BS”D
No one ever knew for sure why the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZYA told people not to wear contacts, who he told not to wear them, and whether this still pertains today. I choose to believe that it still does at least for men because the reasoning given was that it is something worn by women to improve their appearance whereas for men glasses are not considered a minus (and even this seems to refer to an earlier time, probably the 70’s or early 80’s when the question was originally asked, whereas others believe the Rebbe was referring to earlier, unsafe contact lenses).
Had I ignored the Rebbe’s advice and switched to contacts, I would not have a functioning right eye today. I was (improperly) using Liquid Plumr gel to unclog a porcelain kisse hakovod 3 years ago before Pesach and splashed some onto my right eyeglass lens instead of into my eye. Damage – it ruined the anti-reflex coating on my lens. The damage if my eye would not have been protected with glasses (and believe me I would not have worn goggles under the circumstances) – blindness or loss of the eye.
Sometimes, emunas tzaddikim pays even if the reason doesn’t seem to hold anymore.
Incidentally I never even knew that the coating on my eyeglass lens was damaged by the chemical until someone told me repeatedly to wash my perfectly clean but apparently seemingly dirty glasses 2 years later.