Sturdy, Silver, and Plain
Willow had gone with him to pick out a new pair of glasses about a week after… after he had misplaced his other ones. Giles had been having an awful time getting around his house and feeding himself without being able to see, and he couldn't remember where he had placed his spare pair. After he had almost cut himself off while slicing one of the casseroles Mrs. Summers had brought over (though the broken fingers may also have played a role in that mishap), Xander and Willow had decided that he needed some new glasses. And shopping for them, he discovered, was more difficult than he had thought it would be.
His old pair had come from England, from a nice little shop just outside of London. By some miracle, they had remained intact for both of his years on the Hellmouth, though he had once needed to replace a cracked lens after a rather unfortunate incident involving a quarterstaff and the small staircase in the library. But that had been easy to fix, and had only required one visit to the optometrist's to get it repaired.
But now he needed (as Cordelia had put it) 'a brand-new look'.
He had wanted something as simple as the old ones, but Xander had persuaded him to try something a little different. He had, however, refused the sleek brown pair that Xander had initially presented him with, and had done the same to the speckled greens that Willow had given him. (The lurid yellow ones that Cordelia had claimed were 'totally in style!' had also been rejected.) In fact, he was beginning to lose hope that he would find anything suitable when he happened to spot a very nice pair just next to some cheap sparkly ones.
They were exactly what he was looking for: sturdy, silver, and plain. He quickly slipped them on and glanced at his reflection in one of the mirrors scattered throughout the room. He looked, he thought wryly (and not without a slight twinge of sadness), rather like a fuddy-duddy with this pair on.
"Those are nice, Giles," Willow said cheerfully, putting down the spectacles she had been examining and joining him at the looking glass.
Xander smiled and nodded in agreement, and even Cordelia flashed him a look of approval. Although, as he went to drop them off at the front desk so that they could get their lenses fitted, he thought heard her mutter, "I still think that the 'Dazzling Neon' ones were better…"