If you regard your spectacles as nothing more than a tool for correcting your vision, then spending money on designer frames probably goes against the grain. You’ll pick the cheapest pair off the shelf, take a quick glance at yourself in the mirror and head to the checkout.

But are you really doing yourself justice? When you look in the mirror again, do you feel entirely happy with your glasses? Do they go with your hair, your skin tone, the shape of your face? Do they fit comfortably or do they tend to slide down your nose? Or dig in behind your ears?

There are so many considerations when choosing a new pair of glasses, the chances are that if you buy cheap and cheerful you’ll be compromising in numerous ways. And for something you wear every day, that’s hardly a recipe for satisfaction.

Style and substance

When you consider the use you get from your glasses, spending a few hundred pounds on a pair that actually give you pleasure is a sound investment. Compare that to what you spend on your hair (including the shampoos, conditioners and other treatments you apply at home) or your wardrobe: why leave the house feeling less than fabulous just because you’ve scrimped on the one thing that looks the same every day?

A quality pair of glasses is like a favourite piece of clothing and jewellery rolled into one. It is both garment and accessory, serving an essential purpose while also dictating your identity. Think of all the famous spectacle wearers, from John Lennon to Dame Edna Everage, and how their image was inextricably tied to the glasses they wore. Why shouldn’t you have a piece of that glamour!

People who claim not to care about their appearance are actually contradicting the evidence of science. Psychologists have shown that when you feel well-dressed it translates into a greater sense of confidence and contentment. We’ve all felt that special feeling when we dress up for a big night out. We then project that inner confidence and contentment, so that other people perceive us as confident and contented individuals and treat us as such. This in turn reinforces our confidence and thus we create a virtuous circle of looking and feeling good.

Conversely, a pair of glasses that clash with your hair, make your eyes look permanently startled, constantly slip down your nose and are so scratched that you can barely see through them will leave you feeling somewhat less than happy and will make other people perceive you as such. You create a vicious circle of poor image and low self-esteem.

When you consider it from this perspective, the desire to look your best is far from frivolous. It is fundamental to your everyday happiness.

Quality lasts

Aside from the aesthetic argument, a bespoke pair of glasses will give you pleasure in the way a well-made car does. The robustness of the material, the integrity of the moving parts, the way it fits your contours and the crispness of vision afforded by the best lenses and scratch-resistant coatings all adds up to a user experience that is a lasting joy, day after day.

Who wants the irritation of having to live with distorted frames that no longer sit comfortably in place, or scratched lenses that make your outlook on life one of permanent obscurity? At Malcolm Gray we strongly believe in providing our customers with spectacles that enhance their lives in more ways than merely enabling them to see. A lot of customers come to us after trying the cheap and cheerful option; very few go the other way.

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