Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'': Yuki Nagato's glasses seem to be simply an aesthetic feature, and she stops wearing them after Kyon tells her she's cuter without them.

** She uses them for "magical" purposes in some novels (such as The Disappearance) but they don't correct her vision. Except in the spinoff, where she's [[Blind Without'Em]].

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''

** Though people read into it for different reasons, [[Love Freak|America]] doesn't need his glasses. They represent Texas (rather, he puts them on after annexing Texas) but really seems to exist soley for looking [[Moe Moe|cuter]].

** Something similar happens with [[Team Dad]] Austria, who's said via [[Word of God]] to be more or less [[Generic Cuteness|plain, looks-wise]].

* It's implied in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' that neither [[Evil Genius|Aion]] or [[Mad Scientist|Shader]] need their glasses. In Shader's case she's probably wearing them because it makes her look brainy, in Aion's case it might be that, or it might be to make him look [[Scary Shiny Glasses|more intimidating]]. In Aion's case, they're probably also there to hide from the audience that {{spoiler|Chrono and Aion are identical twins}}.

* In ''[[D.N.Angel]]'', Satoshi doesn't actually need his glasses, and admits it to people when they ask. However, it's implied they might function as a way to {{spoiler|hold back his alter-ego, Krad.}}

* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Gokudera Hayato aquires a pair of glasses half way through the series for no apparent reason, aside from the fact that they make him [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|look even cuter]]. Well, he does seem to use them whenever he reads things. When studying Sistema CAI, when teaching Tsuna to swim, when trying to learn how to properly cook... Looks like it can be deduced that Gokudera has a little vision problem when it comes to reading things up close. He seems to have no problem in school without his glasses, however. He doesn't care about school, though.

* Jin from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' wears designer glasses which are completely pointless, expressly for the purpose of looking sophisticated.

* Azuma from ''[[Bamboo Blade]]'' got herself (fake) glasses in the hopes that they would help improve her marks.

* Used by Poplar while studying for a test in ''[[Working]]''

* Dentaku, of ''[[Litchi Hikari Club]]''. Suitably, his epithet is "Science Boy".

* When the master assassin ''[[Golgo 13]]'' needs to infiltrate a chemical warfare lab by posing as a skilled chemist, his disguise consists of... a pair of glasses. It's arguable whether they make him look smarter, but they actually DO make him look less intimidating somehow, which is an accomplishment in itself, considering his [[Perpetual Frowner|face]].

* Ninamori wore lensless glasses over contacts during the school play in ''[[FLCL]]'', instead of just wearing normal glasses, because she doesn't want the other students to know she has imperfect vision.

** When he first grabs a pair in the anime he punches out the lenses in them so he can actually see as they originally belonged to someone else presumably his father, who does need them.

 

 

* In the same universe, some versions of [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] claim that Peter Parker never needed glasses at all, but his Aunt May feared he would strain his eyes by reading without them. They were broken in an early strip, and after that he has never worn them again. The gag shows up again every couple of years, where after seeing something supernatural/incredible, Peter will muse that maybe he needs to go back to wearing glasses.

* [[Superman|Clark Kent]], of course, whose glasses mainly serve as [[Clark Kenting|his disguise]]. In some versions his glasses do have something special about them.

 

 

== Fan Fiction ==

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Played straight in ''[[High School Musical]]'' with Kelsi, completely averted with every other character in the movie.

* ''[[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'': Tricia "Trillian" MacMillan, in her first scene has a pair of glasses to flag her character as clued-in.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': The special episode "Time Crash", where the Doctor teases his own past self for wearing glasses he doesn't need in order to look "a bit clever". Ironically, the Tenth Doctor himself is practically infamous for his use of the brainy specs. The fact he has worn them in not only his fifth and tenth incarnations, but also, at least once in a [[Television Tie in Novel]], his eighth, which were pretty much his [[Older Than They Look|youngest-looking]] incarnations, rather suggests he might not really need them and just wears them to give himself more gravitas. Out of universe, [[David Tennant]] (the Tenth Doctor) has said that he wanted to have his Doctor frequently wearing glasses in order to give glasses-wearing kids a heroic role-model.

* On ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', in the flashback in "Arrivederci, Fiero," it's shown that Ted wore spectacles. When they accidentally break, however, he says they were merely "decorative."

* In one episode of ''[[Even Stevens]]'', [[Dumb Muscle|Donny]] watches a video on how to appear smarter. One of the video's suggestions is to wear glasses (Also, to use big words like "cornucopia, meaning 'bountiful' or 'a lot of'").

* In a recent episode of ''[[Better Off Ted]]'', Lem reveals that he has been doing this for the past ten years.

* Both Mulder and Scully are seen wearing glasses occasionally in the first season of ''[[The X-Files]]''. No explanation in-story for why both stopped using them after that. Mulder does make a passing reference to "need for corrective lenses" in the fourth-season episode "Home".

