Line #214 Main/PurelyAestheticGlasses


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/{{FLCL}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c2a4eb09_1b22_424d_8a16_cee293ac9c71.png]]]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350:She looks good and sees good!]]
8	%%
9	->''"You don't even need them! You just think they make you look a bit clever."''
10	-->-- '''The Tenth Doctor''' [[MyFutureSelfAndMe to the Fifth Doctor]], ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CiNSTimeCrash Time Crash]]"
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12	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
13
14	Usually, only people with [[BlindWithoutEm vision problems]] go to the trouble of getting a pair of glasses. But sometimes, we have a character who dons a pair of spectacles even though they have perfect eyesight. The Purely Aesthetic Glasses are just there to make the character look [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses smart, sophisticated]], {{scary\|ShinyGlasses}}, [[GlassesAreSexy sexy]] and/or [[BespectacledCutie cute]]. However, whether they really do make the wearer smart, sophisticated, and cute is variable. Another possibility is wearing glasses as part of a disguise, to impersonate a glasses-wearing person, or simply as a bit of facial concealment.
15
16	See also: GlassesCuriosity and GogglesDoNothing. Contrast UniversalEyeglasses, where the glasses do correct eyesight, but work for anyone, regardless of prescription.
17
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Advertising]]
23	* A UsefulNotes/McDonalds commercial shows two men, wearing glasses and sitting at an intellectual coffee shop, somehow found out that [=McDonald's=] also serves coffee. They immediately rebel against the pseudo-intellectual front they had been putting up to get their coffee, and yes, one of them was pulling this trope. The other one [[BlindWithoutEm was not]].
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* ''Anime/AngelBeats'': Takamatsu wears a pair of these. However, it is noted almost immediately that despite the specs, he's still an idiot.
28	* [[spoiler:Firo]] of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' takes to wearing a pair of these from 1970 onwards [[spoiler:after he replaces Maiza as [[TheMafia the camorra]]'s ''conta è oro'']]. When asked about them, he admits that they're just there to make him look smarter.
29	* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Garaku normally wears glasses, which have actual glass lenses, but don't seem to do anything, given he's a humanoid spirit. He's shown without them in flashbacks to his "youth" ([[BornAsAnAdult as much as he had one]]), and Garaku once [[TheGlassesComeOff took them off for a fight]] without losing any visual ability.
30	* Azuma from ''Manga/BambooBlade'' got herself (fake) glasses in the hopes that they would help improve her marks.
31	* On ''Manga/BlackLagoon,'' a kidnapped rich boy is rescued by his family's [[TheJuggernaut unstoppable]] gun-wielding NinjaMaid, Roberta, who reveals herself to have once been a Cuban assassin and international terrorist named Rosalita Cisneros. As she's been loaded, very injured, into a car, she asks the boy to get her (broken) glasses from the ground. He's confused because he knows she doesn't actually need them to see.
32	-->"Those glasses help me believe I'm her. I just want to be your Roberta."
33	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'':
34	** Conan Edogawa has big round glasses for the aesthetic effect of ''looking less like himself''; he's been [[FountainOfYouth de-aged]] into a child and is living day-to-day with a {{Childhood Friend\|s}} whom he does not want to recognize him, and Shinichi never wore glasses. He's ClarkKenting, but he doesn't have the luxury of changing back and forth at will. They also make him look cuter, which he exploits. He also gets some cool features built into them as time passes, chiefly that they contain the monitor system for his little electronic trackers.
35	** 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. Curiously, none of the characters notice the lack of lenses...
36	* Haruka of ''Manga/CastleTownDandelion'' wears these to school.
37	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' when during their TrainingFromHell, {{Idiot Hero}}es Denji & Power attempt to invoke SmartPeopleWearGlasses by donning pairs in an attempt to become smarter. For a brief moment [[PlaceboEffect it seemingly works]].
38	* It's implied in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' that neither [[EvilGenius Aion]] or [[MadScientist 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 [[ScaryShinyGlasses more intimidating]]. In Aion's case, they're probably also there to hide from the audience that [[spoiler:Chrono and Aion are identical twins]].
39	* An unanimated chapter of ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'' revealed that [[spoiler:Hidenori has 40/20 vision ''without'' his StoicSpectacles.]]
40	* In ''Manga/DNAngel'', 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.]]
41	* The disguise variety shows up in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasTheLegendOfTheSunKing'', a PrinceAndPauper-style story where Nobita exchange places with Prince Tio, a prince of an alternate universe who's somehow an IdenticalStranger to Nobita, save for absence of glasses. Doraemon simply took out one of Nobita's old specs, removes the lens, and voila.
42	* Ninamori wore lensless glasses over contacts during the school play in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', instead of just wearing normal glasses, because she doesn't want the other students to know she has imperfect vision. [[spoiler: It's explained in the commentary for the episode she has fine eyesight and the glasses are just something she worked into the play (and wore in front of Naota) because they made her look more grown up. The events of her spotlight episode made her realize that she could still have fun as a kid, recognized when she told him they were fake at the very end.]]
43	* ''Manga/DrRamuneMysteriousDiseaseSpecialist'' has Takaharu, a seemingly dorky bespectacled high-schooler who is actually a {{Bishonen}} and is wearing the thick, unpleasant-looking frames in order to hide his good looks so that he wouldn't outshine his best friend, Bungou.
44	* The final arc of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', and ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' has Gohan wearing glasses along with his civilian clothing. Since he does not wear glasses when he dons his gi and also takes them off when engaging in battle otherwise, his eyesight seems to be just as fine as before. ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', however, reveals that Gohan really is nearsighted without his glasses, causing Piccolo to wonder if going Super Saiyan fixes his eyesight.
45	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Riza Hawkeye uses this when she [[PaperThinDisguise engages in]] ClarkKenting.
46	* Ayane Isuzu in ''Anime/GateKeepers21'' doesn't need them, but wears them because she has a complex regarding her parents and her identity.
47	* When the master assassin ''Manga/{{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 [[PerpetualFrowner face]].
48	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'':
49	** Though people read into it for different reasons, [[LoveFreak America]] doesn't need his glasses. They represent Texas (rather, he puts them on after annexing Texas) but really seem to exist solely for looking [[{{Moe}} cuter]].
50	** Something similar happens with TeamDad Austria, who's said via WordOfGod to feel that he looks [[GenericCuteness plain;]] from a symbolic standpoint, the glasses supposedly represent his music (as something that makes him interesting).
51	* ''Manga/ItsMyLifeImomushiNarita'': Zigzagged with Elise. Her eyesight is fine, but she wears glasses to change the colour of her silver irises to make herself look less conspicuous when she's traveling. However, the additional notes mention that she continues to wear her glasses at home because she just likes them.
