Testimonies and Reviews

Photo: TKAC1

“If I could give Tomato Glasses 6 stars out of 5 stars, I would. My son is 4 yrs old and has down syndrome. The first pair of glasses (miraflex) my son had fit him HORRIBLY. Constantly fell off his face, slid off his nose, didn’t fit right. I was ready to give up. I tried rewarding glasses time, and putting him in time out when he took them off, but I knew it had something to do with the fit of the glasses. After going around every eye glass store in town, I could not find a pair that fit any better. I read about tomato glasses on a down syndrome blog, and decided to give them a try. I adjusted the nose piece down to help push the lenses up to center them in front of his eyes, and shortened the ear hooks a little but left a little room to grow and to make sure they did not put pressure on his ears. The moment I put them on, he left them on! He had no desire to remove them! They were comfortable and he could see well. The glasses were actually helping him to see, instead of obstructing (he was constantly looking at the frame with his old glasses). Could not be happier and my son could not be more handsome with his tomato glasses. These glasses are perfect for ANY child, not just those with “special needs”.” -Allison Holms

Photo: TKAC3

“Won’t buy any other brand for my son. I have purchased two pairs of these for my son, and about to purchase the 3rd. not because they break or anything, but because his prescription changes almost every year. they have been the only frames that last, are comfortable, cute and that work with very high prescription lenses. just love them! and my son loves the little cars on the sides 🙂 ” – mami53

“Really well made glasses that are perfect for a younger kid. We found so many other glasses brands made our 4 year old look like a baby. These are pretty stylish. The box came with tons of extra pieces. And it was very easy to adjust the glasses to fit our son. The glasses are more rigid, like regular glasses, and not flexible or rubbery. No broken frames yet.” – Carri

Photo: TKAC7

“Love our Tomato Glasses. We ordered these glasses for our 5 year old adopted Chinese daughter with Down Syndrome. These have been the best frames. She can be rough on things, but these glasses have withstood the test. I love the strap that came with them. I wish they would sell them individually also. We almost had an incident where we would have needed another strap, but couldn’t find where they sold them alone. Other than that these glasses are awesome. I love the fact that they had an adjustable nose bridge and a tool kit to make adjustments with extra parts.” – Gresston

“My daughter has been wearing glasses since she was 18 months and these are the best pair she’s ever had. She is now 5. They are worth the investment. These glasses stay on her face very well and are adjustable to fit perfect and come with extra ear are nose pieces and are super light. I wish more parents knew about these. We are customers for life!” – Jennifer

“Great for active little ones. My daughter wears Tomato glasses and loves them! She’s only 6 but has been reluctantly wearing glasses since she was 4. We’ve tried many different types and struggled with keeping the glasses on her face property. When she put on her Tomatoes for the first time she immediately said “They feel great!”. I would highly recommend these glasses for children between the ages of 4 and 8.” – theturnip9

“Just perfect. These are the first glasses my 6 year old has ever worn, and they fit her great. She loves them and had no issues adjusting to them. She has Down Syndrome so I was concerned about the fit because of her flat nose. I raised the height on the adjustable nose bridge (put the screw in on the lowest hole) and voila! They fit perfectly and they look adorable. I am so glad I found these. The opticians who made her lenses were so impressed with them that they want to carry the line.” – Nola_Sandy

Julius’ experience with Tomato Glasses by Catia Malaquias

February, 28th, 2014

“A note on Tomato Glasses and finding suitable eyewear for children with Down syndrome –

As some of you may know, Julius models Tomato Glasses, eyewear especially designed for children. However, Tomato Glasses did not “discover” Julius, rather we “discovered” Tomato Glasses.

After a desperate year of unsuccessfully trying to get Julius to wear the glasses we bought at the local optometrist and which ended up hopelessly bent and twisted out of shape from the number of times he’d tear them off his face and fling them across the room “frisbee-style”. I finally gave up and decided that there surely must be a better option, particularly as he was due to start Kindergarten in a couple of months and I worried about the impact of his eyesight on learning.

I could see that Julius’ frames, despite being the best we could do in terms of style and size, were ill-fitting and did not look comfortable. Every time Julius looked down they slid off his nose. Elastic straps that we added to keep them in place were bulky and irritated him and his eyelashes touched the lens. They just didn’t sit well on his face. These issues are common to many children with Down syndrome because of facial characteristics associated with the condition, including a nose bridge which is often not very pronounced.

After some research into various options, I came across Tomato Glasses online, thanks to another parent of a child with Down syndrome who was raving about how good they were. Tomato Glasses are designed specifically for children and their many adjustable features makes them suitable for pretty much every unique little face, including Julius’.

As well as looking good and being available in almost every colour you can think of and a range of sizes for children aged 0-16 years although they can fit adults well. They are made of super lightweight (less than 8g) yet strong and flexible plastic. They have adjustable ear tips so you can adjust the length of the arms to fit the child’s face perfectly and the ear tips are also rounded so they stay on firm with the added assistance of a removable elastic strap. What really makes them unlike any other frames I have come across are the soft silicon nose pads especially designed to stay put – so they don’t slide down even on a child who, like Julius, does not have a very pronounced nose bridge. The positioning of the nose pads is also adjustable and this means that Julius’ eyelashes don’t touch the lens.

I was so thrilled with our immediate success that on that first day I took a photo of Julius mesmerised having spotted a kite flying high in the sky – something he would not have been able to do without glasses.  It has now been over 3 months and the glasses are well and truly here to stay. I am just so glad we could get this issue sorted out because at the end of the day, it’s all about Julius’ eyesight and maximising his potential to learn and to engage with the world around him.
But I have to admit it has also been really pleasing to come across another company that so readily embraced diversity and inclusive advertising (as did eeni meeni miini moh, the children’s fashion brand for which Julius also models) and was happy to have a little boy like Julius represent their brand. Kudos to both companies for recognising what seems so obvious though it is still rarely acted on by most advertisers – the fact that consumers, even little ones, come in all shapes, sizes and abilities!”

“They are designed for every child but because they are as close as you can get to custom-made frames – they are very suitable for children with Down syndrome and their particular facial characteristics as well as children who, for sensory reasons, may be more sensitive to wearing something on their face.”