* [[Spike Milligan]] in ''There's a Lot of It About'':

{{quote| '''Doctor:''' Why do your glasses have no lenses?<br />

'''Spike:''' Because I have perfect eyesight, Doctor. }}

* [[Subverted]] on ''[[Dollhouse]]:'' in the first episode [[Reluctant Mad Scientist|Topher]] explains that [[The Hero|Echo]] really ''does'' need glasses when she's imprinted with the Miss Penn personality, even though she normally doesn't. The way he sees it, little weaknesses like that are important features that help give the personae their strengths.

* Ami in ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''. She claims she feels awkward without them.

 

== Video Games ==

* Emma plays this straight in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]''. When Raiden is about to escort her underwater, she takes off her glasses and he suggests for her to get contacts. Emma then admits that she can see perfectly fine and only wears the frames to look cuter.

* In ''[[Chocobos Dungeon|Final Fantasy Fables]]'', Chocobo gains a pair of these while he's a Scholar. Most. Adorable. Nerdy bird. ''Ever''.

* ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'s'' [[Meaningful Name|Cerveau]] has glasses that are similar to [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Cyclops]]. But that didn't stop him from looking brainy.

* Scholars in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' have two specially designed pieces of headgear that are mortarboards with built-in glasses. The lower-leveled one has Intelligence and augments their ability to regain MP. The higher leveled on has Mind (generally associated with wisdom in the game), elemental magic skill, and improves their spell-casting time. [[Fantastic Racism|But the amazing thing is that the mortarboards can even make Elvaans look smart!]]

 

 

== Web Comics ==

* Ping from ''[[Megatokyo]]'' does this once to try to get her classmates to like her. The plan fails, unfortunately.

* Sarin the Wizard of ''[[The Dragon Doctors]]'' wore a monocle in the first chapter (and ditches it right around the same time he gets permanently turned into a woman). It's later revealed in a flashback this was entirely an affectation; a kid said Sarin (a young, green-haired man wearing a grey hoodie) didn't look anything like a wizard. Sarin's response was to magically grow a (green) mustache, throw on a robe, and pop in a monocle, with the words, "Impaired vision equals smart!"

 

 

== Web Original ==

{{quote| '''Spoony:''' How do we know she's a scientist? Because she wears glasses, of course! And as we all know, any woman who has glasses is either a scientist or an [[Hot Librarian|adventurous librarian]]. As if wearing glasses makes you look any smarter!<br />

''(NC and Linkara glare at Spoony)''<br />

'''Spoony:''' ''(sheepishly)'' ... I need glasses. }}

** The other take of this was Spoony trying to cover his ass and eventually telling Critic that he'd do him. [[Black Comedy Rape|...he got his wish]].

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* On ''[[Daria]]'', noted [[The Ditz|ditzes]] Kevin and Brittany are convinced for one episode that glasses might make them smart. Brittany ''does'' say something intelligent and then declares, "Wow, these things really do work!" but Kevin gets a pair without lenses because he doesn't want to get ''too'' smart.

** Mind you Homer actually seems to be farsighted and has been shown wearing half moon spectacles while reading.

* It's been debated in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' fandom whether or not Charles Foster Ofdensen's glasses are functional or just there to both accentuate his cleverness and make him seem more harmless than he really is (which isn't at all. He's the [[Badass Normal]]).

== Real Life ==

* Drew Carey got laser surgery at some point, but started wearing a pair without lenses, because he looked weird without them. Not only that but he usually wears a specific ''style'' of glasses modeled after military-issue "Birth Control" glasses (so named because no one wearing them will ever get laid). This was lampshaded in one episode of ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'' where he addresses the audience wearing a slimmer, more stylish pair that he usually wears off camera before switching to his familiar ones right before the show starts.

* In his youth, [[Elton John]] played this trope straight when he started wearing glasses to copy his idol, Buddy Holly. Subverted, now that he can't see without them.

* This trope has its origins in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. The literate educated classes were often forced to read by candlelight, straining and eventually damaging their eyes. Therefore, intelligent people were more likely to need (and be able to afford) glasses than the ignorant masses, or those who earned their fortune in other ways.

* Stephen Harper started wearing glasses, seemingly for no reason other than to look smart. They don't help.

* Even people who don't need a vision correction (or only need a very minor correction, possibly unknown to themselves) are often advised to buy proper lenses anyway that correctly match the human eye and are of the same optical quality as lenses in prescription glasses. Because of the cost of those lenses some refuse and wear glasses with the demo lenses from the store still in the frame. Those lenses are often stamped with the name of the frame manufacturer on them, so as a result you can occasionally see people wearing aesthetic glasses whose lenses are half covered with a brand tag like [http://x35.xanga.com/b59e1714c7332278995702/w222246306.jpg Prada], [http://x65.xanga.com/456e1b1304135278995703/w222246307.png Vogue], etc.

* Zachary Quinto has taken to wearing thick-rimmed glasses when he's in the midst of filming the Star Trek films because they help him hide his shaved eyebrows.