As a college student, you may be counting every penny. At the same time, you want your eyeglasses to look stylish and connect with your style. You may have surfed ads for online eyeglass companies and wondered if you really could pay so much less for great-looking glasses and still have them fit. Well, the answer is yes, you can—but only if you get the measurements right.
There are five essential numbers you need to know when buying frames.
- Frame width: the entire horizontal distance of the eyeglasses
- Lens height: the vertical measurement of the lens
- Temple arm: the length of the part that goes behind your ear, both the straight part and the bend
- Lens width: horizontal diameter of one lens, sometimes called the “eye size”
- Bridge: part than spans the bridge of your nose
All measurements are taken in millimeters, but you won’t flunk if you are a little off like you might in your calculus class. A general rule of thumb is that you may vary 2-3 millimeters for everything but the bridge, which should stay within a 2-millimeter range.
With these measurements and your prescription, you can visit a site such as Zenni Optical, buy a rad pair of eyeglasses (or two), and still have money left over for those expensive books.
