Eyeglasses have been around for over 700 years and are one of the most functional style elements. A great pair of glasses is not just for improving your vision. Add a tint, a splash of color, unique shape or material, and you can completely change your style. Just adding a pair of glasses can make you look more conservative, or creative, or polished. But how do you pick the pair that’s right for you? Follow our 5 simple rules.
1. Frame your face right
Ask yourself, a sales person (and a friend you should bring along) which frame best complements your face. Proportion will lead you in the right direction. The Vision Council of America recommends picking the frame shape that is in contrast to your face shape.
- Round face: choose larger, squarer and angled frames to sharpen your features and make your face look leaner. Pick more horizontal frames and glasses with high temples.
- Square faces will look longer and softer with narrow frames and ovals. Cat-eye frames can provide an interesting curve to the face. Semi-rimless glasses can add fluidity.
- Heart-shaped faces will look best in aviators making the bottom of the face appear bigger. Butterfly or cat-eye styles are also appropriate. Round frames in subdued hues will balance out the heavier top.
- Reverse heart-shapes (narrow forehead but larger cheeks and chin) will look best in cat-eye frames and heavy color.
- Longer face: choose decorative temples, top-to-the-bottom depth frames.
- Small face: find rimless small glasses.
- If you’ve got an oval face, you are in luck – pretty much every frame will look good on you. Experiment away!
Size matters too – your chosen frame should not be much larger or much smaller than your face. VCA suggests that frame should be in scale with your face size.
2. Choose all the right hues
Another important factor is your complexion and hair color. Warm complexions (yellowish tones) go well with copper, orange, camel, green-tone, peach-colored and off-white frames. While winter skin (more pale) goes better with black, plum, pink, magenta, pink, blue, and grey tones.
VCA also suggests highlighting your best feature. Eye color is a great feature to pick to choose a pop of color. If you have green eyes, pick frames with a green tone to really bring out your eyes. Perhaps, you have very pale skin. Choosing plum frames will soften your skin tone. If you have long beautiful dark hair, pick a black frame to highlight it.
3. Convey your personality
Unless you are buying glasses for reading only and in a solitary room, you will want them to reflect your personality. How would you like people to perceive you? Are you a diva, a future CEO, a fun girl-next door, or a sassy mom? Pick the pair that best reflects your personality. Yes, trends are important. But forget what’s in and think about what’s in for you – just like the right pair of jeans, if a pair of glasses makes you feel good about the way you look, you’ve got the style that’s right for you. Colorful plastic frames, cat-eye thin frames will give you a fashionable look. While metal or tortoise-shell frames will offer a more serious look. Try your glasses on in front of a full-size mirror, to get the head-to-toe view, and see if they reflect the real you.
4. Suit your lifestyle
Consider where you will be wearing your glasses the most. If it is for running around kids in the playground or going to the gym, then find a pair that is made of lightweight durable material, such as titanium or stainless steel. Polycarbonate lens (an impact-resistant lens) is less likely to chip or break and will work best for physically active people (golf, tennis, or regular workouts). If it is work, consider a simpler look that would go with different outfits, unless you are prepared to spend on a few pairs. Consider a stylish but not too trendy of an option if you are choosing the frames for various activities. Most people who only wear glasses (as opposed to contact lenses) need 2 pairs to fit all of their daily needs. Talk to your optician about your daily routine to help determine what fits your life best.
5. Get comfortable
When you wear glasses, you don’t want to adjust them all the time. Just like contacts, they should be something you wear and forget. Bad fit can cause headaches, discomfort and eye problems. So make sure your new glasses fit right. If they pinch your nose, are too tight on the temples or slide off, ask the optician to adjust them or find another style. Make sure your pupils are in the center of the frame for optimal vision. And last, but not least, get UV protection with your glasses or invest in prescription sunglasses.
