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Meta-Description: Think you can’t afford designer sunglasses this summer? Think again!     Find out how to get designer eyewear at discounted prices…

Image by Chris_J

Last weekend an unusual and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. What was this glorious, burning light we asked ourselves? Then it dawned on us; it was the sun and summer is finally here.

The annual dash for the nearest patch of grass is a British tradition, but it can be expensive fashion-wise. With little warning that warm weather is around the corner and we have to scramble to assemble a suitable outfit.

Designer shades perfectly pull together a summer look, and the good news is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get your hands on them.  Here are some tips on how to get eyewear by your favourite brands, without breaking the bank…

Shop Online

Buying designer products online from an authorised dealer is much cheaper than shopping on the high-street. Online retailers have fewer overheads to pay (like rent and retail staff wages) so they can afford to sell the same products for less. Our site has the latest styles from designers like Marc Jacobs and Ray-Ban, and prices can be up to 70% less than on the high-street!

Purchase Last Year’s Styles

Unless you work for Vogue, the chances are that no-one’s going to notice if your D&G sunnies are last season. They’re D&G and that’s all that matters. You will pay a premium to be bang on trend, which seems silly when sunglasses from last season still look super-stylish.

In fact, quality designer eyewear is built to last so it’s supposed to be worn summer after summer after summer!

Visit Voucher Sites

Voucher sites are a big trend at the moment and a great way to save money. Companies like Love My Vouchers offer promotional codes, which give you discounts on specific brands and products. There can be a fast turnaround on offers, so it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for new deals. Signing up to email alerts will keep you up-to-date.

Shop In The Sales

This one’s a no-brainer; just like high-street brands, designers have seasonal sales. This is a similar point to purchasing last year’s styles, but you can often find offers on this season’s styles too, especially around Christmas and in the pre-summer sales.

Get Crafty

If you’re on a really tight budget and even our fantastically-discounted sale prices are out of your reach, why not DIY? Buy a pair of our basic frames and jazz them up with sequins, glitter and appliques from a haberdashery store. Check out our ‘Crafty Ideas’ board on Pinterest for great eyewear-customisation tutorials!

Buying designer sunglasses doesn’t mean you have to default on your rent. If you follow our simple tips, you can have a roof over your head and look good. Do you have any more ideas on how to get designer eyewear for less? Leave a comment!

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Marc By Marc Jacobs Sunlasses – a fantastic range of modern contemporary eyewear by Marc Jacobs. Marc by Marc Jacobs, is a diffusion line from the main luxurious fashionable brand Marc Jacobs. Fashionable – stylish – great colours – Marc By Marc Jacobs Sunlasses are an affordable designer sunglasses range with great choice for both men and women. Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer, the head designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs. Marc Jacobs has been the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton since 1997. Marc Jacobs Sunglasses have been worn by Victoria Beckham as well as many other celebrities.

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http://www.valleyoptics.co.uk/designer-sunglasses/gucci-sunglasses/

Li Bing Bing wore Gucci biodegradable liquid wood material sunglasses, black patent loafers with gold horsebit detail, sterling silver necklace with heart shaped charm and bamboo detail, stainless steel bamboo watch, sterling silver Horsebit ring with bamboo detail and also carried a Cruise 2013 bright blue leather Soho shoulder bag with light gold hardware while at Taoyuan Airport on November 21, 2012 in Taiwan, China.

“I’m a Gucci girl!” She said proudly when Li attended a cocktail party to launch the new campaign for bags, jewellery and watches on the day Gucci presented its first ever show in China.

“I really like the attitude in the pictures,” she says. “It’s very tough.” She strikes the pose, slightly narrowing her eyes and staring into the distance. “No excuses, no frills, it’s just Gucci.

“It was like celebrating the New Year when I bought those first pieces when I was a student because I really loved the brand,” she recalls.

And she keeps everything she buys and carries on wearing them. “It’s something that is worth keeping for a long time mainly because of the historical value of the designs. I feel I own a piece of Gucci history.”

Li Bingbing is not the only celebrity to be seen wearing the Gucci liquid wood sunglasses; Salma Hayek wore Gucci Liquid Wood sunglasses while out in Venice on September 1st 2012.

Meanwhile Jennifer Lopez is captured here wearing Gucci Flora sunglasses.

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Dolce&Gabbana “Gym”. For Dolce & Gabbana customers with an active lifestyle, this collection combines the comfort and ease of casual with the energy of sport. Expanding on the previous range by introducing 2 optical frames: DG1236 & DG1239, the collection offers a casual look which is still infused with fashion, sophistication and style. Each frame is carefully coated in rubber, for maximum comfort and convenience. The case the frames are presented in can also be used as a little bag once the glasses are removed.

