Is Al Franken the anti-Sarah Palin when it comes to glasses?

[Paul]

Am I the only one who wouldn't mind having a pair of specs similar to
Al Franken's? Not his current ones, which seem a little shorter in
lens height, but the ones he seems to have worn continuously for the
last 30 years.

I mean these, though I think I'd want a width of maybe 42mm (rather
than 45):
http://www.focusers.com/no8peabody_blackdemi.html

[Paul]

Actually, they're pretty simple - just the Panto or P-3 shape you
normally see in metal done in plastic instead. The trick is finding a
good quality one at a reasonable price.

[shell]

After trying them on at a brick and mortar store, I bought a pair of
Anglo American 406's from eyeglasses.com. Not dirt cheap by any
means, but all told I paid more than $200 less than I would had I
gotten them from the store where I tried them on. Eyeglasses.com has
a number of other similar frames in their retro section.
http://eyeglasses.com/glasses/anglo-american/aa406.html

Here's a link to a lengthy discussion about the style and sizing:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80351

Goggles4u has a similar frame in a number of sizes, but I haven't
bought them because their overall width is listed at 120mm, compared
to 145 for my anglo americans. Does anyone have a pair of these from
G4U? I'd be curious to know how they fit.
http://goggles4u.com/detail.asp?Pid=27458

[iPod]

we had a short thread about this style recently, but we didn't really
come up with any spot on styles at really inexpensive prices..

http://groups.google.com/group/glassyeyes/browse_thread/thread/a14336b0ea859cb9/1a1414fe35878404?hl=en#1a1414fe35878404

[Paul]

I'm pretty sure the 145 measurement is the temple length, not frame
width. A 145mm frame width is very big. All my frames are around 125.

[Pau...@yahoo.com]

Zenni has a very similar pair for $10!

http://zennioptical.com/cart/product.php?productid=1350&cat=0&page=1

[shell]

While the Zenni frames look similar in the picture, I have a pair and
think they're quite different. The lens is much smaller and more
oblong, and I have a feeling they might be women's frames.

[Paul]

That was my impression from looking at them and also reading that the
lenses are 50mm x 35mm. I'm looking more for something like 45 x 38.
It's trickier to choose them without trying them on, but it can be
done with a little practice and knowing what details to look for.

[Paul]

These looked pretty promising, so I ordered them:

http://www.goggles4u.com/detail.asp?Pid=31088

[Firewalker]

Those look pretty close. Only difference I can see is the bridge is a
bit different, and the front temple rivets are stacked vertically
instead of horizontally. Doubt that's gonna make much difference next
to the savings.

-=# Firewalker #=-

[Paul]

The main difference to me is the shorter lens height (by about 6 mm),
which I think is a concession to current fashion. After seeing so many
people with narrow frames, rounder frames can start looking too
"tall."

A couple of other little things. I was hoping to find a lens width of
maybe 43 mm, and these are 46. And they aren't spring hinges, but
fortunately the temple-to-temple width is a roomy 132mm.

[J. Evan]

I might of missed it, but the G4U frames look nearly identical to the
Zenni 4419: http://zennioptical.com/cart/product.php?productid=981&cat=15&page=1

???

j.evan

[Paul]

I think someone mentioned the Zenni frames before, and I think they're
likely to be more square than the ones I got, closer to the Shuron
Sidewinder. And they're 48mm wide, which is just beyond the largest
width I'd want.

The ones at G4U must have only started being available recently,
because I don't remember seeing them before.

[Paul]

The frames at Goggles4U are already out of stock. So even if I like
them, they won't be around for me to recommend, unless the brand is
obvious and I can mention that.

[Paul]

I got the frames from Goggles4U a day or two ago, shipped in a box
that looked like it had been originally used to ship a package of bank
checks. There was no paperwork inside, and the return address didn't
identify the sender as Goggles4U. The frames were somewhat more
rectangular-shaped (wider and shorter) than I expected, and there were
no rivets on the front, unlike the photo.

I really wanted a rounder shape, so I went to the sink, put the frame
under hot water, removed the lenses and pushed the lens areas inward,
then cooled the plastic under cold water. After doing this a few
times, I got the shape I wanted. So instead of about 47mm x 35mm, I
got something more like 44mm x 38mm. I then realized that I might have
some older lenses that could fit. Using the hot water again, I
installed a pair of P-3 shaped lenses that were almost an exact fit,
but leaving just a a bit of air space on the outer edges toward the
top.

The lenses are just a bit too easy to remove, so maybe I'll see if I
can get some place to re-lens them with an exact fit for this rounder
shape.