How To Choose The Best Glasses For Your Face Shape, Complexion, Personality & Fashion

Introduction

Whether you're finding yourself needing a pair of glasses for the first time, or you've recently had the opportunity to upgrade your frames, you might be curious about what sort of glasses frames you should pick to suit your look. Of course, everyone has their own unique physical traits that set them apart from everyone else, and you should take this into consideration when choosing your glasses.

Sometimes, we may love a certain style of frame and fall in love with it immediately, but it may simply not suit our face shape. Other times, we may be against a certain style of glasses in theory, but if we try it on, we may see that it actually surprisingly suits us very well. In this sense, choosing a good pair of glasses is like choosing clothes: Not only should you pick a pair that you will like, of course, but you should also consider whether it matches the shape of your face, your complexion, and of course whether it is roughly in fashion.

Taking all of these factors into account when choosing glasses, especially if it is your first time, can be somewhat confusing, but it doesn't need to be complicated. The goal of this guide is to take you step-by-step through the different aspects of choosing the right pair of frames for you. The great thing about glasses after all is that they can make for a great accessory — these days, with so many people needing corrective lenses, you can see them as a common fashion statement and as a great opportunity to express your individuality.

Your Face Shape

One of the most important factors that you should take into consideration when choosing your frames is the shape of your face. Different face shapes dictate both a different frame shape for your glasses, as well as the shape of any ornamentation on them. There are several different key points when it comes to correlating face shape with the right glasses, but overall the main principle is this: Contrast is good. You want a pair of glasses that complements the shape of your face and creates contrasting angles that will break up the lines of your face and make them more interesting.

Round Face

A round face is basically one that is free of angularity both at the top and at the bottom, and where the width of the forehead and the width of the chin appear more or less similar.

If you have a round face — especially if it has a soft sort of curve to it — you should pay special attention to seek harder, more dramatic lines in your frames. You would not want to add circular lenses or very curvaceous lenses to your already round face. Think glasses that have angular corners, especially the kind with a sort of pointy sweep at the top outside edges. You would probably do best with more rectangular glasses, especially ones with thick frames that have that geometric, retro look.

Square Face

A square face is basically a boxy sort of shape where the chin, forehead, and middle of the face roughly have the same width. These faces are usually rather angular, and may feature a strong jawline, especially on a man.

Again, the key here is contrast — you will probably want to choose a pair of frames that will break up the hard lines and make for a softened look to your hard angles. Choose a pair of glasses that are rounder in shape — not necessarily perfect circles, but something approaching that. Keep free from ornamentation that is too sharp and angular as well. Pay attention to how low the glasses fall over your cheeks, though — with round glasses, there's always the possibility that they may hang too low and make you appear too bug-eyed.

Oval Face

An oval face is a face that is narrower on the bottom than it is on the top, resulting in something of a pointy chin. It is roundish, but the top and bottom of the face are of different widths, and the jaw is not very angular as with more square faces.

Unlike a lot of other face shapes, oval faces can actually look quite good with large frames and the glasses won't appear to be taking over the face. If you have an oval face, you can pull off many different types of frames, but you might want to shoot for largish frames that are rectangular or squarish in shape, or that are angular at the top and have a low-hanging curve near the bottom.

Triangular

A triangular face is somewhat the opposite of an oval face. You have a triangular face if your forehead appears to have a smaller width than your chin, and if your chin and jawbone are particularly angular, with each side of your jaw set low and apart.

With this face shape, you may want to fill in that "empty" space that your smaller forehead constitutes with a pair of glasses that has ornamentation near the top, or that is simply thicker near the top of the frame and thinner on the bottom. This will help to visually balance the proportions of your face. You will also want to choose frames whose width is somewhat in between that of your jaw and that of the top of your forehead.

Heart

Heart-shaped faces are those that are noticeably wider in the forehead and that quickly come down to a taper in the chin. The chin might be roundish, but the forehead is round and wide — roughly similar to the pattern of a Valentine heart.

