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Article published Jun 28, 2009 Eyes on fashion: Billingsley Eye Care caters to women
By Linda Braden Albert of The Daily Times Staff
All eyes were on fashion on a recent stormy afternoon in Maryville.
Becky Swann and Debbi Waldroop were in their element as they tried on one pair of eyeglass frames after another, trying to find the perfect one that fit their personalities and facial features. Crystle Ogle, office manager at Billingsley Eye Care, gave tips as the women turned their heads from one angle to another.
"That's green," said Waldroop as Swann tried on one frame and checked the look in a mirror. "I couldn't wear it, but it looks good on you," she added as she pulled a blue frame off the display case and slipped it on.
Billingsley Eye Care, which opened June 8 at 845 Turner St., Maryville, is the practice of Dr. Sharon M. Billingsley, optometrist. Her all-woman staff includes Ogle and Susan Black, optician. The office aims to be a one-stop shop for eye care, offering eye examinations as well as anything the patient would need to see well and look great doing it.
"We're trying to be very fashion-forward," said Black. "We have stuff for men, too, but we're trying to reach out to women and show them some of the really neat, out-there things that other places around here don't have."
Cool job
Swann has been a patient of Billingsley for about three years. Her husband Joe and son Will are also patients.
"Even the things she doesn't do, like the LASIK (laser eye surgery), she steers us to the right people," Swann said as Billingsley prepared to start an exam using a phoroptor, described by the doctor as "the world's ugliest pair of glasses." An auto-refractor tonometer checks corneal readings.
Billingsley has been in practice 15 years. She attended optometry school in Memphis, graduating in 1992, worked in Nashville a short time then moved to East Tennessee in 1993. She started her own practice in 1994.
The doctor, who grew up in Cookeville, chose optometry as her field partially because her brother-in-law is an optometrist.
"I became more interested in how the eye works, what all is involved with the eye and eye care, seeing and the gift of vision," she said. "It's a pretty cool job. I like how the eye works. There's so much symmetry in prescriptions and deciding what's going to work best for someone based on the current prescription they're wearing, the current readings you're having and how they use their eyes -- coming up with the best numbers for that and then being able to put it on them and it actually working for them. That's fun."
Growing pains
As her practice has grown and she needed more room, Billingsley decided to open the office in the new location on Turner Street.
"I also felt as if I ought to service most of my patients' needs, including glasses, bifocals and contacts," she said. "I needed more room, I needed more equipment and I needed more employees, and the other location was just not set up to handle that."
Services offered include eye exams; lenses and frames; bifocals; contacts; bifocal-contacts; disposable contacts; and contacts for astigmatism. She also treats eye infections, accidental injuries and diseases of the eye.
"I work with probably one of the top two or three surgeons in the country for LASIK," Billingsley said. "He does a fantastic job with really, really good results. We are very fortunate that he comes to this area." LASIK, or laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is a type of refractive surgery for correcting myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. LASIK is performed by ophthalmologists using a laser.
Although Billingsley does not do surgery herself, she does provides pre- and post-operative care for cataract patients, as well.
Eye on fashion
The appeal to female patients is the wide selection of fashionable frames Billingsley offers with the advantage of being located in Blount County. She said the small, rectangular frames are popular. Near-sighted patients will be pleased to know that the thick lenses they need have been redesigned for a more attractive look.
"The new lens material and these frame designs, most all of that edge thickness or lens thickness, you don't see it," Billingsley said. "It's getting people who have not wanted to wear their glasses back into their glasses, and that can be healthy for their eyes, especially if they are abusers of contacts.
"It's almost as if seeing is secondary versus the appearance itself," she added. "It's gone to a different couture-ish or designer-type level."
Even the staff members enjoy trying the different looks from Vera Bradley, Nicole Miller, LaCosta, Elle and more.
"We have fun with the frames," Billingsley said. "Every time a box comes in, it's like Christmas."
Billingsley Eye Care is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and accepts most major insurance providers. Call 681-EYES (3937) for information or appointments. As a service to patients, WiFi is available in the waiting area.