The moment you mention to friends and family that you are in the market for a snazzy new pair of eyeglasses, you will be met with tips and advice over style and shape as if everyone all of a sudden is a designer fresh from the catwalks of Milan. They mean well. The fact is that when you’re looking for a new pair of glasses, you’re probably researching shapes and sizes and materials and colours in every spare minute you can find. Glasses sit on your face. All day, for some of us. They become part of your persona. They become part of the way that the outside world interprets you. In short, no matter how much your friend Steve tells you that you would suit heart shaped turtle shell rims with bright purple arms, there’s only one person you’re going to be taking style tips from – and that’s you. That being said, here’s some food for thought…
The common rectangular frame
There’s a reason rectangular frames are so common – which you can also read as ‘popular’. Want to know why? They literally go with everything. From your work look to your social life (and even more sporty activities and outdoors pursuits), rectangular glasses won’t appear out of place. What’s more is that you can highlight your natural facial features with rectangle frames in most cases. The only possible exception to facial features that will not always work with rectangular frames is a rounded face. We’ll get into that next.
Square face, round face, diamond face…
Ever been told you have a heart shaped face? This doesn’t mean your face is literally shaped like a heart, more so that your jawline thins and comes to a point. This jawline-as-a-feature is in strict contradiction to oval face shapes that feature a rounded jaw. This is important. Where your face shape plays into a more angular or softer category, glasses should be chosen to add what’s missing. What does that mean? Simple. If you have gentle contours with smoothed cheekbones and an uninteresting forehead space, you will suit rectangular glasses – they will help to add some much-needed lines to your face. Highlighting chiselled features with rectangular glasses also works, although rounded frames can help to soften your look if you prefer. However, if your visage is perfectly rounded, we would always recommend large square glasses to help add balance and fill space.
