescription lens there comes with a scratch-resistant coating and a UV-protective coating, and the same shop sells women's sunglasses in the frames you would pick for your own glasses. That makes the sunglasses edit easy to build around what you already wear.

 

I would start with the Ray-Ban Jackie Ohh II in light havana with green lenses, a big square shape that suits a trench. The Burberry BE4393F in vintage check and dark gray is a cat-eye with a pattern at the temple. The Ralph Lauren RL8206U in cream horn with brown gradient lenses is warm and fall-like, and the Versace VE4431 in havana with dark gray lenses is the stronger one. The Tom Ford Renee in shiny black with smoke gradient lenses and the Gucci GG1661S in black and gray are the dark, serious pair. The Coach HC8410U and Tory Burch TY7216U are the easy black ones.

 

Picture her on a late weekend drive with the window down, a gradient lens catching low sun.

 

Check the temples against your ears and the frame width against your cheekbones.

 

What I would skip: a pale lens for driving into low sun, where a gradient in smoke or brown does more.

I would go in this order. Decide what you need the frames to do, then pick a shape by looking at your face, round, oval or square, and let the opposite shape lead. Measure your current glasses so you know the size.

 

Then do the ordering the way the shop lays it out: add the frames to the cart, upload your prescription at checkout, choose single vision, bifocal or progressive, then pick the thickness and the extras. An optician calls to verify the prescription before the lab starts, and a photo can give your pupillary distance.

 

I would put the Ray-Ban Skyler in havana on my own list first. It is a good frame to end on, because in 1996 buying glasses from a website was a stretch, and now it is just an ordinary Sunday.