OVER THE PAST 10 years, Hugh, an interior designer who lives in the South End, has explored countless different looks, from glam to geeky, ghetto-fabulous to don’t-give-a-damn.

But there’s one in particular that he remembers now with a shudder and an embarrassed laugh. "I used to wear these glasses that didn’t have a prescription," he half-whispers. "They had thick black frames. I wore them out to a few parties. But then my friends started making fun of me."

Mark may have ditched the glasses to appease his critics, but the look’s making a comeback with folks who now eagerly feign once-stigmatized vision problems to don a hot new accessory: prescriptionless glasses.

"It’s the ultimate accessory," explains Paul Fox, an owner at Eye Q Optical, a funky shop in Harvard Square that carries stylish frames by Modo, Intrigue, OGI, Pussy Galore, and its own line, Lava ($50–$350). "Most people wouldn’t hesitate to buy a new bracelet or a ring, but it’s your face that you see first." Fox says he regularly outfits lawyers and young professionals with the non-corrective lenses: "[The look] lends a certain ... credibility."

Others find that pretending to have poor vision gives them some edge. Natalie Watson, a 25-year-old employee at Urban Outfitters — where prescriptionless glasses in black plastic frames "like Clark Kent’s" sell for $12 — happily shares her passion for sporting specs without a prescription. "Sometimes, when I’m going out, or when I’m trying to look a little more sophisticated," she says, she’ll throw on a pair. "It adds a little extra touch to your outfit."

Michele Quintero-Chica, the store manager for Q Optical, a high-end shop on Newbury Street, has identified the prescriptionless buyer as a type. "They’re kind of shy," she explains. "You have to say, ‘It’s okay,’ " she demonstrates, in a soothing tone. "They’re a little self-conscious about it.... It’s usually younger people trying to look older or look believable or look professional. They want to look like more of an intellectual."

The store cheerily participates in pulling the wool over others’ eyes by pairing customers with just the right frame and lenses with anti-reflective coating. They carry frames by Paul Smith, Armani, Calvin Klein, Alain Mikli, and Lunor, among others, which range in price from $165 to $600 — the high end for the snazziest gold-plated goods.

And, Fox says, what you see is not what you get when looking at some shall-remain-nameless musicians around town. He’s outfitted many local heartthrob bands with optical accessories, from the Sheila Divine to Crème Brulee to Helicopter Helicopter. Most of them, he says, really do have some sort of visual impairment. But, he notes conspiratorially, "a couple of the guys in the Sheila Divine have very slight prescriptions." He adds quickly, "But, you know, it ties in with their look and image."

Where to find it:

• Eye Q Optical, 12 Eliot Street, Cambridge, (617) 354-3303.

• Q Optical, 287 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 424-9292.

• Urban Outfitters, 11 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-0070; 361 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 236-0088.

Issue Date: January 3 - 10, 2002

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