I recently made what is perhaps my most old-lady (and also most practical) purchase of all time. As someone who has worn corrective lenses for astigmatism since the age of 5, I have a huge eyeglasses collection — we’re talking a pair for every single day of the week — and I’m constantly finding myself scrounging around my bedside every morning to find whichever pair I had on the night before. It’s not only inconvenient to be pawing around unable to see, but it’s also potentially expensive — what’s to stop me from stepping on my fancy Céline specs?
It wasn’t until I recently visited my grandmother in her ultrafancy assisted-living facility that I finally discovered the perfect solution. She and her pals don’t ever struggle with this issue because they all have some version of the same eyeglasses holder next to their bedsides: this faux-sheepskin-lined number, done up in a classic grandma-style floral pattern. I asked one of them to text me a link (they are all about that Amazon Prime life) and ordered my own the very next day.
It is quite possibly the ugliest thing I’ve ever bought, but no matter how late I stay up reading, I can safely shove my glasses inside this doohickey before passing out for the night. Now, instead of searching on the floor or somewhere under my pillow to find my glasses when I wake up, they’re always right where I put them — unscratched and unscathed, but most importantly, unsmudged. See, when you aren’t half-blindly grabbing your glasses by the lenses to pick them up off your nightstand, they stay cleaner way longer. Since using and loving it, I’ve bought two more — one for my office and another for my desk at home. (Though I opted for a subtle, plain leather-esque version for the office.)
This simple little holder is also a great place to safely stash your phone — as long as it’s not an oversize model. Since my spectacle collection is still growing, I’m even considering investing in the dual-sided version, so I can have a spot for my prescription sunglasses, too. Grandma knows best, clearly.
Travel+Leisure editor-in-chief Nathan Lump shared his secret for keeping his lenses clean: “I wear glasses and travel with a lot of devices, so I always have to clean surfaces. I like these because they work so nicely and come in these attractive pouches in lots of different patterns, like stripes or camo.”
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