Today I’m going to try to write a post that will actually be useful to other cosplayers, instead of just rambling about how awesome I think I am. I’m assuming most cosplayers who need glasses just use contacts when cosplaying a character that doesn’t wear glasses, but I’m just not willing to touch my eyeballs just for a costume. I also don’t want to limit my cosplay options just to characters that have the same minor disability as me. If you’re also in the minority of people who are not willing to (or simply can’t) wear contacts, there are other options.
Hipster Lucy: I murdered my classmates before it was cool.
You can simply wear your glasses and not care what people at the con say or think. Most people won’t care, but some people elitists might. You can always insist that you’re a hipster version of whatever character you’re cosplaying.
I’ve also heard of people simply not wearing their glasses at all, and relying on their non-blind friends to help them get around. That seems like it would be dangerous, and probably wouldn’t be much fun, so I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
If you don’t want to wear contacts or your normal glasses, but don’t want to go without vision, you could get a pair of frameless glasses, which won’t be as obvious in photos.
I was originally going to just wear my regular glasses and possibly take them off when people wanted photos, since that’s what I did with my last two costumes, but I thought my thick frames detracted from the costume too much, so I decided to get a pair of frameless glasses to use for cons.
“normal” Lucy
I ended up getting a pair of cheap glasses from zennioptical.com for about $30 (after shipping and adding anti-glare coating). Since it was just for a costume, I wasn’t about to spend $500 at one of the ripoff mall optical stores, especially when I’m probably going to need to get my prescription updated soon anyway. I got them in the mail today, just in time for the con.The glasses seem to be of just as good quality as the ones I paid hundreds of dollars for at the mall. The lenses actually seem clearer than my other pair, though that might just mean I need to clean the lenses better.
I’ll probably buy glasses online again next time I need new ones, or if I ever need a certain type of glasses for a cosplay. I don’t think I’m ever going to spend $500 at a mall optical store again (I’ll write another post about ordering glasses online later).
I suppose if I really wanted to make my costume more accurate, I could have gotten red/pink color contacts, but I would really prefer not sticking my fingers into my eye. I can’t even watch my boyfriend put in his contacts. lol. I can live without that minor detail.
Anyway, most people realize that some people need to wear their glasses, and won’t have a problem with it, but every con has those elitist cosplayers who find fault with everything. Don’t sacrifice your vision or comfort just to make your costume more accurate to please those people. You’re there to have fun. Dress how you want.
