Glasses for face shapes

My lovely client Jennie James and I are planning to get her new glasses. Jennie is a debt elimination coach currently based in Seattle, but she coaches virtually. Her company is called A Different Answer is about trust and simplicity. She's helped people with every level of debt, so reach out to her if money is keeping you up at night or you're tired of paying too much interest for no good reason. ps. there is never a good reason. 

Anyhoo, back to glasses. 

Glasses are worth investing in. Regular and Sun. 

If you are like me, you wear them every day, at least partly. I adore mine, they're from a French company called Face A Face and the frames cost more than my car. OK, that's not quite true, but I did have to save up for them. I change out the lenses but keep the frames and I've had them five years so far. They look like this. 

They are conversation starters and match my style perfectly. Cost per wear? If I don't count the lenses (I can't remember how much they cost) then they work out at @30 cents a wear. Worth it. 

And with sunglasses, if summer ever comes to Seattle, go for quality over quantity. Your eyes are too precious not to factor in sun damage. Never go for a trend over protection. 

Where were we? 

Face shapes matter.

As Jennie pointed out, it's hard to pick your own as you don't have your own glasses on, so it's hard to see yourself clearly, especially if you don't wear contacts. You can always get the opinion of a sales person, or a friend (or me, hint, hint), but knowing your face shape is half the battle. 

What is your face shape? 

Pull your hair back off your face if you need to, or hey, wrap your head in a towel or turban. There are five main categories. 

• Square 
• Round
• Heart
• Triangular
• Oval

I've never met a human who exactly matched a shape, think of this more as a guide. I think I'm more of a rectangle, personally. You are probably a combination - a rounded face with a pointed chin, or a tall forehead like me, angular features, square jaw but long face. 

Go for the one that is most like you. Check your jawline for a starter. Rounder or squarer?

The next step is to pick a frame which brings "balance." 

All faces are beautiful and perfect. What I mean by balance is mimicking the oval. There's a ton of psychology around it, which would take too long to explain, so for the moment just trust me. 

Square face. 

Cheeks are as wide as forehead, jaw can be a little angular. 

• Frames a little wider than your face 
• Rounded or oval 
• Slimmer frames
• For a bolder look. try cat's eye. 

Round

Softer angles, slightly wider cheekbones, equally wide forehead and jaw.

• Bold angular lines
• Rectangle or square frames
• Bottom of frame hits above cheekbone
• Clean lines
• Can also try cat's eye

Heart shaped

• Widest at forehead, gradually narrows. Can be rounded, can be long. 
• Bottom heavy frames
• Width wider than forehead
  
• Detailing on the bottom of frames
• "Winged" out frames with rounder bottoms - Wayfarer's are an example. 
• If you have a pointy chin, try oval frames
• If you want to make less of a statement, go for unobtrusive - the heart shaped face is fairly versatile

Triangle

Widest at jaw, narrows up toward the forehead

• Bold on top of frame, unobtrusive on bottom
• Go round for a bolder look
• Cat's eyes again...

Oval

Wider cheekbones, narrowing slightly at jaw and forehead. 

Yes, you guessed it, can wear about anything.

However, still look for:

• Square
• Geometric
• Rectangle
• As wide as the widest part of your face - usually around the eyes. 

In saying all this, if you fall in love with a pair of glasses, then you fall in love. You might be able to find something similar in a shape that will balance out your face more, but love is love. The most important thing about any pair of glasses is that they make you happy to put them on. 

I offer assessment of glasses (regular and sun) as part of my 90-day-stylist-in-your-pocket program, FYI. Book a call to find out more. 

Just saying...

Aroha, Erin