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Taking inspiration straight from their mainline Apparel collection and graphics, Animal introduces the new Animal Optical collection for Spring/Summer 2012.

For the guys, the ALO D02, in Matt black and Green stripe, with a hypo-allergenic metal front and handmade acetate temples, is a funky take on the current retro eyewear vibe. With fresh animal graphics adding colour to the frame, and adjustable silicon nose-pads and flex-hinges providing brilliant fit, the D02 is the perfect style for the off-duty rider.

The women’s ALO D05, in sleek Black and Burgundy, is a fresh update on chunky vintage styles, with subtle flashes of colour inside the frames a cheeky hint at a wild side. Formed from hand-crafted acetate, with hand-painted metal logo plaques and spring hinges as standard, the D05 looks as good as it feels.

Featuring 2 men’s and 2 women’s styles, in 15 colourways, the Animal D-Series optical collection is available now from Valley Optics

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The Converse eyewear collection is inspired by the concept of expressing oneself uniquely. The design begins with delivering the moment – living the dream and looking the part. There are some fantatsic vibrant colour combinations – including the great Converse Full Colour

Nicolas Roseillier is a Creative Director for Converse Eyewear. His training as an architect has transported him into the world of accessories, which he now applies to the design of premium eyewear that helps the wearer, as Nicolas says “to describe themselves.”

The extensive range of Converse Glasses, include ladies frames, mens frames, plastic, metal and combination designs – with something to suit everyone – a true spread of fantastic looking eyewear. There are some great looking frames – part of the Converse Heritage collection – like the best selling Converse Malden, a modern plastic unisex frame.

Buy your Converse Glasses here – at Valley Optics. Great prices online – take a look at the fantastic range of Converse Glasses. Browse the whole range of Converse eyewear or refine your search and take a look at our great range of Mens and ladies Converse Prescription Glasses. Converse Eyewear has a young urban appeal. The youthful look is synonymous with the Converse brand – streetwise and unique – Get that great look with Converse Glasses.

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Sicilian Baroque is the new Dolce & Gabbana  eyewear line which draws inspiration from the tradition and beauty of Sicilian Baroque. Original and hyper-feminine, the romantic decorations recall frescoes, lace and mirror frames, evolving in an infinite play of volumes and opulent details. The Sicilian Baroque style looks exquisite in the rimless designs also. The relief design of gilded roses and unfurling foliage along the frames lend an air of elegant allure.

Dolce & Gabbana Glasses is a fantastic Top end luxury brand that is famous all over the world for its outstanding stylish looks and high quality. Dolce & Gabbana is a high fashion luxury brand that’s sought after by many people including celebrities all over the world. Dolce and Gabbana glasses and sunglasses are highly stylish, unique and devishly outstsanding in colour and style – highly commended in the world of Fashion. These two Italian designers Dolce & Gabanna have carved out this luxury brand – becoming one of the hottest fashion brands in the world. Don’t miss out – buy Dolce & Gabbana glasses – Authorised Genuine retailer – Buy with confidence.

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Did you know: prescription glasses don’t always need to be purchased at your optician? There are plenty of wonderful frames, styles, makes and models that are available online for a snip of the price; your optician is just another shop. So how do you buy your specs online exactly?

Nail Your Face Shape

Choose a frame to flatter your face shape. Take a look at our guide to face shapes. This is relatively easy and takes just a little look in the mirror to figure out which frame will bring out your natural good looks. For example, if you have a round face you would look best in a wonderful pair of rectangle glasses, rounded frames will accentuate your face shape so it’s best to avoid them. It’s about balancing your features with your new accessory.

Prescriptions

Make sure you have a copy of your latest prescription before you purchase glasses online. Your Optician is legally bound to give you a copy at the time of your eye test - but can always provide a copy if you no longer have it. Make sure your prescription is in date and that you are having no problems with your vision. If you haven’t had your eyes tested in two years then you will need to have them looked at again. Some people will need their eyes testing more frequently – but the average is two years. Eye tests are more important than just checking if you need glasses too; take a look at our article on the true damage of skipping that eye test.

Online Opticians can perfectly craft your glasses – they will need to know your prescription first. Eye test prescriptions may look complicated but can be simplified quite easily. They may contain numerical numbers for the following categories on the prescription form: Sphere, Cylinder, Axis, Add. All this information is obtained from your optician at your routine eye test. Some prescriptions will only require some of these numbers – not everybody will need all of the information.