52	* Kanamori from ''Manga/KeepYourHandsOffEizouken'' always has her eyeglasses sitting atop her head, but is almost never seen wearing them. Instead using them as, in one instance, a hair-tie. The one time we do see her wearing them, she's asleep.
53	* Miu from ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' wears these to make herself stand out less, and although she's still a head-turner, she's not as much of one. When she finally ditches them and decides to be more open, it does not go unnoticed.
54	* ''Manga/LoveStage'': Rei has perfect vision - he wears glasses because without them [[TheGlassesGottaGo he is incredibly attractive]] and he doesn't like the attention.
55	* Dentaku, of ''Manga/LycheeLightClub''. Suitably, his epithet is "Science Boy".
56	* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
57	** ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'': [[TheGlassesComeOff As shown]] in the last episodes, Quattro doesn't need her glasses. She just has them to help keep up her [[BitchInSheepsClothing façade]] of [[{{Kawaiiko}} innocent cuteness]].
58	** Nove is also shown wearing reading glasses in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'', even though she (like Quattro) has cybernetically enhanced eyes.
59	* ''Anime/{{Meganebu}}'', where glasses-wearing is {{enforced\|trope}}:
60	** In a show about the {{Bishonen}} guys in a High School "[[JapaneseSchoolClub Glasses Wearers Club]]," the member Hayato Kimata has 20/20 vision and wears glasses for show, he just really likes them and wants to be a member of the club. He had to actually beg to be allowed into the club too.
61	** On the other end, [[spoiler:Akira's brother Hikaru is blind]], yet he's wearing clear, normal-looking glasses.
62	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
63	** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline]] would put these on whenever she wants to look more teacher-like before Negi and everyone else [[OldMaster training under her]].
64	** Chisame uses her [[OpaqueNerdGlasses glasses]] to hide behind, as she doesn't like to stand out too much. Her vision is actually ''better'' than average.
65	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
66	** Nami wears a pair of glasses while lecturing the rest of the crew on what they'd learned at Sky Island since arriving. These glasses had never appeared before and only once since.
67	** In the Alabasta Arc, Sanji wears them for his "Mr. Prince" persona.
68	** In the tenth movie, Strong World, Robin sports a pair of eyeglasses for most of the film.
69	* A common feature of the HumanAlien heroines in the Onegai franchise. In ''Anime/PleaseTeacher'' Mizuho's glasses serve mainly as a signal that she's in teacher mode; she doesn't wear them whenever she's being domestic with Kei. Ichika's glasses in ''Anime/WaitingInTheSummer'' serve both as a disguise and as a head-up display interface for her alien hardware. Neither of them wears glasses aboard their spaceships.
70	* Oshitari Yuushi from ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis''. He's so used to wear his glasses that at one point, he eventually forgets they are non-functional lenses when he sees Inui has his own glasses broken in a match and asks Atobe if he should lend Inui his glasses.
71	* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'', Gokudera Hayato acquires a pair of glasses halfway through the series for no apparent reason, aside from the fact that they make him [[MrFanservice 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.
72	* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', both Ami (Sailor Mercury) and Mamoru (Tuxedo Mask) have been shown wearing "reading glasses" on occasion. Neither of them actually ''need'' them. Mamoru, however does have the excuse that they are (initially) part of his disguise, as he was already operating as Tuxedo Mask at the start of the series.
73	* Jin from ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' wears anachronistically-fashionable glasses which are completely pointless, expressly for the purpose of looking sophisticated.
74	* Switch in ''Manga/SketDance'' actually wears these. He began wearing them in order to [[spoiler:emulate his [[MySiblingWillLiveThroughMe deceased younger brother.]]]]
75	* In one chapter of ''Manga/SquidGirl'', the titular protagonist becomes convinced that wearing glasses automatically makes one smarter, since SmartPeopleWearGlasses, and wears a pair of fake glasses to improve her intelligence. It doesn't work, as expected; though as Sanae can attest, [[BespectacledCutie it does make her look cuter than usual]].
76	* Kurabayashi Hal from ''Manga/Switch2002'' actually has 20/20 vision but he wears glasses to emulate his [[DisappearedDad father]].
77	* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', Shino Asada actually has exceptional vision, but wears glasses made from bulletproof material as a SecurityBlanket -- she has an intense phobia of guns after killing a bank robber during a GunStruggle when she was ''eleven.''
78	* Ginnosuke from ''Manga/TokyoUnderground'' wears thick NerdGlasses, but whenever he loses them, he has no trouble functioning -- he assembled his first spirit gun without them (requiring him to scavenge for parts in a junkyard), and even fights better. He's also surprisingly handsome without glasses, a fact made clear by not a few girls. He still puts them back on when he can.
79	* Used by Poplar while studying for a test in ''Manga/{{Wagnaria}}''
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
83	* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': It is confirmed [[note]]in replies to fanmail in monthly magazines [[/note]]that both [[TimeMaster Ying]] and [[CastingAShadow Fang]]'s reasons behind wearing glasses are one and the same; not because they have vision impairments, but because they think they [[RuleOfCool look cool]].
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Comic Books]]
87	* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': Jeanne-Marie Beaubier a.k.a. Aurora wore fake glasses when assuming the [[SplitPersonality persona]] of a straight-laced schoolteacher.
88	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': As a psychiatrist/psychologist, ComicBook/HarleyQuinn wore glasses. It's never clarified ''why'' she wore them, besides SmartPeopleWearGlasses. She ditched the glasses after becoming a villain and doesn't even wear them when in civilian clothes. There's no mention of her wearing contacts either.
89	* ''ComicBook/MotuPatlu'': In all incarnations, Patlu wears glasses but does not have any eye problems that would actually warrant wearing them. The glasses are probably just there to establish that Patlu is [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses much smarter]] than his DumbMuscle friend, Motu.
90	* ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'': The Phantom almost always wears glasses or shades whenever he's not wearing his regular mask and costume. The same goes for all predecessors down the line (as a LegacyCharacter, The Phantom has a 400-year-long history) and as none have had particularly bad vision, they've just used fake glasses. Justified in-universe by a legend saying that "Whoever sees the eyes of the phantom must die". MaybeMagicMaybeMundane, as even the Phantom himself has wondered about how criminals who get a look under his mask tend to have fatal accidents shortly after.
91	* ''ComicBook/{{Robin\|1993}}'': Tim started wearing glasses and doing his hair differently after his father's attempts to get him out of Gotham during ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' left him getting constant comments in the line of, ''"Hey, aren't you that Tim Drake kid?"'' since his face was all over the news just to cut down on the unwanted attention.
92	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Some versions 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.
