With so many eyewear choices it can be difficult to know what eyewear frames and styles are best for you. Considerations such as face shape, personality, lifestyle, and coloring are all factors when it comes to choosing the right eyewear whether you wear fashion eyewear, designer eyewear, nonprescription eyewear, prescription eyewear, sports eyewear, children’s eyewear or discount eyewear.
When purchasing your eyewear frames you’ll want to find something that complements your face shape, lifestyle and personality especially if you’re going to be wearing your eyewear on a daily basis. First off you want to determine your face shape and coloring some tips for finding the best frames can include; your eyewear frames should contrast with your face shape; your eyewear frame size should be in scale with your face size; your eyewear should repeat your best feature, an example would be blue eyes with blue frames.
There are seven basic face shapes to consider when purchasing eyewear frames they include:
- the round face, to make face appear thinner and longer you should try angular narrow eyewear frames with a clear bridge (rectangular frames work);
- oval face (the most balanced proportions of all faces), select eyewear frames that are as wide as the broadest part of the face;
- an oblong face which is longer than it is wide, to make face appear shorter try frames with decorative temples or that have a top to bottom depth;
- the base up triangle which has a wide upper half and smaller bottom half, select frames that are smaller at the bottom with light colors and materials or rimless eyewear frame styles;
- base down triangle is a triangular face that has a narrow forehead that widens at cheek and chin area, cat-eye frames o heavily accented frames with detailing on top half;
- a diamond face that is narrow at eyes and jaw with high cheekbones, look good in rimless, oval or cat-eye frames;
- a square face that has a strong jawline and broad forehead, narrow eyewear frame styles look best.
Next, you will want to determine your personal coloring, everyone is either warm (yellow-based) or cool (blue-based). It’s a fact that you look best in your own color, with this said your eyewear frames should complement your personal coloring. The best way to determine your coloring is by your skin. Cool skin has a blue/pink undertone whereas warm skin has a yellow base or “peaches and cream” base. Hair is also considered either warm or cool. Strawberry blond, platinum, blue-black, salt and pepper, and white hair are cool. Golden blond, flat black, brown-gold, and gray hair are warm.
So after you have determined whether you’re warm or cool in coloring you will be ready to select an eyewear frame color that is appropriate for you. Some suggestions for eyewear frame colors if you are warm can include camel, khaki, gold, copper, orange, coral, peach, off white, red and warm blue. Eyewear frame color suggestions for cool coloring can include black, rose-brown, plum, blue-gray, magenta, pink, jade, blue and dark tortoise.
You will want to select eyewear frames that suit your personality and lifestyle. You can ask yourself some questions that will help you determine what sort of eyewear will work best for you things such as what you use your eyewear for and what activities you participate in (work, sports). It is usually a good idea to own more than one pair of eyewear, just as you own clothing for different events and activities you can have eyewear to complement what you are doing.
For the conservative business person ovals, rectangles and almond-shaped eyewear frames work. Thin plastics, metals and rimless frames in colors such as silver, brown, black, gunmetal and burgundy. For the creative person modern shaped frames (geometrics) in larger plastic styles and metal frames in unique colors of blue, green and purple. For the retired senior modern look eyewear frames in rectangle shapes for men and soft cat-eye shapes for women. Gunmetal, deep brown and burgundy colored frames work for men while lighter, shiner hues work nice for women. Shine can add life to a woman’s face, you do however want to stay clear of silver, black and dark, dull colors.
For the student deciding on eyewear there is a wonderful amount of freedom it’s a good idea to try interesting styles, shapes, and colors, Have fun with your selection, bright colors, larger styles, unique shapes, and dynamic details are options. For the busy dad or mom, basic eyewear frame shapes such as ovals, rectangles and soft cat-eye shapes with subtle detailing like rhinestones, stained glass or metal accents can be appealing. Eyewear frame colors such as plums, deep red and black can work nicely.
Lastly for the athletic person there have never been more eyewear options than there are today with wraparound styles, eyewear shields, sports specific eyewear options (green-tinted lenses for seeing the subtle lines and flag pole in the green, or yellow-tinted lenses for seeing tennis balls more clearly and rose or pink-tinted ski goggles for seeing the lines and slopes of the ski hill) and sports eyewear that offers eye protection. Polarized lenses can reduce the glare associated with water sports, snow sports and driving while polycarbonate lenses (impact resistant) can offer important protection for the eyes. You will want to be sure that your sports eyewear choices fit properly and offer the technical functions needed for your particular needs.
With so many wonderful eyewear choices to be found in fashion eyewear, there is something to please everyone. When visiting your eye care practitioner or optician it is a great idea to ask for suggestions on eyewear styles, designs, and colors for your particular face shape and coloring, they can offer recommendations on what will best suit you.