If you haven’t heard of Warby Parker by this point pay close attention because you have been missing something big. Since 2010 Warby Parker has been revolutionizing optical wear and sunglasses by provided affordable, stylish eyewear with a conscience. If you have heard of Warby Parker you probably know them for their insanely convenient home-try-on eyewear program where you get five pairs of glasses, take a test run in each and then pick your favorite to have your prescription put into. But if that’s all you know about Warby Parker then listen up because they are making even more waves on the innovation front and this time they are doing it with my favorite retailer: Nordstrom.
Nordstrom is currently partnering with Warby Parker as one of their roughly month-long Pop-In Shops curated by Olivia Kim. These Pop-In Shops are designed to push both the company and the customer out of their comfort zone and introduce them to some of the most cutting edge labels out there, such as Warby Parker.
The first thing I saw when visiting the Warby Parker x Nordstrom Pop-In in my hometown of Dowtown Seattle was their insanely cool oversized signs, but the second thing was this photo booth, and don’t we all love a photo booth! But the intention behind this one wasn’t selfies (although clearly I took one anyway…) it is to help you find the glasses/sunglasses that are the best fit for your face, which is pretty fantastic. Not does Warby Parker care about making you look as sharp as possible, they also know that a huge component of that is making sure your glasses work properly and fit. This was new to me, I discovered that Warby Parker actually has sizes for both eye glasses and sunglasses allowing you to truly find something that fits your face well. I learned quickly that my rather giant head seems to fit appropriately somewhere between the medium and wide spectrum of eyewear which made trying on eyewear a MUCH more pleasant process (no more, ‘dear god my head is huge and these sunglasses are TINY’ problems.)
(Selfie wearing the Warby Parker ‘Quentin’, find it HERE)
Here in the Pacific Northwest I like to think many companies are incredibly socially conscious , and that includes Nordstrom, which made the Warby Parker partnership make even more sense since. They have a Buy a Pair, Give a Pair philosophy where they match their sales with donations for eyewear which means when you or I do our shopping with them we are also giving back at the same time in a crucial area of need. Even more impressively, they also have a ‘Teach a man to fish’ mindset which means they focus on training individuals in developing countries to give eye exams and be able to sell ultra-affordable eyewear. This translates into knowledge distribution in that community as well as job creation, two components infinitely more valuable than a simple handout would be. So go shopping, look great and help improve the world a little bit at the same time, that’s Warby Parker’s philosophy and I think we all can appreciate it.
(Get your Shark Stapler HERE)
The Pop-In Shop itself like I said was also curated by Nordstrom’s Olivia Kim which means tucked in there with the amazing eyewear are other little knick·knacks that are oh so worth adding to your eyewear purchase. In addition to sassy cards and thoughtful reading materials there are also speakers, planters, art supplies and my absolute favorite, shark staplers. I mean… who doesn’t love and NEED a shark stapler? Goodness knows I do.
A review of the Warby Parker X Nordstrom Pop-In wouldn’t be complete without looking at some of their exclusive product such as the four pairs of sunglasses below. None of these ultra-hip exclusives exceeds $100, which is pretty incredible but my favorite which I kept going back to (and will 100% end up buying before the shop ends) are the ‘Hall in Milk Pearl’ (upper left side, find them HERE.) I absolutely love white sunglasses but find too often they appear cheap or worse, tacky, but this version of the Hall is not completely opaque which makes the white more of a marble or chalk color against your skin which looks INCREDIBLY CHIC, trust me. Also the shape of the frames themselves were large enough to cover my face in a very ‘Audrey’-esque manner but not so large that they would be too trendy and go out of style, a winning combination.
The moral of the story, the Warby Parker X Nordstrom Pop-In shop is a must-visit whether you are need of serious prescription eyewear, insanely chic affordable sunglasses or you just want to experience the phenomenon and have a great story behind your shark stapler on your desk that you won’t let anyone borrow. The shop closes on September 6th so make sure you hustle over to one of the participating Nordstrom stores listed below or hop online ASAP to check out this incredible collaboration. Shop my top picks from the Pop-In at the bottom of the page and remember you may think you are just shopping, but Warby Parker is ensuring you are contributing to your community at the same time.
- NORDSTROM The Grove, Los Angeles, CA
- NORDSTROM San Francisco Centre, San Francisco, CA
- NORDSTROM NorthPark Center, Dallas, TX
- NORDSTROM Tysons Corner Center, McLean, VA
- NORDSTROMBellevue Square, Bellevue, WA
- NORDSTROM Downtown Seattle, Seattle, WA
Thanks for reading, Cheers! -Rebecca