93	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Clark Kent, of course, whose glasses mainly serve as [[ClarkKenting his disguise]]. In some versions, his glasses do have something special about them. ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and ComicBook/{{Superboy}} sometimes wear glasses for similar reasons.
94	* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'': Music/TheBeatles visit a Penny Lane barber in Gold Key Comics' adaptation. The barber kits John with a pair of glasses (the round rims he usually wears), saying it will give him character.
95	-->'''Paul:''' How can you give ''that'' character character?
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Fanfiction]]
99	* As part of one of her disguises to hide from her fans in ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'', Pyrrha dons a pair of glasses without lenses.
100	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Japan only wore hexagonal glasses with his [[Anime/DeathNote Teru Mikami]] cosplay; he doesn't actually need them.
101	* In [[Fanfic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness DAYDverse]], Terry Boot had these when he was younger, to appear intelligent so the Sorting Hat would put him in Ravenclaw.
102	* ''Fanfic/GuysBeingDudes'': Arlo's glasses don't correct his vision and it's suggested by Spark that he might just wear them to look more intimidating, but they do have other purposes including AugmentedReality and obscuring his voice when he's doing Pokestop takeovers.
103	* [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Eridan]] in ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/980776/chapters/1931119 Moiraillegiance is Science]]'' is a deconstruction; his glasses used to be this trope, but since he wore them practically all the time it actually screwed up his vision to the point where he's BlindWithoutEm. [[spoiler: And all because Feferi said he looked cute wearing them.]]
104	* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'': [[spoiler:Sasanoyuki]] gains a pair of rectangular specs after his [[spoiler:kiwame training]] which doesn't seem to serve any other purpose than to make him look scarier.
105	* In ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'', Sonata eventually admits that she doesn't need glasses, and wears them because they stop others from easily reading her emotions through her eyes.
106	* Angela Castle, the UNIT scientific advisor in ''Fanfic/TheRoadToShalka'' wears these to give herself an air of professionalism (she's really insecure). Thanks to some EpiphanyTherapy from a certain [[BrutalHonesty harsh]] Time Lord, she gives them up in the end.
107	* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse'':
108	** Princess Luna occasionally wears a pair of glasses when working in private. She doesn't need them, but she finds it helps her focus (she ''really'' hates paperwork). Shining Armor is alarmed to find that it makes her look astoundingly cute.
109	** During ''The Hero of Oaton'', Raindrops winds up wearing a pair of glasses, which she doesn't need. They've been magically enchanted so she can read the surface thoughts of those around her. A lesbian pony she runs into thinks they make her look astoundingly cute, too.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
113	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the 4*Town themed glasses seen on the concertgoers apparently serve purely to declare which one of the band members is the wearer's favourite.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
117	* In ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', Talos, impersonating S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Keller, comments to Fury that he doesn't actually need to wear the director's glasses, but he likes them and they complete the look.
118	* Subversion: In ''Film/{{Charade}}'', Regina (Creator/AudreyHepburn) accuses Peter (Cary Grant) of not needing the reading glasses he puts on. She pulls them from his face and dons them herself -- then gets a shocked expression and quickly hands them back, saying quietly, "You need them." Evidently, the degree of correction in those lenses was something fierce.
119	* In ''Film/DoctorAtLarge'', Joy wears glasses to her medical final, only so she will appear smarter.
120	* Played straight in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' with Kelsi, completely averted with every other character in the movie.
121	* ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'': Tricia "Trillian" [=MacMillan=], in her first scene has a pair of glasses to flag her character as clued-in.
122	* In ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', the smart gremlin obtains a set of glasses from an unknown source the moment it acquires intelligence.
123	* In ''(Untitled)'' (yes, that's its name, parentheses and all), gallery owner Madeleine Gray has a whole collection of fake glasses she wears to look more sophisticated and hip, and she tries her hardest to prevent anyone from discovering that they're just for show.
124	* Joe wears glasses as part of the wealthy bachelor disguise he puts on to seduce Sugar in ''Film/SomeLikeItHot''.
125	* This tends to be common in porn. Few, if any, porn stars wear glasses, and if they do, it's only to either establish the theme of the scene (usually school or hospital settings) or to enhance the MoneyShot (and in many cases the glasses are either lensless or removed a few minutes after the scene starts.)
126	* In ''Film/AFairlyOddChristmas'', Crocker confessed he only wears glasses to look smart.
127	* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'': Kevin, the protagonists' handsome, ditzy secretary, wears glasses, but he took out the lenses because he kept having to clean them. Being a tremendous {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, it's anyone's guess whether they were purely aesthetic before he did that, or they were prescription and he just hadn't realized.
128	* ''Film/JurassicPark'':
129	** In [[Film/JurassicPark1993 the first film]], Ellie Sattler has a pair on for a portion of the film (upon first arriving at the visitor center, watching the raptors feeding, and then the lunch table discussion). She doesn't wear them at any other point before or afterwards, nor in the sequels.
130	** In ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', Franklin and Zia both wear glasses but eventually lose them in the midst of all the action. Neither has any problem seeing things without them, though.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Literature]]
134	* ''[[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse Imzadi]]'' by Creator/PeterDavid. Mary Mac, a female Orion administrator of a Federation science post, dresses in a rather dowdy manner (loose-fitting clothes, functional braids, and large glasses) to avoid being seen as just another GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe. Ironically, glasses are rare in Picard's time (or even Kirk's), as future medicine has other means of correcting eyesight.
135	* ''Literature/HarrietTheSpy'' wears a pair of lens-less frames as part of her spy gear and sometimes to school because she thinks they make her look smarter.
136	* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Yuki Nagato's glasses seem to be simply an aesthetic feature. After they get destroyed in a fight, Kyon tells her she's cuter without them and she doesn't bother recreating them. She uses glasses for "magical" purposes in some novels (such as ''Disappearance'') but they don't correct her vision. However, her alternate universe counterpart in the manga spinoff ''Manga/TheDisappearanceOfNagatoYukiChan'' ''does'' need glasses and is BlindWithoutEm.
137	* In one essay in [[ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} Scott Adams']] book ''Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!'', he writes about how to appear smart. The first and most important tip he gives is to wear glasses, even if you don't need them.
138	* Referenced in ''Literature/{{Skinned}}''. Due to everyone being a {{Designer Bab\|ies}}y, flaws such as poor eyesight are a thing of the past. Lia mentions that there was once an old-fashioned glasses fad, though it passed.
139	* Several of the characters in ''Literature/AmericanPsycho'' wear "nonprescription" name-brand glasses purely out of yuppie fashion.
140	* In ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'', Caleb Prior's vision is fine. He wears glasses to look more Erudite.
141	* Myrna Minkoff wore fake eyeglasses in ''Literature/{{A Confederacy of Dunces}}''.
