Wow lots of answers, but here is my input.
I am a sugeon and use surgical loupes. I would not suggest them because their field of view is so small and they are desined for looking down so that you would have to tilt your head back to see the ground glass unless you had the telescope part mounted straight ahead. Designs for Vision is the company that makes these and they are Extremely expensive (~1000.00). They are also designed for focal distances longer than you want.
If you don't need glasses for any other reason besides close up work (that is you are not far-sighted or near-sighted or have astigmatism)then yes, you can go to the pharmacy with your camera and dark cloth and set up. Then you can try out all the different diopter choices until you get a strength that works for you at the distance that you like to hold your head. Remember that the stronger the power you get, the smaller the depth of field you get so that holding your head at the right distance will become more critical.
If you do have a need for prescription other than just close up work and therefore normally wear glasses, then this option will not work because you will have to wear the reading glasses OVER your normal glasses which is a big hassel and does not fit well. There are clip on jeweller's loupes to the side of the glasses, but these will not allow seeing the whole ground glass at once. The is the "Optivisor" head band type magnifier (flips up and down) which jewellers, hobbiests and mineral people use, but the band is stiff and hot and tends to give a headache and the view is not full.
This puts you in the realm of prescription lenses.Bifocals are awful for this because you have to tilt your head back to see the whole image. I do know some people who compromise by simply taking their hand and lifting up their glasses to see just through the reading protion of the lens. Problem with this is that unless you use pretty strong bifocals (and at your age you probably do not) then the reading protion of the bifocal will probably not be strong enough anyway.
This brings you to the option of dedicated closeup glasses in their own frames. You can go to your opthamologist (MD) or optomotrist (non-MD) and have them mock up for you in their adjustable glasses any amount of personal prescription plus any amount of close up correstion in jumps of 0.25 diopters. You again bring your tripod, camera, and dark cloth and set up so you can look out a window and test all the options. They love this when you do it because it is so interesting to them to deal with this problem for photographers.
This leaves two options for frames. If you do not have any prescription needs other than just needing close up correction, then simply get a single vision close up lens in a frame, hang it around your neck with an eye glass lanyard, and take it on and off when needed. IF HOWEVER you normally need glasses for non close up living (ie far sighted, near sighted, astigmatism) then you are going to have two pairs of glasses hanging around your neck or going bak and forth into pockets. So here is a solution that I use.
You may remember from the 60's that it was very common for baseball players in the outfield to wear flip up and down sunglasses to keep from being blinded by the sun. These type of frames are still sold. You have to ask your optician to check through their catalogs for "baseball" frames. The stationary frame holds your normal persription and the flip up and down part hold your close up correction. Flip up, and you can look all over the world with your regular prescription. Flip down, and you have instant custom-chosen, close-up, full-view vision for under the dark cloth. They are quick, easy, and need no cord around your neck, or pockets to store them in. The only draw back that I can even find is that they are moderately heavy since they have four lenses and my nose gets tired if I try to wear them constantly. So I only put them on when I am actively making a shot and switch back to my untra light weights when I am walking around. Email me if you have any questions!
Scott
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