For best results, pick glasses that are slightly wider at the top than they are at the bottom, and that have an angled edge near the top. The frame should be a little wider than your forehead in order to help dwarf it a little and not make it seem quite as wide. Another strategy to balance out your proportions may be to choose a pair of frames that tends to angle downwards, in order to direct an observer's eyes away from your forehead and towards your chin.

Of course, not everyone falls strictly into a single one of these categories. Face shapes can be diverse, and you may have a combination of two or more of the described shapes, but chances are that you have a dominant type. Regardless, just stick to the general rule of evening out proportions and avoiding exaggerating your already prominent features. Remember: Contrast is your friend.

Your Complexion

Whatever colour the skin of your face happens to be can affect what sort of frames you should get for your glasses. As with the issue of face shapes, you're going to want to choose a frame colour that contrasts that of your face, and helps both your unique facial features and those of your glasses pop out. The last thing you want is to waste an opportunity to have your glasses make a bold statement with colour by blending in blandly with your face.

Light Skin

With light skin, you're going to want to choose glasses in a darker shade to complement your tone. If you have simply pale skin, without a reddish or pinkish tint, you will want to add a little bit of that blushing colour by grabbing some darker frames that incorporate some red or rose-coloured tones. You may also do well with blue frames, though make sure that it's not too dark or dramatic a blue, like navy — you're ideally trying to add a splash of lively colour to the pallor of your face. Try to stay away from green or yellow here.

If instead you already have a pinkish light tone to your face, you may want to try some dark brown frames — something warm with a rich, organic look. Purple might even work well, so long as the colour is deep enough, and maybe mixed with a bit of red.

Tan Skin

If your skin tone is more medium — between light and dark — a good choice would be frames with a complex light blue colour, especially when mixed with green. Try turquoise or another colour that is reminiscent of the ocean. If reds are more your style, you might do well with a dark pink or pinkish purple, like the colour of a sunset. You also might want to try a frame that mixes several tones together and gives you a more complex look. In general, avoid colours that are too pastel or light.

Dark Skin

Many different colours of frames look good with darker skin, but the lighter brown shades look great, as well as copper, silver, and other metal-based colours. Deep grays can also complement your features, especially if your skin tends to have a warm glow to it. If your skin is particularly dark, a royal purple colour or a deep red might work well, too. Should you decide to go with a green tone, make sure that it is a deep green.

Your Personality

Unlike the other factors that we've discussed up to this point, something like your personality is hard to quantify. There are many more different kinds of personalities than there are face shapes, and even within the realm of each of these personality types, every person is made up of all sorts of little detailed and unique characteristics.

There are some generalisations that we can make, however, and you can use these general tips to help cater the look of your frames to the kind of personality that you have and the kind of image that you would like to project to others.

Intelligent / Bookish / Business

If you work in a kind of field where giving off an impression of quiet intelligence pays dividends — like engineering or accounting — it might be a good idea to pick glasses that give off a classic and conservative look. Pick neutral tones if you can, mundane dark colours that don't stand out too much. If you think that's too depressing, try something cold and metallic, like a hard silver or copper colour.

The frame should be as minimalistic and functional as possible, so you will want it to lack any sort of flair or ornamentation. Just a standard pair of oval-shaped glasses (so long as it works with your face shape) might be exactly what you need.

Creative / Eccentric

If you'd like to let your artistic style show, you don't need to do anything crazy. Some of the best creators are modern, while still acknowledging the past. Vintage is the best way to go really, but the specifics depend on what type of "creative" personality you're trying to project. If you're going for the starving artist look, pick a modern version of a classic frame, like a wayfarer style, and make the colours dark and dramatic.

On the other hand, if you're going for a more exciting musician look, you might try something more angular. Aviator glasses or cat-eye glasses will probably give you that slightly rebellious edge that most people expect.

Athletic

Since fit people jog and engage in other strenuous or dangerous activities, make sure that your frames are durable. The best kind are the ones that are reminiscent of sunglasses — and in fact, photochromatic lenses might be what you're looking for if you really do like to spend a lot of time outside exercising. The more aerodynamic the glasses look, the better. Go with wrap-around glasses if you can and other goggle-type styles.