142	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Moist von Lipwig in ''Literature/GoingPostal'' wears these during his days as a conman. He has such a bland face, he will wear something like glasses, hats, clothes, put on an accent, and other false facades so people remember that aspect of his person and not anything about his real physical build.
143	* ''Literature/RebornAsASpaceMercenaryIWokeUpPilotingTheStrongestStarship'': Mei is a [[RobotMaid maidroid]], so when Hiro designs her appearance he includes a pair of glasses that serve no purpose than looking pretty.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
147	* On ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Liz Lemon wears glasses most of the time, despite Jenna pointing out that she doesn't actually need them. This is a case of TruthInTelevision: Creator/TinaFey, who modeled the character of Liz on herself, has said many times that she only needed glasses to read the cue cards on ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]'' but continued to wear them off the show because they unintentionally had become her trademark.
148	* In an episode of ''Series/BetterOffTed'', Lem reveals that he has been doing this for the past ten years to make him appear smarter.
149	* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Penny gets jealous when one of Leonard's coworkers hits on him. To compensate for the fact that the other girl is very intelligent, Penny gets glasses so she can look smart. It works [[GeekyTurnOn QUITE well]] on Leonard.
150	** Look carefully and you'll see that Leonard's glasses throughout the entire series have no lenses. It was an affectation put in by Johnny Galecki personally for the character.
151	* The 2009 edition of ''Series/BigFatQuizOfTheYear'' had Jonathan Ross use this as a form of psychological warfare to intimidate/impress the other panelists. It...doesn't really work.
152	-->'''David Mitchell:''' I can tell that there's no glass in those glasses, which immediately makes me think you're a spy working for a poor country.
153	* In ''Series/BlackMirror'''s "San Junipero", Kelly asks Yorkie if she actually needs her glasses and she admits she doesn't; she wore them when she was younger and no longer needs them but feels that they're her trademark look. [[spoiler:She doesn't need them because she's a consciousness in a computer simulation.]]
154	* ''Series/{{Bunkd}}'': Tiffany Chen ''always'' wears glasses when around her strict mother, despite not needing them, because her mother claims, "If your eyes aren't ruined, you're not reading enough." She advises the girls to wear them to make Camp Kikiwaka appear as a camp for geniuses.
155	* ''Series/Charmed2018'': When Mel's girlfriend Nico accidentally gets dosed with truth serum, one of her admissions is that she doesn't need her glasses; she only wears them to be taken seriously. While she doesn't consciously remember what happened while she was dosed, she does ditch the glasses from then on. [[spoiler: When Mel rewrites history to protect Nico from demons, since the above incident never happened, Nico starts wearing the glasses again. After a personal crisis, she ''stops'' again.]]
156	* In ''Series/Class2016'', one of the things that makes Ms. Quill suspicious of the school inspector is that he wears glasses with no curvature to the lenses. [[spoiler:He turns out to be a robot.]]
157	* [[{{Hipster}} Britta]] on ''{{Series/Community}}'' starts wearing these at the end of season 3; Jeff also toys with the idea.
158	** Exaggerated in a season 4 ImagineSpot sequence where all the main characters except Abed and Jeff are seen wearing them.
159	* Maya in ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' doesn't need glasses, but wears an enormous pair solely in order to honor Velma from ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo''. (Although since she technically says this in a sequence being fantasised by another character, she might need them in real life; nevertheless, this trope is invoked.)
160	* Inverted on ''Series/CriminalMinds'', when Penelope briefly wears contacts in an attempt to look more serious.
161	* ''Series/Daredevil2015'':
162	** Out of universe, Creator/CharlieCox isn't blind, so the pair of red-lens sunglasses he wears to play Matt Murdock are this. In-universe, Matt wears the glasses for the same reason every other blind person wears them: because not wearing them would weird people out regarding his unfocused non-seeing eyes. That said, when he's in the privacy of his apartment, or just around those who are used to his unfocused eyes, like Foggy, Karen, Claire, or Elektra, he'll generally have his glasses off.
163	** It's unclear whether or not James Wesley actually needs glasses. He wears them in the majority of his scenes, [[FourEyesZeroSoul where they make him look more sociopathic]], but there are a couple occasions where he's talking one-on-one with Fisk where he takes them off and he doesn't appear to be squinting.
164	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
165	** The First Doctor had both a pair of Edwardian-style glasses and a monocle that he would occasionally take out when he was trying to look extra clever. The monocle would pop up more often due to him wearing it around his neck as part of his costume in some stories — the glasses show up more rarely but are prominent in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild "An Unearthly Child"]], including during his first encounter with Ian and Barbara. In at least one scene ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E3TheRescue "The Rescue"]]), the Doctor uses both his glasses ''and'' his monocle at the same time to study a spiral-bound notebook.
166	** The Fourth Doctor has a pair of very small-lensed, dark-tinted glasses which he occasionally wears while tinkering with scientific equipment, inspired by 1930s horror movie {{Mad Scientist}}s. He also has a black JewelersEyeLoupe which he sometimes uses legitimately, but sometimes wears wedged in his eye socket like a monocle, possibly to free up his hands.
167	** The mini-episode [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CiNSTimeCrash "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 and later admits his hypocrisy, "Snap!" The fact that the Doctor has worn them in not only their fifth and tenth incarnations but also, at least once in a TieInNovel, their eighth, which were their [[OlderThanTheyLook youngest-looking]] incarnations before Eleven, rather suggests the Doctor might not really need them and just wears them for the extra gravitas. Out of universe, Creator/DavidTennant (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 (ironic, considering that he played an enemy of [[Film/HarryPotter another hero with glasses]]).
168	*** They did once do something; in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead "Planet of the Dead"]], when stranded on a desert planet that looked suspiciously like somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula and the ClassyCatBurglar donned her own regular sunglasses, Ten sonic'd his Purely Aesthetic Glasses into tinted sunglasses.
169	*** Interestingly, the 2018 [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novelization]] of [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]] indicates that Ten's glasses ''aren't'' purely aesthetic after all, suggesting that he's actually slightly farsighted.
170	** [[TheNthDoctor Eleven]] has broken out the Brainy Specs on occasion, although they weren't purely aesthetic. The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E8TheHungryEarth first time]], he used a heat vision feature (no, not [[Franchise/{{Superman}} that]] kind of heat vision) to try to track Silurians, and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited the next]], he sonicked them and gave them to Rory so Rory could see Amy in two different time periods.
171	** In a non-comedic example, the Eleventh Doctor took to wearing reading glasses in series 7. [[spoiler:They're actually Amy Pond's reading glasses, and he hangs onto them as a TragicKeepsake.]] Played with in that while he doesn't actually ''need'' them, he comments that they actually do make reading easier.
