These antique glasses were made over a century ago. They have straight arms which made them less stable than modern glasses with arms curved behind the ears. But at least these steel glasses were far more comfortable than the armless pince-nez. Steel glasses were for the lower middle class, and the pince-nez were for the upper middle class. The upper classes used face à main (also called lorgnette) which had to be held by a raised arm. The contradiction sounds weird but the higher in society, the heavier the taboo on corrective lenses to improve bad eyesight. Needless to say, the taboo was even worse for women than it was for men. There was no difference between poor women and poor men. None of them could afford visual aid.
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