Choosing the right frames
So you’ve done the hard bit, you have your clinical recommendation but how to make the most of style opportunity of wearing spectacles? Spectacles are one of the first things noticed about you so its important to make the right impression, at work or socially. Below is a brief guide compiled by our in store experts:
- Frames MUST LIFT: Specs look best when they lift the cheek and eye area at the bottom outside corners of the frames upwards.
- Your eyes should be centered within the frames: They don’t need to be absolutely dead center, but thereabouts is good.
- Match the scale of the frames with your facial proportions: Bold, oversized frames are dramatic and fabulous, but that doesn’t mean they will work for you. A small person with dainty facial features is overwhelmed in thick, chunky frames. But that person can still wear bold frames if they choose a refined version of a chunky style.
- Follow the line of your brows: Choose a frame shape that mirrors the arch of your eyebrows.
- Don’t be scared of extra width: Many people wear specs that are too narrow for their face. Their eyes may be centered and the style “lifts upwards”, but the narrow width of the frames constricts the face. You want a shape that “opens up” the face, so add a little width to the top outside corners of the frames. It makes a world of difference, often balancing out a pear shaped face.
- Think in three dimensions: You see your frames from the front, but everyone else sees them from all angles. They also catch glimpses of the inside of the frame. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to temple and inside colour detailing.
- Choose a color that complements your skin tone and eye colour: The operative word is “complement”, not “match”. Bright blue-eyed people shouldn’t wear bright blue specs. But wearing brown specs with blue detailing might be ideal. Do not confine your choice to neutral tones either. Eyewear does not have to match what you’re wearing, but rather go with everything because it compliments your face, not your clothes.
- Create the right amount of contrast: If the contrast between the colour of your skin tone and the frames is too strong, you’ll look severe. If it’s not strong enough you’ll look blah. This is not a hard and fast rule, but generally, choose a colour that is different to the colour of your hair and eyes.