172	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} on ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}:'' in the first episode [[ReluctantMadScientist Topher]] explains that [[TheHero 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.
173	* In one episode of ''Series/EvenStevens'', [[DumbMuscle Donny]] watches a video on [[FeigningIntelligence 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'"). When Donny notices a reporter is likewise wearing pointless glasses, he realizes [[BrokenPedestal she's not as smart as Ren thinks she is]].
174	* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', [[spoiler: Eobard Thawne]] apparently doesn't actually need the glasses he wears while disguised as [[spoiler: Harrison Wells]], as he takes them off whenever he is alone and ditches them permanently when his true identity is revealed.
175	* PlayedForLaughs on ''Series/{{Haven}},'' when newcomer Jennifer can't decide whether or not to wear glasses to her interview at the ''Haven Herald'' in order to be seen as more competent. She asks another employee, who tells her that Dave prefers them, while Vince doesn't, so she spends the interview taking them on and off depending on which brother she's looking at.
176	* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', in the flashback in "Arrivederci, Fiero", it's shown that Ted wore spectacles. When they accidentally break, however, he says they were merely "decorative".
177	* In an episode of ''Series/KnightRider'', an undercover Michael Knight wears glasses as part of a disguise leading to his cover being blown when a suspicious person looks through them and realises they are just window glass.
178	* In ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'', Ilya does seem to legitimately need reading glasses, but he's also been seen putting them on in order to pose as a doctor or scientist on short notice.
179	* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': This trope is Creator/MichaelWeatherly's personal HandWave for his glasses showing up a few times in the first season. Tony, his character, is supposed to have 20/10 vision.
180	* ''Series/NewGirl''
181	** Jess wears glasses that clearly have no lenses. It might be this trope, but it's more likely an issue with the prop.
182	** An actual example is Elvin, who suggests to Winston (who wishes to appear smarter) that he start wearing fake glasses. Elvin says it worked for him.
183	* ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}'': Creator/SummerGlau appears as a "fake nerd girl" wearing oversized NerdGlasses. While she tries to seduce Agent Trent Hauser, he tells her he isn't fooled by her non-prescription glasses.
184	* Ryan on ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' wears these when he adopts a more hipster-ish persona.
185	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Living Statues", it's revealed that Mr. Conklin claims he wears glasses merely to "lend dignity to his appearance". In fact, he's BlindWithoutThem.
186	* Ami in ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon''. She claims she feels awkward without them.
187	* ''Series/RedDwarf'': Rimmer dons specs in the episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVHoloship Holoship]]" after illegally enhancing his intelligence with a mind patch.
188	* Creator/HughLaurie, when hosting ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', was supposed to put on glasses at one point during a sketch, to make his character look smarter. Since he fumbled the GlassesPull and couldn't get them on quickly, he just [[ThrowItIn ad-libbed]], [[LampshadeHanging "Never mind, they're just an affectation."]]
189	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
190	** In an early episode, Elliot is seen with a pair of glasses that disappears without explanation and never comes back. In the commentary, the writers noted that Creator/SarahChalke wore them because she thought it would make the character seem smarter.
191	** Another episode, about how the hospital's night staff are even weirder than the day staff, has a receptionist who is seen rubbing her eyes through her glasses, and later pushing them up by hooking a pencil through them. There are no lenses at all.
192	* A plot point on Lebanese SoapOpera ''The Storm Rages Twice''. In this case, Nader's secretary Haifa uses them. When she accidentally leaves them on her desk, Nader deduces that their lack of correction means that ex-wife Jamal hired her to spy on him (and through that, the same applies to his daughter's live-in maid Enaam). He's ''absolutely correct'' in both cases. Of course, this is nothing unusual here.
193	* Creator/SpikeMilligan in ''There's a Lot of It About'':
194	-->'''Doctor:''' Why do your glasses have no lenses?\
195	'''Spike:''' Because I have perfect eyesight, Doctor.
196	* In the future depicted in ''Franchise/StarTrek'', medical advances would seem to make glasses a relic of the past. Despite this, season 3 of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' (which takes place in 3189) introduces a man named Kovich who wears glasses. Why?
197	-->'''Kovich:''' They make me look smart. I like them.
198	* ''Series/{{Supergirl}}'': Kara is originally given her glasses to help deal with SensoryOverload (they're leaded, so they tone down her super vision). She eventually gets used to things and functions perfectly well without her glasses, but continues wearing them as Kara Danvers. Presumably for ClarkKenting-purposes.
199	* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Adam", when the title character has altered the Torchwood team's memories and personalities, Owen gets a fetching pair of specs with his nerdier, more awkward persona. As well as a cardigan and a slicked-back hairdo. Geek chic indeed.
200	* On ''Series/TheVoice'' Season Four finalist Michelle Chamuel wore large glasses, which caused her fans to don similar hipster glasses. Usher has donned them in support, as has Shakira after her team was eliminated.
201	* Marilyn Thornhill from ''Series/{{Wednesday}}'' wears a large pair of glasses, but when Wednesday outs her as Laurel Gates, she removes them, proving that she was only wearing them as part of her disguise.
202	* One episode of ''Series/WouldILieToYou'' had Sara Pascoe claiming to own a pair of these that she only wears when playing TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}, stating she feels smarter wearing them. [[spoiler:It was a lie.]]
203	* Both Mulder and Scully are seen wearing glasses occasionally in the early seasons of ''Series/TheXFiles''. They wore "brainy glasses" both for slide shows or watching TV and for typing reports at the computer, yet obviously they could read or write and watch things in distance without them. Mulder does make a passing reference to "a need for corrective lenses" in the fourth-season episode "Home", but no other explanation in-story for why both stopped using them is given.
204	* Yayoi's glasses in ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' are purely for data analysis and [[StalkerWithACrush looking at pictures of Daigo]].
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Manhua]]
208	* Meibo from ''Manhua/InfinityGame'' only wears glasses so she can look smart and more like a ClassRepresentative.
209	[[/folder]]
210
211	[[folder:Music]]
212	* Comes up in The Grand Spectacular's "Being a Dickhead's Cool," which is a lengthy TakeThat toward {{Hipster}}s.
213	-->''20-20 vision, just a pair of empty frames\
214	Dressing like a nerd, although I never got the grades''
215	[[/folder]]
216
217	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
218	* After her heel turn, Wrestling/EveTorres regularly wore glasses, even though she never needed them before.
219	* Wrestling/StacyKeibler, during her time as Miss Hancock in WCW. Whenever she started dancing, the glasses came off.
220	* Terri Runnels wore glasses when she was Alexandra York in WCW, as York was supposed to be a businesswoman/computer expert.
