I’m one of those annoying people who have almost perfect eyesight. It’s annoying for me too, as I love wearing stylish glasses! However, when I last went to the optician, they did warn me about eye strain from looking at screens too much.I spend almost all my working day attached to my laptop. I watch movies with my dinner. I round off the evening with a good scroll through my social media streams. No wonder my poor old eyes are feeling the screen burn! However, I have long been fascinated by the potential benefits of blue light glasses.
Blue light glasses (sometimes called blue light blocking glasses) contain lenses designed to reduce the amount of blue light that reaches the eye, by filtering blue light rays to help prevent them from entering your eye and causing potential damage. While there is no scientific evidence to say that blue light glasses help, circumstantially people are reporting that the glasses are beneficial – and they can look cool! Finally, I have a valid excuse to wear exciting glasses with plano lenses!
However, as a vintage style aficionado, I relish any opportunity to accessorise my outfits as extrovertly as possible. I thought it was time to outsource the opinions of a group of trusted, stylish, professional women, to see if our Betty glasses with blue light lenses would appeal to them. I decided to use a group of friends, all with diverse life and dress styles, as test subjects to try these glasses for themselves.
Enter the Clovers! At University, I lived in an all-female student house with a diverse group of women, and, sixteen years since graduation, we are still very close. However, in the years since our studies, our lives have diverged – but can we agree on Betty blue lights? While the intention was to all meet up for dinner and discuss glasses (kind of like a Tupperware party for specs), our plans were scuppered (as they so often are at the moment) by one of us contracting the dreaded ‘Rona', so we had to meet in smaller groups.
First, let me introduce Claire, a go-getting director for an international technology brand. Her style is professional yet individual, with a love of bright colours and high-quality classic pieces.
As her role has become increasingly remote through the pandemic, she has had to conduct more and more of her professional life through video conferencing platforms. “Working for a global tech company, I spend a lot of time on video calls with my colleagues internationally,” said Claire,” so a fun pair of glasses is a great way for me to express my fashion sense when all that can be seen is my head & shoulders!”. Claire is also curious about the potential benefits that these glasses could offer: “I'm also a big fan of blue light filters to help mitigate all that screen time.”
Next up, meet Alix – a small, bubbly cutie who works hard (and, with Claire, plays hard) with a range of high-profile orchestras. Alix is rarely seen without her trusty vegan leather doc martens and she has a penchant for making her own sustainable clothes and beauty products. She adds a quirky touch to an outfit through her wild choices of accessories.
“I have a computer-based job and spend a lot of time working with spreadsheets, so I've found the blue light lenses help to counteract the harsh screen light,” said Alix. “They are also useful for late-night scrolling! I love the fun vintage look too!”
Finally, when Jenny’s pesky second strip had faded, we caught up over coffee. An occupational therapist with a strong social conscience, Jenny reflects that in her utilitarian chic aesthetic (paired with a sharp undercut), which occasionally makes room for vintage-inspired pieces. “I work in a hospital so spend most of my day in uniform,” said Jenny. “It's great to be able to add some personality to my look with a stylish pair of glasses and I love the range of colours.
Jenny was also bowled over by the light-weight comfort of the Betty frames: “Literally the only pair of glasses that comfortably fit me and don't slip down my nose! Thank you Retropeepers!”
I think we can all agree that every leaf of our four-leafed Clover rocks the Bettys in their unique way. We would love to see how you style yours - please tag retropeepers in your selfies on Instagram! Many thanks to @goldyloxxroxx
Why not treat yourself to a new pair of blue light glasses. Shop the collection here.
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