Recently Amy Poehler interviewed Seth Meyers on her popular podcast Good Hang. Unexpectedly, the conversation turned to reading glasses, with Seth Meyer joking that you can’t just wear reading glasses once- “The minute you put them on…it’s forever!” he joked. What followed was a two minute discussion about dioptres, mid life, and trying each other’s reading glasses on. In other words, a totally relatable conversation for many of us!

In 2025, there’s been a notable shift in how we perceive ‘mid life’. As conversations around ageing, menopause, and representation become louder, so too has the visibility of reading glasses. Reading glasses are having a full blown fashion moment, they’re in the current zeitgeist, and they’re being worn with pride.

Reading glasses are now everywhere. Not hidden in drawers and handbags, but front and centre in film, television, and on social media. In The Last of Us, both Pedro Pascal and Catherine O’Hara rocked readers in scenes that felt natural and oddly comforting. Jamie Lee Curtis, always ahead of the curve, wore hers during an emotional monologue in The Bear, a detail that somehow made the moment feel more grounded.

Of course, there’s Carrie Bradshaw, the byword for all things fashionable and fabulous. Sarah Jessica Parker wears a different pair of reading glasses in every episode of current series And Just Like That. Often bold, sometimes bizarre, but always fashion forward. Carrie’s character proves what we’ve all begun to realise, that reading glasses can absolutely be a style statement.

Then there’s Gwyneth Paltrow, who made waves when wearing reading glasses in a viral Instagram post circa 2020. She later dubbed them a “favourite thing” in Wirecutter, before turning heads during her court case thanks to her choice of reading glasses worn in court.

The rise of reading glasses fits neatly into a broader cultural shift. Gen X and older Millennials are demanding visibility, and the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries are finally paying attention. Running parallel, there’s an ongoing embrace of “silent luxury” (think quality materials, minimal branding, and timeless design). Reading glasses fit the bill: functional, wearable, and quietly elegant.

Add to this that pretty much everyone eventually needs them. Presbyopia - the eye’s natural loss of focus for near vision - arrives for most of us in our 40s or 50s. But it doesn’t mean you have to settle for a basic pair of reading glasses. Eyewear designers such as London Mole are breaking the mould with a pioneering new attitude to reading glasses designs, creating ranges that feature countless colours, textures, and frame styles, all with fashion and style at front of mind. 

Reading glasses aren’t just a necessity, they’re a lifestyle cue. From the runways to Reddit, from Hollywood to your local coffee shop, the message is clear: reading glasses are very much in the zeitgeist.

And once you start wearing them… well, as Seth Meyer said, it’s “forever.” So you might as well make them fabulous.