221	* GLOW girl Ashley Cartier used to have an advice segment called "Asking Ashley" where she wore glasses while reading letters from people. Hers were more aesthetic than anyone's - they were just frames, no lenses.
222	[[/folder]]
223
224	[[folder: Radio]]
225	* In the ''Ability'' episode "Girlfriend With Benefits", Jess gives Bob her boss's glasses when she tries to update his online dating profile to make him look intelligent and soulful. After one of his ComicallyMissingThePoint comments, she mutters "Jesus Christ, those glasses are doing a lot of heavy lifting."
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
229	* Worn by a character who was cut from ''[[TabletopGame/DiscworldRoleplayingGame GURPS Discworld Also]]'', but subsequently discussed on the Web. Wilma is a hamster who was [[HumanityEnsues turned into a human]], and now travels with [[http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=2167 a strange group of adventurers]]. Because she's so much smarter than she was as a hamster, she's convinced she's a genius. And because she's a genius, she should wear thick glasses. The fact said glasses ''impair'' her vision doesn't matter to her in the slightest.
230	[[/folder]]
231
232	[[folder:Video Games]]
233	* Charlie from the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series is a well-educated individual (on top of being [[MrFanservice devilishly handsome]]) and can be seen removing his glasses before a fight. A bit of Capcom trivia reveals that the glasses are purely aesthetic, as his vision is just fine. Note that Charlie is an Air Force Pilot, and they have to have 20/20 vision. Come ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' he has them on all the time, and occasionally does the ScaryShinyGlasses thing with them, to help show that he [[DarkerAndEdgier is not the]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds hero that he]] [[CameBackWrong used to be]].
234	* Emma plays this straight in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2\|SonsOfLiberty}}''. 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. And because a guy she liked used to wear them. While it is never explicitly said, it is very clear that she wears them [[spoiler:in Otacon's memory.]]
235	* In ''[[VideoGame/ChocobosDungeon Final Fantasy Fables]]'', Chocobo gains a pair of these while he's a Scholar. Most. Adorable. Nerdy bird. ''Ever''.
236	* ''VideoGame/MegaManZero's'' [[MeaningfulName Cerveau]] has glasses that are similar to Comicbook/{{Cyclops}}. But that didn't stop him from looking brainy.
237	* Scholars in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' 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 one has Mind (generally associated with wisdom in the game), elemental magic skill, and improves their spell-casting time. [[FantasticRacism But the amazing thing is that the mortarboards can even make Elvaans look smart!]] They return in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', again for the Scholar Class. The first one is given as part of a Job quest at around 45, the other is a recolor bought with end game currency. There's also various level one specs that are simply there to make your character look cute, they have no real stats attached to them, unlike the scholar glasses.
238	* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', most glasses do nothing, unless you take the "Four Eyes" trait, which raises your perception with glasses and lowers it without. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' averts this - any glasses you wear grant an additional point to damage resistance. In both games, the lucky shades also increase your luck by 1 along with the other effects. Non-unique glasses are weightless, so if you think your character would look better with them, you can wear them without needlessly weighing yourself down. Averted in Old World Blues with the unique glasses from Dr. Klein and Dr. Mobius, which increase your [[ForScience repair skill]] and your [[MadScientist explosives skill]] respectively.
239	* In the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' franchise, 47 will always take the glasses of the person he disguises as, regardless if they're a waiter in a cafe, a medic at a sick bay, or a security guard. This is also true of sunglasses, as well as other accessories.
240	* In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask'', Randall's [[AllThereInTheManual unlockable profile]] reveals that he actually has excellent eyesight. The only reason why he wears glasses is to imitate a famous archaeologist he admires.
241	* ''[[VideoGame/GuildWars Guild Wars: Eye of the North]]'' introduced three different models of spectacles for characters to wear, which are no different than your standard headgear.
242	* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': After the MiscarriageOfJustice that lands him on probation, the protagonist starts wearing NerdGlasses to appear more mild-mannered. They're heavily implied (and later outright confirmed in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'') to be nonfunctional -- the description for them in the inventory only says they "make one look smart", and taking them off to fight monsters when dungeon crawling doesn't stop him from reading his phone and various books, firing guns with pinpoint accuracy, or driving a car. In ''VideoGame/Persona5DancingInStarlight'', Futaba seemingly catches on and outright asks if the glasses are fake or not -- both of his [[DialogueTree dialogue options]] in response are coy nonanswers.
243	* Asav, the villain of ''Videogame/UnchartedTheLostLegacy'' wears glasses solely for the purposes of looking smarter and less of a physical threat according to Nadine.
244	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'', [[TheHero Rean Schwarzer]] owns a pair of glasses despite the fact that he can see properly. He usually uses it to disguise himself in public although sometimes he does wear it while teaching to his class.
245	* Glasses are solely treated as an accessory in ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series. Giving them to a Sim won’t change their eyesight whatsoever, and neither will removing them.
246	* A few pairs of glasses appear as headgear in ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}''. They function the same as any other piece of equipment, so they do improve your Inkling's abilities... but not their eyesight. There's even fake contact lenses, which are used to give the appearance of having no headwear at all.
247	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has several pairs of glasses for characters who don't start out with them (Shulk has a pair of googles [[GogglesDoNothing but never uses them]]), but most of them have some [[SocketedEquipment already pre-socketed gems]] on them, leading to players wanting to wear them. [[VideoGameRemake Definitive Edition]] adds in unique glasses models for each character locked behind [[TimeTrial Time Attack]] and a cosmetic override feature, letting players give all characters glasses immediately after finding their first pair.
248	[[/folder]]
249
250	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
251	* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
252	** The mastermind behind ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' has a sprite where they put on a pair of glasses that seemingly appear out of {{Hammerspace}}. They usually use it to deliver some AwfulTruth.
253	** Gonta Gokuhara from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' sports a pair of glasses, despite the fact that his eyesight is a positively superhuman 20/0.625, and is good enough to see [[spoiler:the microscopic Nanokuma cameras flying around the facility]]. {{Justified\|Trope}}, as Gonta desires to become a civilized gentleman, and he likely considers glasses to add to that image.
254	* Rin Tohsaka in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' puts glasses on whenever she wants to start {{Info Dump}}ing because she feels they complement her when she's in an explaining mood. She has perfectly fine eyesight and never wears them in any other situation. When she and Shirou get [[LockedInARoom accidentally locked inside]] a BiggerOnTheInside trunk, Shirou starts grasping for any kind of explanation on an escape route and asks if her glasses are secretly magic. An irate Rin explains they're ordinary since if they were magic, she would have used them to leave the trunk the ''first'' time she got locked in.
255	* Tamamori from ''VisualNovel/HashihimeOfTheOldBookTown'' has perfect vision, but just wears glasses because he thinks they make him look smart.
