If you wear glasses, you’ll understand how difficult it can be to find suitable sunglasses. You can’t swap your prescription glasses for non-prescription sunglasses because you’re essentially gaining UV protection while losing the ability to see. There are other options, but they can be expensive and problematic.
One of the best solutions is to purchase wear-over sunglasses, also known as “Cocoon” sunglasses. These can be worn over your glasses, giving you protection without requiring you to remove your glasses.
What to Consider Before Buying Cocoon Sunglasses
There are a few things you should consider before purchasing a pair of cocoon sunglasses, including:
Dimensions
The most important consideration is whether the glasses will fit or not. How wide are they, how tall are they? Will they fit over your current glasses and will the fit be snug enough to ensure they don’t slip and fall?
Measure your glasses and compare these measurements to the dimensions listed in the product description.
Style
It’s hard to judge how a pair of glasses will look without actually wearing them. Some websites will snap a picture using your phone or webcam and then virtually attach the glasses to your face, allowing you to judge how they look and whether they suit your face’s structure.
This is not true for Amazon, however, and the sites that offer this feature tend to only sell premium brands and charge a high price.
Stick with styles that you know will work for you and ones that you’re confident will look good on you.
Durability
Will the glasses last after multiple uses? Can they withstand drops and bends, or will they break at the first sign of stress? Look for flexible, durable materials, with lenses that are scratch-resistant.
Value
When we say “value,” we don’t just mean price. You shouldn’t simply get the cheapest pair that you can find, as a lot of sunglasses and cocoon sunglasses are made with very cheap materials and low-quality manufacturing processes. If you focus only on price, you may get something that looks terrible, breaks after a few uses, and doesn’t offer the protection you need.
In some instances, you’ll get something that is completely different from what you ordered. Thankfully, this is not that common with marketplaces like Amazon, but it’s becoming increasingly common on eBay and is rampant on sites like AliExpress.
The Best Wear-Over Sunglasses for Seniors
We’ve looked through numerous Amazon listings, checked a multitude of customer reviews, and have highlighted the very best products in this category, all of which you can find below:
DUCO Unisex Wraparound Sunglasses
At just $25, and with a multitude of lens colors and frame styles to choose from, you can’t go wrong with these quality cocoon sunglasses. The lenses are anti-reflective and polarized and the highly-flexible, strong, and durable frame can fit over glasses of multiple sizes.
Fitovers Eyewear Aviator Sunglasses
A stylish pair of cocoon glasses available for less than $60, with premium polarized lenses to provide protection for your eyes and large frames to ensure your current pair of glasses are covered. The lens and frames are made from quality plastic and there are several color choices available for both.
SA106 Butterfly Rhinestone Dive Sunglasses
With a rhinestone trim and different colored frames and lenses to choose from, these are stylish frames primarily targeted at females. The quality isn’t the best, but the price is less than $15, and it’s very good value for the money. The lenses and frames are plastic and provide full UVA and UVB protection.
Our personal favorite is the black with blue frames, but the tortoiseshell frames and brown lenses also look great.
LensCovers Sunglasses
This brand produces several simple cocoon sunglasses for less than $200. They are not the most stylish, but they do the job, they fit well, and they are very cheap. They have polarized frames and are available in numerous sizes.
Alternatives to Wear-Over Sunglasses
There are mobility products, assistive devices, and supportive tools for everything these days, and they allow you to approach a single problem with multiple solutions. Wear-over sunglasses are a great example of this, because they’re not always the most obvious solution to this problem, nor are they necessarily the best choice for you.
The most obvious solution is to purchase prescription sunglasses. You’ll get the UV protection that you need, and you won’t sacrifice the ability to see. However, prescription sunglasses may not be available in the style you need, and they tend to be much more expensive than wear-over glasses.
Furthermore, you will still need to carry an additional pair of glasses around with you, and because you’re constantly switching between the two and not simply wearing them both, one pair will always be in your pocket or bag.
Another option, and one that many who wear glasses prefer, is to purchase transition lenses. These lenses will gradually change color depending on your surroundings, turning dark when you’re outside and light when you’re inside. You don’t need to buy an additional pair of glasses and you don’t need to wear two pairs at once.
However, these lenses will not change when you are in your car, as the windscreen essentially serves as a barrier, and they are generally not as efficient at protecting your eyes from UV rays.
It’s all about choice. If you have the money and find styles that you like, buy an additional pair of prescription glasses with tinted lenses. If you grow tired of switching between the two, opt for bifocals. If you already have a pair of standard prescription glasses and don’t have much money to spare, pick-up some wear-over sunglasses.