City Living: Buying Glasses in Toronto

While we may be a little late on the hipster bandwagon, we’re finally starting to realize that not all glasses have to make us look nerdy or feel like we are back in grade 11. Now on the hunt for the perfect pair of “cool” glasses, we began asking fellow four-eyes where they buy their trendy specs. We were delighted to discover that there are tons of stylish, vintage, quirky and classic options all around the city.  We’ve rounded up a few of our favourites.

Spectacle
Three stores: 752 Queen St. W, 55 Mill St. Building #53, 3342 Yonge St.

With three locations around Toronto, each one cooler than the next, Spectacle takes trendy eyewear to another level. Their licensed opticians and “frame stylists” are there to educate glasses shoppers on buying the perfect pair of eyeglasses, sunglasses or contact lenses. While you’re sure to find classics like Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and Prada, we suggest you take advantage of the more exotic labels Spectacle has to offer – like Ic! Berlin, Mosley Tribes or Rudy Project. They pride themselves on introducing new European brands to Canada, so why not try something new?

A gorgeous store to house an impressive selection of glasses.
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Opticianado
2919 Dundas St. E

If you’re in the market for the ultra-hip, no-one-else-will-have-them pair of glasses, head over to the Junction. Located on Dundas West, this indie store offers high-end unused vintage eyewear, as well as contemporary independent designers. With a state-of-the-art edging lab and expert contact lens fittings on-site, they are not only serious about glasses, they treat them as artwork. 

Need your glasses custom fit or a quick repair? Looks like they have you covered.
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Aeroplane Vintage Eyewear

55 Richmond St. W.

If you’re serious, and we mean SERIOUS about finding the most exclusive, unique pair of frames, we can’t think of anywhere better than Aeroplane Vintage Eyewear. This exclusive retailer carries a huge selection of high-end vintage eyewear from around the world. While you may recognize brands like Gucci, Ray-Ban, Persol and YSL, make no mistake, all glasses are “new condition vintage”, hand picked for style, brand and history. You are sure to find the perfect statement pair here.

Love vintage shopping for clothing? Why not try vintage shopping for glasses?

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LF Optical
4 locations: (Downtown) 333 Bay St. Unit 14 C, (Thornhill) 1450 Centre St., (East) 131 Sunrise Ave. E, Midtown 2782 Dufferin St.

When we first discovered LF Optical, we thought we’d better keep this gem of a shop our little secret. Little did we know that everyone and their mom had already discovered it as well. With a new location downtown, they are becoming an even more popular destination for glasses. While you won’t find any vintage glasses here, the selection is extensive (they have over 3,000 models to choose from in each store), the prices are even better, and if you find glasses somewhere else, they will order them for you. Now that we don’t have to make the journey all the way to Dufferin or Thornhill, you can bet that we will be checking out LF Optical for our next pair of glasses.

Glasses in all shapes and sizes.

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With all this selection, we think we might forego our contacts for a little while (good thing because we just ran out) and try out some new frames. Glasses can be a great accessory, and perhaps the easiest way to change up your look once in a while.