Gentle Monster – the Fanciest Sunglasses / Glasses Shop I’ve Seen

How many pairs of sunglasses does one need? I rarely wear the ones I have, but I always seem to not have them when I need them… that’s how I keep on getting another pair of sunglasses.

Dumplings to Sunglasses

Some friends and I headed over to that huge fancy mall in Costa Mesa because we wanted to try dumplings from Paradise Dynasty and to see how it compares to Ding Tai Fung. After some colorful dumplings, we walked around various parts of the mall. We walked by a Gentle Monster store and OMG, it was huge and it had a bunch of displays. I didn’t know what it was, but then a fashionable friend suggested we go in since one of her friends had an eye on a pair of their sunglasses. That was when I realized that whole storefront was just for glasses, sunglasses, and other glasses related stuff. Holy moly!

Store Layout and Try-on

There were a bunch of sections. Each section displayed different styles, whether it’s a similar look or a collab with someone. They are super popular in Korea, so there were some collabs with Kpop individuals. Those glasses frames were rather bold and didn’t fit my face shape so well. It was a really bright and hot weekend in SoCal, so I decided to get a pair if there was one that fit really well. We were walking and looking around, and I was trying on so many pairs. The workers there would wipe the display glasses rather often, which added extra fanciness and cleanliness to the store.

Between a Couple Pairs

I knew I didn’t want plain black sunglasses since I probably have a pair of those somewhere at home. There was a blue-ish pair and a gray-ish pair I liked. The blue pair was out of stock (they don’t sell display models, and wouldn’t bulge when I asked about that as I was hoping to get a display model discount LOL), so the gray one it is!

Subtle Design Preferences

Some glasses had dots- most either 2 or 3 dots. I greatly preferred the 3 dots look over the 2, but other than that blue out of stock pair, the other glasses I tried with 3 dots didn’t fit properly or as well as the gray 2 dots one.

Purchasing and Check Out Process

Thank goodness our friend already owns a pair of these glasses so she told us how the buying process works here so that I don’t stand around like an idiot. So we show one of the workers which one we wanted (I guess more like which one I wanted since no one else in our group bought a pair that day), and they write down the style on a paper and we give that to the person on the registers. The person takes it and brings out the glasses and confirms the fit is good and that it is the correct pair. At first, it wasn’t… a different color was brought out, but then they brought the correct pair out. I tried them on and they were good, so they packaged it up as I paid.

Glass Shatters

HIMYM reference… I’ve never heard of or knowingly seen Gentle Monster sunglasses before, but after being introduced to them and getting a pair, I’ve been noticing people wearing these! Wow, mind blown!!

Another Pair?

OK, I start to understand how some people get addicted to sunglasses. If price wasn’t an issue, I’d totally get myself more pairs- different ones in different colors! Since I don’t wear sunglasses too much, it isn’t worth it to me to buy more, but if I do, might be in a brand I don’t have yet? These are the best sunglasses by fit and comfort that I have though, and I just better make sure to bring them with me so I don’t buy another pair next time…