256	* Kenji from ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' claims to wear glasses solely for the effect. He's legally blind with or without them, and a compulsive liar to boot. As usual, it's hard to tell with him.
257	[[/folder]]
258
259	[[folder:Webcomics]]
260	* Jyrras Gianna of ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' doesn't need glasses, and originally started wearing them on the suggestion of Dan, who told him that smart people usually wore glasses. They still serve a purpose, however, in somehow decreasing his cuteness, thus preventing people from slipping into diabetic shock whenever he makes PuppyDogEyes...
261	* Sarin the Wizard of ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors'' 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!"
262	* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' Robin starts wearing these [[spoiler: after becoming a professor at Indiana University]] and freely admits that it's to make her look smarter, using it to prove her point that politics is about appearances.
263	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Tedd originally wore a pair of massive OpaqueNerdGlasses despite not actually needing them. They were outfitted with [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual several high-tech abilities]], but he mostly used them to hide his [[DudeLooksLikeALady effeminate face]], which he was embarrassed about. After building some confidence, Tedd stopped wearing the glasses except when doing his MadScientist shtick. Later on, he realised he was ''actually'' near-sighted, and starting wearing small prescription glasses that didn't hide his face.
264	* Implied in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' with Eridan. For every troll wearing glasses, there is a dancestor (their FamousAncestor from an AlternateUniverse) that also sports a pair, even if it's just sunglasses. Cronus, Eridan's dancestor, wears no glasses. Eridan is a massive {{hipster}}, so he would probably be trying to keep the fashion. {{Alternative\|CharacterInterpretation}}ly, Cronus actually needs to wear glasses but doesn't in hopes of maintaining his [[GreaserDelinquents '50s-style greaser]] persona.
265	* Inverted in ''Webcomic/JungleJuice''. Suchan wears glasses when it's time to read, study, or use a computer, but he takes them off to enhance his {{Bishonen}} image. He later uses them as makeshift goggles to keep dust and debris out of his eyes when he's flying, allowing him to exhibit his top speed without fear of hurting his eyes.
266	* Ping from ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' does this once to try to get her classmates to like her. The plan fails, unfortunately.
267	* In one ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' strip, Gabe, tired of being a geek with perfect vision (other geeks call him "two-eyes"), gets "reverse laser surgery" so he'll need glasses.
268	* ''Webcomic/{{Savestate}}'' has a version of this: Kade wears a blue contact lens over his right eye to hide the fact that that eye is a different color.
269	* In ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}},'' Ultra-Car wears glasses after [[NoBiologicalSex (s)he]] becomes a {{Gynoid}}. [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/pastime Apparently]] after years of looking at the world through headlights, it's just what (s)he's used to.
270	[[/folder]]
271
272	[[folder:Web Original]]
273	* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'': In Linkara's ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' review, he wears one over his regular glasses, since nothing says [[AC:I am a real reviewer]] like wearing two pairs of glasses in your face.
274	** Averted in real life: He removes the glasses when breaking character because he's done OOC vlogs without them, but he is shortsighted.
275	* ''WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses'': In a segment, he reveals that he attended Glasses University, where everyone wears glasses and is therefore smart, good education and effort toward learning being well beside the point. He demonstrates by taking ''off'' his glasses, and... well, [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/ask-thatguy/1465-ask-thatguy-episode-21 it's hard to properly describe]].
276	* In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' review guest starring [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] and [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]], the latter mocks Tara Reid's infamous archeologist role thusly:
277	-->'''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 [[HotLibrarian adventurous librarian]]. As if wearing glasses makes you look any smarter!\
278	''(NC and Linkara glare at Spoony)''\
279	'''Spoony:''' ''(sheepishly)'' ...I need glasses.
280	** The other take of this was Spoony trying to cover his ass and eventually telling Critic that he'd do him. [[BlackComedyRape ...he got his wish]].
281	** Doug Walker himself recently had LASIK and no longer needs glasses, but stated that he will wear them as the Nostalgia Critic as part of the character's signature look.
282	* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick will sometimes wear hipster glasses when she wants to appear more like an academic. In the main cast commentary for ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', Lindsay discusses her usage of glasses. She explains that she stopped wearing them because the camera would be reflected in the lens, leading to several other commentators bringing up their own issues of wearing glasses while filming.
283	* Creator/JamesRolfe doesn't need to wear glasses, as can be seen in some of his videos, but wears them in his persona as WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd to add to the image of a stereotypical geek.
284	* Halfway through WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows' review of "[[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/tis/tpsr/33324-ep-30-sexy-and-i-know-it I'm Sexy And I Know It]]," he puts on a pair of glasses as the words "DEEP LYRICAL ANALYSIS" flash across the screen. He spends a good portion of the review gesturing them in his hands, though, possibly due to the FridgeLogic that his character [[TheFaceless is supposed to be wearing a mask]].
285	* ''Website/SFDebris'': In his review of ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Fallen Angel", SF Debris points out for laughs that Mulder puts on his "brainy specs" so that he can figure out what happened.
286	* ''WebVideo/ManateeGirlTheMovie'': {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in regards to Hunky Marine Biologist Boyfriend
287	--> '''Baby Manatee:''' I refuse to believe those glasses are prescription.
288	* Wannabe GranolaGirl Amy from WebVideo/TheMarchFamilyLetters wears a pair of glasses that are fairly obviously fake and without lenses. It's hinted from the start that she mainly wears them because they make her look more "artistic." From the first Q&A video, released before the series began proper:
289	-->'''Amy:''' Rammi asks: "Are your glasses real?" ...What ''is'' "real," ''really?'' This video is just a reproduction of moving visual images that has been altered numerous times so that you may watch it. Is ''it'' real? Am ''I'' real? ...Rammi, are ''you'' real? But if you mean "do my glasses physically exist?" then -- then yes, they most certainly do.
290	* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Julie wears square framed ones.
291	[[/folder]]
292
293	[[folder:Western Animation]]
294	* There's a moment in ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' that pokes fun at people who play this trope straight. A group of hipsters compliment Tina for her glasses, to which she says, "thanks, I need them to see."
295	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', Cow immediately became smarter after she started wearing glasses. Chicken then started wearing glasses to try and become smarter -- it failed, but he ''acted'' like he was much more intelligent.
296	* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', noted [[TheDitz ditzes]] Kevin and Brittany decide to wear glasses because they believe that doing so [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses will literally make them smarter]]. Brittany ''does'' say something intelligent and then declares, "Wow, these things really do work!" Kevin gets a pair without lenses so that he doesn't become ''too'' smart; upon learning that they "don't work" without them, Jane suggests that he get one lens.
