The grass is always greener on the other side, to quote the cliche. Those who have glasses don’t want them, and those who don’t, will wear them with no lenses!
This is the latest fad in Hong Kong and several other Asian countries. It’s common to find people sporting empty plastic frames, in a variety of bright colors that match their outfit or their hair. It might confuse you as to why anyone who didn’t have to wear glasses would want to. But they seem to have reasons of their own. According to popular radio host Chu Fun, the empty glasses are great because they match her outfits, but they are also practical. When she doesn’t have time to put on makeup, the lensless glasses are great to cover up dark circles, she says. They also don’t blind her by fogging, or get stuck to false eyelashes or mascara. Chu has four pairs already, in black, pink, red and purple.
Raymond Chan, a Hong Kong nurse, feels the plastic frames make his eyes look bigger. He happens to have perfect vision and doesn’t need glasses otherwise. In fact, even those who need them are preferring to wear contacts and lensless frames. Michelle Wong, an art gallery manager who lives in Beijing, says that she wears the glasses because they are popular. Seeing many popular TV hosts and actors sporting them, she has been following the trend too. The frames are quite cheap and available from shops on the street. A typical frame could cost anywhere between $4 and$12. The trend is actually not new, it had started in the 1990s in Japan, but died out quickly. For some reason, the fad has picked up speed once more. How long it’ll last this time is something we can’t be sure of.
The strange lensless glasses fashion trend is gaining popularity in Asian countries like Japan, Korea and China’s Hong Kong.
