Bill Harvey: Show me my quarters and glasses

Spectacles change the way people view the wearer. As with any theory concerning aesthetics, finding out exactly how spectacle wear alters the perception of character is notoriously difficult. Studies tend to rely on attitudinal questionnaires (and so are fraught with potential influences from the questioner and situation) or statistical analysis of specific and wide-ranging factors such as bullying or educational achievement (inherently difficult to isolate from other variables).

That said, there is much anecdotal evidence that glasses change the way the wearer is perceived. Geek chic has helped evolve attitudes from those of Dorothy Parker, who famously declared ‘Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.’ Much of the change can be traced to a widely held assumption that spectacle wearers are more studious.