Ever since I heard of Warby Parker there’s always been something that I liked about them. I guess it was also the peak of my wanting to be a cool glasses-wearing hipster. However, there is one pivotal problem: I don’t necessarily need glasses. My vision is actually pretty bad, but since I was around 13/14 years old I have night contacts. For those of you who are unfamiliar with night contacts, you’re not alone. Almost everyone I mention night contacts to are immediately confused. Basically they are contacts you wear overnight. They correct your vision while you sleep and in the morning you can take them out. The benefits of these types of contacts are that your vision doesn’t get worse over time and you don’t have to wear them during the day (so say goodbye to irritated and dry eyes from contacts, and goodbye to the slight panic when you think that you’ve lost your contact when your vision get slightly blurry for a bit; that happened to me way too often).
Anyways, having these contacts mean that I don’t need glasses. But like I said, there’s something about Warby Parker that I liked. So when I found out about their sunglasses, I was pretty excited. It actually took me a while to pull the trigger, but I finally did: I tried out their home try-on program. You probably already know, but in case you don’t, it’s super simple. You can pick 5 different frames to try on at home, wear them for a bit to see if you like them and if they fit, then you send all back. Now on to photo time!
Nancy – Cognac Tortoise with Brown Gradient lenses
Raglan – Pearled Tortoise with Green-Grey lenses
Raglan – Jet Black with Grey Gradient lenses
Downing – Jet Black with Green-Grey lenses
Percey – Jet Black Matte
Okay, so those are all the photos; now let’s get on to the review. But first, these are all personal preferences and different frames suit people more/less than others; so make the choice for yourself!
Nancy: I was actually mostly excited about these; I was waiting for a while for them to be available for home try-on. Trying them on, unfortunately, I don’t think they suited me. The frames are a bit too large and the brown color of the frames were a bit much for my taste
Raglan (tortoise): I always believed my favorite color of sunglasses is just plain black, but I was happily surprised. They definitely grew on me the more I wore them and spoilers, these are my favorite of the bunch
Raglan (black): Like I said above; I thought I would like the black frames better than the tortoise, but comparing the two; the black seems a bit too boring.
Downing: These were my second favorite. These are pretty similar to the Raglan, but something minor that I noticed was the placement of the nose bridge section. On the Downing frames, they are slightly higher than the Raglan’s. The higher nose bridge section is a bit more modern, but I guess I am just more into the classic style.
Percey: Now these were my least favorite. The frames are definitely too small for my face and the shape of them just reminded me of the very circular frames that The Beatles might wear. The lenses are also brown-tinted similar to the Nancy’s, which I’m not a huge fan of.
So there’s my thoughts on the individual frames; definitely some winners and unfortunately some losers. But overall, I think a more important review should be on the home try-on program since frames style is a very personal preference and your needs/wants most likely are different than my own.
PROs: (1) The home try-on program is super convenient; some people might not be close to a Warby Parker store so it’s great that they are delivered right to your door with a pre-paid return labels and an easy return process. (2) I actually only chose to try 3 frames, but Warby Parker sent me 2 additional frames and it turned out great. My favorites were a pair that I didn’t particularly chose for myself. I got a pair that I really liked and a pair that I didn’t like at all, but it was great to confirm that those frames were not for me. (3) With the try-on program, you have a couple of days to try them out. So wear them around the house, in different lighting, for an extended period of time, etc. You can see the frames on in a more realistic setting; not in a sterile fluorescent-lit store (4) I didn’t do this; but I’ve seen some videos of people really taking advantage of the home try-on program. You can try out 5 frames, send them back, and again, trial 5 more to really find the perfect frames.
CONs: (1) 5 days to me sounds pretty short; I kinda forgot about them for a couple of days and when it came to the day of final return the UPS store was closed. I had a moment of slight panic, but I emailed their customer support and they gladly extended the date of return. Their customer support should actually be a PRO because they were very accommodating and friendly, but the program is a bit extreme. Reading the terms and conditions, if you fail to return the frames, technically they can charge you for each frames meaning $475 ($95 x 5). The employees are great, but Warby Parker does have the right to charge you quite the pretty penny if you keep them for even 1 extra day (2) Following the home try-on, I’m not entirely convinced. My favorite was the Raglan tortoise, but there was a huge fit discrepancy between the black ones and the tortoise ones. The black ones were a bit snug and the tortoise one was a bit too loose. The glasses have measurements on the interior as well so I compared the two and those were also different. Something about it seemed strange. It’s minor if the wrong measurement was printed on one of the frames and minor if the fit is a bit different (because lot of people are trying them on and handling them). But it seems fishy that both frame fit and printed measurements are different. I haven’t bought any frames yet, post-try-on, because I fear the fit might be completely off. I don’t know if they will be too snug or too loose. I reviewed their fit guide and apparently there are some parts of the frame that can be adjusted, but the nose bridge section doesn’t look like a section they adjust and the nose bridge is the part that I think would have to be tailored to my face the most.
So after my PROs and CONs, I leave it to you to decide. The home try-on program is good in some ways, but also risky in other ways. It can’t hurt to try some frames out, just make sure you send them back in the appropriate time!
katatries 