A while back, I was contacted by the people at Firmoo.com, an online eyewear store, to receive a free pair of prescription glasses and review the brand. My glasses just arrived, so I thought I would dedicate this week’s real mom street style post to my own style and my new glasses!!
The Reason I Dressed
These photos were taken on Sunday. It’s going to rain all week here in Modena, so we spent Sunday out enjoying the incredibly mild November weather we’ve been having!
Since we were close to home I decided to wear heels. Heels, as difficult as they are in Italy, make me feel good. Like the song used to say “you make me feel like a natural woman”…….that’s how heels make me feel!
What I Wore
If you follow the BIG fashion bloggers you know that there was a certain Stella McCartney sweater that EVERYONE wanted last year. I wrote about it here almost exactly a year ago. Her design brought back plaid in a BIG WAY, specifically light colored plaid in a woven sweater.
I saw this sweater in a boutique in Modena on sale. It is 100% handmade in Italy by a small artisan brand that does not exist online! The craftsmanship and quality of the wool are excellent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the producers behind the big brands!
It is so warm here still that I went out without a coat on and just layered a denim shirt underneath.
My heels are from Asos.com and so are my jeans. They totally have a story (you may or may not remember), but basically, I can only exhale while wearing them, and I had to cut off the bottoms since my FEET didn’t fit inside the leg holes!!
My bag is by an Italian brand, and I will be doing a separate post about the fold over leather tote trend and where to get the look for less!
My NEW Firmoo.com Glasses
I’ve been on a glasses shopping rampage this last month. I’ve gone from owning ONE pair of prescription eyeglasses to owning 6 pairs! 5 Pairs of prescription glasses in 1 MONTH!
I’ve owned my standard glasses (seen here) for around 4 years. They are vintage frames bought for 10 euro in a little store in Modena. I had to pay close to 200 euro for the lenses with anti-reflective coating. Needless to say, after this HUGE investment I’ve been avoiding buying new glasses for ….well, 4 YEARS!
Last month I found a great deal in an optical store that had partnered with Groupon, and for about 150 euro got myself a nice pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs glasses (you can see them here). Then, a small boutique in Modena, FILLED to the brim with awesome vintage frames, closed because the owner retired. She had all the frames onsale at 20 euro and a deal on the lenses. I panicked and splurged, unsure of when the next glasses deal would come around!
To be honest, when Firmoo.com contacted me I thought “really? they couldn’t have contacted me a month sooner!!?”, the last thing I needed were glasses. HOWEVER, all of that changed once I started the ordering process.
Buying Glasses Online – Doubts
When a brand offers you something for free you honestly have nothing to loose. Here were my first thoughts about buying glasses online:
1) As if I’m going to find something I like
2) As if they will look anything like they do online
3) It took me a good 45 minutes to choose the frames I wanted in-store (after trying on hundreds!!), how am i going to do this online?
4) What if they are cheap!?
With my coupon code in-hand I started the online shopping process, and I have to say, it was very technological. They have a virtual try-on assistant, so you take your picture using the webcam and indicate the distance and height of your pupils. When you virtually “try on” the glasses you get an idea of how big/small they will be on you and how they will look.
This was my first “try on” attempt:
I really didn’t trust the image, because I had no context for how these frames compared to my current ones.
MY TIP for virtually trying-on glasses:
My recommendation is to TAKE YOUR WEB CAM PICTURE WTH YOUR FAVOURITE PAIR OF GLASSES ON! This way you get a sense of how the other virtual frames measure up, and you get the lense reflection in the picture, which makes it so much more beleivable!
In the end, after a little input from my facebook page I decided on these frames.
On to the Checkout
At the checkout you enter your prescription and all of the special features that Firmoo offers at an additional cost. I actually really wanted and needed a pair of sunglasses for driving. I’m short and the visor doesn’t block the sun from getting in my eyes.
For year’s I’ve wanted the photochromic glasses that change tint depending on the light, but they were SO EXPENSIVE!! Now was my chance! Firmoo.com offers photochromic lenses for only 20 bucks! I ended up paying out of my own pocket, for photochromic lenses and a few upgrades.
Rest assured that I’m not only reviewing something I got for free, I’m reviewing something that I paid for. Risky business! Especially since I really didn’t need a new pair of glasses.
The result.
Aren’t they great!?
They are already one of my new favourite pairs, especially for driving or for days like today where it is cloudy one minute and sunny the next. I really do recommend Firmoo.com, especially if you are looking for stylish frames with expensive features.
My one negative comment about Firmoo.com was the lack of selection for people with small heads!! I’m one petite lady, and have a relatively small noggin. In the medium and large frame categories there is a huge selection, but their small frames are really limited. That being said, I didn’t have a hard time finding and choosing a frame I liked, but it would have been nice to have had more selection.
FIRMOO.COM FRAMES GIVEAWAY!
Firmoo.com has offered me a free frame from over 70+ designs, but I’m passing this deal on to you! Visit the giveaway page for full details and enter the giveaway to win free frames!
Aside from the giveaway, Firmoo.com offer FREE FRAMES TO ALL FIRST TIME CUSTOMERS, the offer can be found here!!! Can you believe it! The selection is limited to 20 or so frames, but it is still such a great deal!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
#REASONSTODRESS Real Mom Street Style Linkup & Tag Party
Feel free to read all about this linkup here and what it stands for. Every week I will feature looks from the linkup, an instagrammer who has tagged a photo #reasonstodress and a real mom in Italy or in the world! The linkup happens every Tuesday but lasts all week, feel free to join at any time!
#reasonstodress – Fab Five
Instagrammer : Megleewest
My Fancy Pants
Gnome Lover
Book of Leisure
The Mummy Chronicles
Now it’s your turn! #Reasonstodress
