Whether you are choosing your first pair of glasses or have worn glasses your whole life, finding the right frames for the perfect look often takes more work than you expected. Having an experienced stylist who can guide you through the process to that “Aha” moment makes all the difference.
You might tell yourself you know what you want and what looks good on you. Really, you don’t need help picking out your clothes. Why would you need help with your glasses?
But then it happens, you really want round frames, but they just aren’t giving you the look you expected.
It is true there are basic guidelines to help you find frames to enhance your appearance.
Choose Frames that Complement Facial Features
When looking for frames, think “opposites attract.” As a start, that means round faces go best with angular frames and faces with sharp features go best with round frames. You might also have seen guidelines for complexion, or maybe eye and hair color.
These guidelines are a great start, but the expanded choice of materials, features, and styles has reduced how limiting these guidelines have to be, explains Misty Tusing, Director of Uptown Eye Wares a New Orleans area optical store and optometry practice.
There is a whole host of features to take into consideration, like nose size, bridge fit, brow line, angle of cheek bones, distance between the eyes, and size of eyes, to name a few. Each of these has its own independent guidance, that all work together to have another set of guidances.
That is where an experienced frame stylist comes in handy.
“Most people can pull off most shapes and colors,” Tusing says. “If you want round, you might not be able to do every round, but we can probably help you find some kind of round you can do!”
“People just don’t understand what a statement glasses can make. Let your glasses express you,” Tusing continues. “There is so much choice in frames today. It’s important to see well, and look amazing!”
General Guidance for Choosing Frames that Complement Facial Features
SHAPE OF FACE
Round face: full cheekbones, narrow forehead & jaw
- Look for: square, rectangle frames
- Avoid: rimless, round, small frames
Oval face: balanced forehead, cheekbones & jaw
- Look for: wider frames, geometric/angular frames
- Avoid: oversized frames
Square face: broad forehead, square jawline
- Look for: oval frames, cat-eye frames, frames that sit high on the bridge of the nose
- Avoid: square or angular frames
Heart-shaped: wide forehead & cheekbones, narrow chin
- Look for: round frames, square frames with curved edges
- Avoid: Round or square frames that are bottom heavy and add width to the narrower part of your face; frames with decorative tops or any styles or colors that draw attention to the forehead
SKIN TONE
Warm complexions (yellow, bronze, golden tones)
- Look for: light tortoise, browns, gold or honey, beige, aqua, olive green
- Avoid: white, black, pastels
Those with cool complexions (pink or blue undertones)
- Look for: silver, black, dark tortoise, pink, purple, blue, mauve, gray
- Avoid: dark brown, orange, yellow
Frame Fitting Guidelines, Not Rules
These are not hard, fast, unbreakable rules. Every look is unique, and people don’t always fit in a box.
“Sometimes, guidelines just don’t apply,” agrees Celeste Needham. “One of my 94-year-old customers looked absolutely wonderful in a thick, round, black frame,” she recalls. “She even took a selfie and got her daughter’s ok.”
“The goal is for your frames to add to your appearance, without taking anything away,” says Celeste Needham, Frame Style Specialist at the Eye Wares Mandeville location.
A misconception lately has been larger glasses are better, better for sight, field of vision, and appearance, according to Needham. Generally, big frames draw eyes closer together. Your eyes should be centered within the frames.
Another color not necessarily following the rule of opposites is blue, according to Needham. Blue is becoming a go-to color for frames. “Most blues look good on most people.” Needham says.
Staying On Track
Ever heard ‘Be careful what you ask for’? Choice can be both a blessing and a curse. A good stylist is there to help manage the amazing choice offered by your optical.
“I like client sessions to be about 20 minutes,” says Tusing. This keeps sessions productive, so clients can remember the experience in a positive way. You don’t want them to get too tired of looking for glasses.
Both Tusing and Needham stay on the lookout for signs for when their advice may be needed.
Tusing says when clients can’t decide among five or six different frames, think, “Can I see myself with more than one pair of glasses?” First, try to eliminate the styles that look the same (like duplicate colors or shapes), she suggests. Then, start looking at which facial features are best to highlight, and which frames do that best.
For Needham, if the client is putting on and quickly removing frames before really looking at them, it is time to intervene. She encourages clients to stop, look closer, and verbalize what specifically about the frame they don’t like. “Then, we can at least stop showing them frames with that feature.”
“I usually know when the customer has found THE frame,” says Needham. “They actually smile when they look in the mirror. Or sometimes I hear it — ‘oh wow.’”
Getting to that smile takes some effort. A good stylist will keep you on track to help you get there.
Eye Wares has one of the largest selections of independent and designer frames and sunglasses in the New Orleans area. We are proud to carry multiple designers and update our inventory weekly. Visit any Eye Wares location in New Orleans, Metairie, or Mandeville to shop independent and designer frames and sunglasses. Our opticians have a flair for style and will help you find the perfect fit.
