My thoughts on the glasses trend and confidence

As you know, I love to take the healthy route to looking good! I'd sooner go for a quick run to get a healthy glow than spend hours applying make-up, but I've been wondering lately about those little tricks we can use to improve our confidence by making ourselves look better.

I'm going to talk about the eyes, as they say they are the windows to the soul and I think they express confidence better than any other aspect of our appearance. While glasses have received a lot of fashion press lately, appearing in autumn/winter collections by Paul Smith, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and MaxMara, I don’t always think that copying the catwalk is a fast-track route to confidence!

I've always thought leaving your face open helps people to connect with you, with no barrier between yours and their eyes. I know a lot of people find it off-putting to talk to someone when they are wearing sunnies, and I'd imagine the same thing can be true with glasses, depending on the frames. I can fully understand why people go to places like Ultralase eye surgery clinics rather than to the glasses racks; especially since a decent pair can set you back a good proportion of what you'd pay for surgery!

Another issue I would have with glasses is that I'd imagine they would get in the way of exercise: I like a good run, sweaty gym session or yoga class, and wouldn’t feel like I could really give it my all if I was worrying about my glasses falling off in the middle of tree pose! I don’t need to wear glasses at the moment but if I needed them in the future, exercising with them would definitely be an issue for me.

Having said that, I've seen celebrities whose confidence seems to take off when they're sporting a pair of glasses. Gok Wan has made a career from building relationships with women and encouraging them to confide in him, and thick black frames are an essential part of his look; I can't even imagine him without them! Also, I challenge any girl to look at this picture of Marilyn Monroe and not be tempted to reach for the specs – they can certainly create a unique look!

What are your thoughts? Are glasses a barrier between us and the world? Or are they a confidence-booster? If you wear glasses how do you manage with exercising in them?

*This post has been sponsored by Ultralase, however all opinions expressed here are my own