Somewhere on the other side of 40, Julie Allinson found herself in need of reading glasses. With the help of her optician friend (and future design collaborator) she set out to find the perfect pair. After carefully selecting her ideal frames, the final total left her with the type of sticker shock usually associated with a luxury sports carpurchase or hotel mini-bar tab. A frugal farm girl at heart, Julie couldn’t bear the thought of spending the GDP of a small country on an item that would inevitably end up lodged between the sofa cushions.