I recently order my first pair of glasses online and oh boy was it a hassle.

So I figured I’d take the opportunity to help others by making a checklist of items and give a bit of advice for purchasing glasses online.

I haven’t received my pair yet, so this won’t be a complete and comprehensive review, but it’ll cover all the basics and I’ll update when I receive them.

So these are the things you’ll need to know when purchasing glasses:

Frame Width

This is how wide your glasses need to be, from ear to ear, this will probably be the most difficult measurement for you to find out, this delayed my purchase by at least a week.

I measured 5 different pairs of glasses, all with varying frame widths and the results may surprise you:

1. Some smaller frame widths felt comfortable
2. Some larger frame widths felt tight

So clearly there is something else here at play right? Yup, the shape and material matters.

There are some glasses whose temples (these are the arms/handles that stick out at the sides), bend inward, creating a tighter grip on your head.

There are glasses with temples that have no angle.

There are glasses with temples that have an outward facing angle.

So how do you know?

Well here’s what you do.

We’ve all been window shopping before, this is just like that, but with a ruler! 😀

Before you judge me, a pair of $70 glasses costs at least $350 where I’m located.

Okay, now you can judge me, I saved too much money to care 😂.

Now that that’s out of the way.

This is the basic idea:

Carry a ruler and find some frames you like, ideally one of each kind mentioned above, this way, regardless of which style you find online, you’ll know what’s the right measurement for you and what feels most comfortable.

PD — Pupillar Distance

This is the distance from each of your pupils to your nose.

While you can do this at your home pretty easily, you might as well get it from your optician or opthalmologist as you’ll be getting your prescription done there anyways.

Bridge Width

This is the distance between your eyes on the bridge of your nose, where your glasses will rest. This is another very important measurement and it should only be at most 2 millimeters off.

This one you’ll do at the doctors as well.

Try on some glasses and see which ones fit best. Then look at the temple arms on the inside, you’ll see 3 numbers like 54x18x134.

That middle number is the Bridge Width, make a note of the width that fits you best.

Credit to Zenni Optical for the image.

The other measurements are all up to your preference, make sure to take a quick picture or note of the glasses you liked best, showing the measurements on the temple arms.

I’ll update this when I get my glasses later down in the month, till then, have fun!