From a necessary evil to a cool accessory – spectacles have styling potential.

More than 40 million people in Germany wear spectacles. That corresponds to almost two-thirds of all adult citizens. This result was arrived at by the current Allensbach spectacles study on behalf of Kuratorium Gutes Sehen e. V. (KGS). Hence, the number of spectacles wearers has remained constant over the past ten years.

41 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that spectacles make many people more interesting. 40 percent agreed with the statement that spectacles emphasise the personality. Spectacles wearers look more intelligent to almost one-third. The study shows that many of the surveyed people are aware of the styling potential of spectacles.

In 1952, around 13 percent of the population between 20 and 29 years old used spectacles. Now it is almost 30 percent in this age group. The long-term increase may be related to changed living conditions, such as an increase to the amount of work done at a screen, which requires exact vision. However, the performance and high comfort of modern lenses and frames as well as the wide range of spectacles must have made a contribution as well. Hence, spectacles have changed from being a “necessary evil” to becoming an accessory that is happily worn and a “personality enhancer”.

The Allensbach study on the vision awareness of Germans has been conducted every three years since 1952. The initiator of the study is the Kuratorium Gutes Sehen. The results are based on around 3,600 interviews with a representative selection of people as of 16 years old. (Source: KGS press release)