Pupillary Distance

Pupillary Distance (PD) is the distance between the centres of your pupils (How far apart the centres of your eyers are.) Low prescriptions are less likely to be affected by the technicians using average PD measurements. For those with a particularly strong prescription, checking your pupillary distance is more important. Most prescriptions will not have this written on them as standard so you can either ask for this to be covered by your optician or you can do it at home. Most opticians leave it out of the test so that you will buy your glasses from them. Don’t be fooled! All you need is a ruler and friend. For those who have average prescriptions, the pupillary distance will be set to average for you automatically.

1. Facing the mirror, place the ruler on the bridge of your nose, bringing the 0mm mark of the ruler directly above the center of your eye’s pupil.
2. Looking straight into the mirror, at arms length – hold the ruler and mark the location on the ruler of the centre of the other eye’s pupil.
3. Measure the distance in millimeters between the two marks. This is your PD.
4. Repeat this process to ensure that you have an accurate measurement.

So it’s really not that hard to buy your glasses online at all. Get in contact if you have any questions in regards to our frames, features or services.

Do you have any online spec purchasing tips?

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1. Never buy a pair of Designer Glasses or Designer Sunglasses if you are unsure if the item is genuine. All of our Designer Glasses and Designer Sunglasses have guaranteed authenticity – and are purchased buy ourselves directly from the manufacturer.
2. Always avoid buying Designer Glasses and Sunglasses from any site that cannot guarantee authenticity, or do not supply genuine paperwork or authentication cards with the product.
3. Designer Glasses and Sunglasses should always come with their original packaging, especially when they are sold as “brand new”. Always be very wary where Designer Glasses and Sunglasses are sold as brand new and they do not arrive in their original box.
4. We try and keep our prices as competitive as any site selling Designer Glasses and Sunglasses online. There is a fine margin where a product cannot possibly be sold for less or the seller is losing money – or the item may not be genuine. Designer Glasses and Sunglasses are purchased from the same manufacturers worldwide – and very limited discounts are ever given on top brands – Look at the price and compare it with the prices of similar products being sold online. If the price seems too good to be true, that’s generally because it is! High street prices tend to be far higher due to the overheads and staffing costs – so only compare these prices with other online retailers – if there is a very low price – you need to be suspicious. There are sometimes reasons why Designer Glasses and Sunglasses may be sold very cheaply, for instance if they are discontinued products and are being sold off for stock clearance.
5. You can check the colour combinations and descriptions with other online retailers. Avoid retailers – especially on bidding sites that describe products as ‘Oakley style’ intead of Oakley Sunglasses or ‘Ray-ban Style’ instead of Ray-ban Sunglasses as this is typically describing copies.
6. You can always send your Designer Glasses and Sunglasses to the manufacturer to be checked for their authenticity, i.e get them checked by Oakley/Prada etc. Alternatively, any Designer Glasses and Sunglasses dealer would usually be happy to verify them for you. Some of the Designer Glasses and Sunglasses have an impregnated unique code – not visible unless you look very hard for it. This number can be quoted to the manufacturer and they will verify the product is genuine.
7. Ultimately – if you are unsure – ASK THE SELLER. They are unlikely to admit that they are selling fake goods – but chatting to the seller and asking a few detailed questions about the Designer Glasses and Sunglasses should allow you to determine whether to order or not. No reputable seller will ever object to being asked for confirmation of authenticity.

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Kids will love having their eyes tested – so the simple answer to this question is that you should take your child for an eye test as soon as they are old enough! How old is old enough? – you may be asking. Well – Children very rarely complain about their sight, but if they do – or appear to be having some difficulties – it’s never too young to take them into an Opticians to get checked out. For example by:

• sitting close to the TV
• holding objects very close to their face
• blinking a lot
• rubbing their eyes
• one eye turning in or out

Children are entitled to a free eye test every 12 months, and routinely should be checked at 12 month intervals to ensure that their eyes remain healthy and vision develops normally.

Childrens eye tests can be done without the need to read letters off a reading chart. Recognition cards, picture cards and just the opticians expertise can asses childrens vision to ensure that all is well.

Below the age of 7 years old, childrens eyes are still developing – and any issues that are not corrected before this age – may become permanent. For example a lazy eye, eye turn – or poor vision – if not corrected before the age of 7 - then there is a much greater chance that this cannot be treated at a later age.

Regardless of whether you feel your child has any visual problems or not you should take them for an eye test as soon as possible. The Eye Test will be fun – will allow your child to get used to having their eyes checked – and any issues can be caught at an early stage – after all – poor eye sight could affect your child’s academic skills at school and also their sporting ability.

Don’t delay – check out your childs eye sight – It won’t hurt and it will be fun! Children are inquisitive – and enjoy the different tests. Valley Optics recommends that you look after your childrens eyes as well as your own

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