Sophisticated

If you want to appear fashionable and like you have paid attention to your appearance with deliberate intention, you might want to pick some frames that are tastefully geometric. Attractive angles suggest that deliberateness in your look, and it would match well with other angular accessories that you may have. Nothing says good taste like the pleasing lines of some well-proportioned glasses.

To add an even higher level of sophistication, you may want to pick a frame that has a more intricate design. Go for a pair that has some kind of ornamentation, especially if it flares up at the top outer edges.

Fashion

Perhaps you're the "sophisticated" type, or maybe you're just someone who appreciates coordinating all of their accessories with their eye-wear. Either way, there is just something aesthetically pleasing about someone whose glasses go well with their outfit and with their overall look. It makes you look more "put together" to have paid attention to such details.

How do you match your frames to the outfits of your choice? Like anything having to do with fashion, there is no total consensus — it is an art, not a science — and a lot of it depends on your personal style. But there are some general rules that you might do well to follow.

First and foremost, ask yourself a few questions:

1) Are you interested in following trends or not?

If you're the kind of person who likes to wear what's in style, then you might want to stick to frames that will pass the test of time and are not subject to trends of the moment. Usually glasses are meant to be kept for years — not months, the way that trendy clothes are — so you might just want to go with a pair that has a classic look and that has been "in style" for a few decades already.

On the other hand, if you're not interested in following any trends, and just have your own particular style that stays consistent throughout the years, you don't have to necessarily pick a classic or time-honoured style of glasses — just pick a frame that works well with the style of most of the clothes that you wear.

2) What sort of personality do your clothes project?

This is important, because just as your glasses project a certain image and personality, your clothes can, too, and you don't want to send mixed messages. If the work clothes that fill your closet are an array of conservative suits, match them with glasses that look similarly business-like and that reinforce your conservative image.

3) What kind of colours do you normally wear?

You want colours that complement each other. If you're not sure how to tell which colours work to complement which others, pull out a colour wheel and see for yourself. For instance, purple and yellow complement each other well, as do orange and blue.

Once you've answered these basic questions for yourself, you can start to get an idea of how to go about building your look. Keep these tips in mind:

A) Start with the glasses

You probably have more clothes than glasses, so when you're digging around your closet for various items and trying to see what will match together, remember the style and colour of your glasses and use it as a backbone to put your outfit together. Your glasses will be the focal point of your face, the first "decoration" towards which the eyes of others will be drawn, and you want everything else to cater towards this.

B) Don't get too particular about colour

It makes much more sense to match the style of your clothes with a certain style of glasses than it makes to match the colours. Eyeglasses will always tend to run in a different sort of palette than clothes will, and that's perfectly fine. Concentrate on the wider style over small details in ornamentation. Think "business" or "creative" or "sophisticated" and match your glasses to your clothes using this more abstract idea.

C) Dress appropriately

Different times call for different clothes — and different frames. Think about the sort of occasion you are getting dressed up for. If you have multiple pairs and you are heading to a solemn or serious event, you might want to wear your most conservative looking glasses that match your most conservative outfit. Remember that it is not simply a matter of matching your clothes to your glasses, but also of matching both of them to your outside environment.

A Final Word

Consider yourself lucky that you have to wear glasses. Believe it or not, there are people in this world that covet the sophisticated, mature look that glasses can provide to a person, and some people even wear non-prescription or lens-less glasses in order to increase the level of respect that they receive from people. This may sound silly to you if you've had to wear glasses all your life and wish that you didn't necessarily have to, but perhaps it gives you something to think about — behind many seeming disadvantages, there are often hidden advantages.

Regardless of whether you can find it in you to be grateful for your glasses, hopefully you've found some use in the tips mentioned throughout this guide and hopefully you have learned a little about how to make the most of the glasses that you have. Glasses can not only help you to see, but can help others to see the real you, if you pay close enough attention to what it is that your frames are communicating.

Happy hunting!