A guide to selecting eyeglass style
As we get older, many of us experience a common rite of passage: Suddenly, it might seem, our vision is blurry and we need to get glasses. Selecting an eyeglass style to flatter your face can be a bit tricky, but we’ve got you covered. (And if you haven’t reached the point yet where every menu is impossible to read, you can use this guide for selecting sunglasses…
…for now.)
The Elements We’re Working With
For those of you who really care about your fashion aesthetic, choosing something you’ll have on your face every day can be daunting. You might want to play it safe by going with a universal shape and color — something that will go with everything — or you might be ready to go full Dame Edna and experiment with fun and flashy styles. Either way can work; we’re just here for guidance. Essentially, though, you will want to consider your face shape, your coloring and your lifestyle.
Face Shape
Not all face shapes and glasses work equally well together, so the first step to finding the right glasses is to determine your face shape. Using a dry-erase marker, trace your face in a mirror. (Pro tip: When you get to your forehead, trace the visible skin. The reason is that if you have, for example, bangs that cover a significant portion of your forehead, it will impact your overall face shape.) When you back up and look at the shape you’ve drawn, you will likely see at least a vague resemblance to one of these shapes: Oval, square, round, heart, diamond or triangle. None of these shapes are “better” than the others; they just help determine which attributes you might want to emphasize or minimize.
Shape Breakdown
Remember — face shape is a fun way to explore your glasses options, but you should always feel empowered to break the “rules,” because the rules aren’t real. Glasses can be a fun way to play with different looks, and these days there are options to do this without breaking the bank. (For example, several companies offer glasses “tops” so you can change up your look with different magnetic options, like this.)
- Oval: Those of you with oval-shaped faces are lucky because this shape is most flattered by almost every style imaginable. Oval faces have high, slightly wider cheekbones that narrow toward the forehead but are fairly symmetrical overall. You can pull off oversized and wide frames, and funky colors/shapes/textures will work, as well.
Recommended styles: All of them. Lucky ducks. - Square: Square-shaped faces are characterized by bold, angular features and cut a clean, straight line from the forehead to jaw, with the widest spaces along the jaw and forehead. Square faces have strong, angular features, so it’s recommended that you choose the opposite features for your frames: rounded, soft styles, including rimless and semi-rimless options. To add length to square faces, which makes you look slimmer, choose glasses that sit high on the bridge of your nose.
Recommended styles: Round, cat eye, wayfarer, aviator, browline, oval. - Round: Round faces have soft curves and smooth lines and usually are roughly the same width from the jaw to the brow. You are generally considered a “round” face if you have full cheeks with a small, rounded chin. To best compliment a round face, experts recommend choosing frames with the opposite characteristics: styles that will add angles with bold details and clean lines. For example, rectangular frames will break up your face structure, making your face appear longer and thinner. Angular and geometric frames add sharp, distinct lines to create a balance as well.
Recommended styles: Rectangle, square, aviator, geometric. - Heart: A heart-shaped face is widest at the forehead, with a narrow chin and high, rounded cheekbones. To create balance, make “space” on the lower half of your face by choosing frames that flare out slightly wider than your forehead or frames with rounded bases. Bottom-heavy frames will also help you achieve balance.
Recommended styles: Cat eye, rectangle, wayfarer, browline, oval. - Diamond: Diamond-shaped faces are among the rarest face shapes, characterized by full cheeks with defined cheekbones, a narrow forehead, and a slim, angular jawline. If you have a diamond-shaped face, choose subtle, delicate frames to avoid looking too severe.
Recommended styles: Rimless, round, aviator, browline, oval. - Triangle: Think of a triangle-shaped face as the opposite of a heart shape; you probably have a wide, square jawline and a narrow forehead. As with heart-shaped faces, you want to achieve a sense of symmetry between your two halves, so choose a wider frame to broaden the top of your face. You can also add width to a narrow forehead with frames that are heavily accented with color and details on top, like funky cat-eye or browline styles.
Recommended styles: Cat eye, rectangle, wayfarer, aviator, geometric, browline.
Skin Tone
If you read our article about determining your “color season,” you already know that certain skin tones are best flattered by certain colors. The same theory applies to eyeglass frames. So, for example, if you are a “winter” and cool tones are more flattering, you might want to opt for a black frame, while a “warm autumn” might be happier with a muted tortoiseshell pattern.
Lifestyle
Finally, this element has less to do with aesthetics and more with functionality. If you are an active person, you may want to choose frames that are sturdy yet flexible and designed to stay in place. If you’re more of an indoorsy person, you have a bit more leeway to choose styles that are detailed and delicate.
Top image by Designecologist from Pexels, via Canva.com