297	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
298	** Brian tries to show [[Series/TheHills Lauren Conrad]] how smart he is by taking out glasses to read. When she asks when he got reading glasses, he says he always wore them. She points out she knows they aren't real as she can see the ''Film/AustinPowers'' logo.
299	** The subplot of "Peternormal Activity" has Brian donning glasses simply to look sophisticated, much to Stewie's chagrin. Stewie makes several attempts to separate them from Brian before ultimately just [[EyeScream swinging a bat into his face]].
300	** In the unaired episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," Peter mentions that he only wears glasses to fool the draft board.
301	* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', during a ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum plot, Beezy dons a pair of glasses even though he has perfect eyesight. Heloise apparently needs hers to read, but in one episode she puts them on before giving advice, probably to appear smarter.
302	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The characters wear these once every few episodes for a variety of reasons. It's usually Kaeloo and Mr. Cat, but others have done it too.
303	* It's been debated in ''WesternAnimation/{{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 BadassNormal).
304	* Later episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' had Dot adopt a pair while working as Mainframe's COMMAND.COM. In earlier episodes she would wear them inconsistently with the implication that she didn't ''need'' them, she just ''liked'' them.
305	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer finds glasses and immediately starts acting smart, by quoting the scarecrow in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' after he got his diploma (and making the same mistake of referencing the wrong type of triangle). He does the same thing in one of the comics when he buys Artie Ziff's glasses. Mind you, Homer actually seems to be farsighted and has been shown wearing half moon spectacles while reading.
306	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Connie originally did need glasses, but in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E24AnIndirectKiss "An Indirect Kiss"]], her vision was restored by [[spoiler:Steven's healing spit]]. Not wanting to explain to her parents how her sight was magically fixed, she pops out the lenses on her glasses and keeps wearing the frame except when around Steven and the Crystal Gems. [[spoiler:About a year later, she reveals this to her mom and stops wearing them at all.]]
307	* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', it is implied that Scarlett's glasses aren't real, as she takes them off with no effect in Episode 10. This suggests that she was wearing them as part of her disguise as a harmless nerdy kid.
308	[[/folder]]
309
310	[[folder:Real Life]]
311	* Drew Carey got laser surgery to correct his vision but continued wearing frames for a while because they'd become so integral to his public image. Not only that but he'd become associated with a specific ''style'' of glasses modeled after military-issue "Birth Control" glasses (so named because no one wearing them will ever get laid)[[note]]This was lampshaded during the run of the ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' when he addressed the audience while wearing a slimmer, more stylish pair that he usually wore off-camera before switching to his familiar ones right before the show started[[/note]]. He eventually developed a need for bifocals and started wearing glasses with prescription lenses again.
312	* For a brief time, Music/WeirdAlYankovic wore these after he got laser surgery of his own since his glasses were part of his iconic look. He quickly decided this was silly and simply ''altered his look'' instead.
313	** He still wears them to complement the fat suit whenever he performs "Fat", just because they help the mask stay on better.
314	* In his youth, Music/EltonJohn played this trope straight when he started wearing glasses to copy his idol, Music/BuddyHolly. Subverted, now that he can't see without them.
315	* This trope has its origins in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Educated, relatively wealthy literate 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.
316	* Sadly believed to be played straight in real life by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which executed any "intellectuals" in their attempt to bring Cambodia back to a self-sufficient agricultural community, including [[InsaneTrollLogic anyone who wore glasses]].
317	* In his final months in office, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper suddenly started wearing glasses, seemingly for no reason other than to look smart. They didn't help. In retirement, he has stopped wearing them.
318	* 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.
319	* Creator/ZacharyQuinto wore thick-rimmed glasses when he was in the midst of filming the ''Star Trek'' films because they helped him hide his shaved eyebrows.
320	* As of late, it seems to be somewhat fashionable to wear large, thick-rimmed glasses that may or may not even have lenses with some outfits. People who wear these often aren't popular with those who are ''actually'' vision impaired. (Cheap frames for this purpose are sometimes sold under the name "attitude glasses.")
321	* It's not uncommon for people who have worn glasses all their life to choose to keep wearing glasses after getting eye surgery, because they like the look of glasses or feel that their face [[http://denimanddorkyhats.blogspot.ca/2013/01/i-love-my-glasses.html does not look "right"]] without glasses.
322	** Creator/PhilSilvers did this because it was his trademark as a comedian. He just removed the lenses.
323	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampião Lampião]], a famous Brazilian bandit, had his eye pierced by a cactus spine during a confrontation with the local police. The spine was removed, leaving him blind in the right eye, and he subsequently wore glasses to hide this from those who didn't know him. He also switched to firing his gun with his left hand to compensate.
324	* Commercials for brands and opticians also tend to use models wearing glasses wearing "windows" - lenses that don't refract light. This is the same thing as using FakeFood in commercials, as it lets the audience see the model's eyes but isn't actually portraying ''vision correcting'' glasses, which warp the light coming through them.
325	** And yes, there are people who [[{{Meganekko}} find eyeglasses sexy.]] Usefulnotes/{{Pornography}} for this sort of fetish also use models wearing "windows".
326	* The aged-up, forensically reconstructed clay bust that was shown on Series/AmericasMostWanted and led to the capture of PaterFamilicide [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_List John Emil List]] was such an excellent representation of him partly because it included these; knowing that List was arrogant and would want to appear intelligent and professional, the profilers correctly predicted that he would wear them whether he had actual eye problems or not. [[Awesome/AmericasMostWanted They even got the type of glasses correct]].
327	* UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump memorably accused former Texas governor Rick Perry of this during the 2016 US presidential primary elections. Trump would then go on to win the presidency and appoint Perry as Secretary of Energy (traditionally considered one of the most intellectually demanding Cabinet posts and previously held by highly educated scientists).
328	** This seems to be one of Trump's go-to insults for people with glasses; he also once said no one would take columnist George Will seriously if it wasn't for "those spectacles."
329	* In certain accessory stores, such as Claire's or Icing, it is possible to buy rectangular-lensed, black-and-neon-framed nerdy-looking glasses that do nothing. In fact, because real glasses dirty so easily, unless the buyer polishes them almost constantly they'll partially ''obscure'' her vision. Some people actually wear these spectacle frames without any lens because of the last sentence.
330	* Initially played straight by Bono of Music/{{U2}}, during the band's Music/AchtungBaby era tours. He later developed photophobia (light sensitivity) and glaucoma, and his trademark sunglasses have been prescription since.
331	* Zig-zagged by Spanish actress and comedian Ana Morgade, who does need glasses but tends to combine empty frames with contact lenses on television appearances. She justifies it by claiming that the bright lights on TV studios would not let her see much if she wore regular glasses.
332	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PurelyAestheticGlasses