Spectacles that suit your personality & lifestyle
For most of us, the most important aspect of choosing spectacle frames is how they look on our face. You could try on every pair of eyeglasses in the store to find out how each one looks, but narrowing down your choices in advance can save you a lot of time and aggravation. You simply need to determine your face shape and colouring, and understand which spectacle frame styles and colours would look best on you.Spectacle Frames to Face ShapesYou should consider three main points when choosing a spectacle frame for your face shape,
- Eyewear should repeat your personal best feature (such as a blue frame to match blue eyes).
- The frame shape should contrast with your face shape.
- The frame size should be in scale with your face size.
Also, while most faces are a combination of shapes and angles, there are seven basic face shapes: round, oval, oblong, base-down triangle, base-up triangle, diamond and square. Here is a further description of these face shapes and which types of frames work best to help you choose your new eyeglasses.
Round: A round face has curved lines with the width and length in the same proportions and no angles. To make a round face appear thinner and longer, try angular narrow eyeglass frames to lengthen the face, a clear bridge that widens the eyes, and frames that are wider than they are deep, such as a rectangular shape.
Oval: An oval face is considered to be the ideal shape because of its balanced proportions. To keep the oval’s natural balance, look for eyeglass frames that are as wide as (or wider than) the broadest part of the face, or walnut-shaped frames that are not too deep or too narrow.
Oblong: An oblong face is longer than it is wide and has a long straight cheek line and sometimes a longish nose. To make an oblong face appear shorter and more balanced, try frames that have more depth than width, decorative or contrasting temples that add width to the face, or a low bridge to shorten the nose.
Base-Down Triangle: A base-down triangular face has a narrow forehead and widens at the cheek and chin areas. To add width and emphasise the narrow upper third of the face, try frames that are heavily accented with colour and detailing on the top half or try cat-eye shapes.
Base-Up Triangle: This face has a very wide top third and small bottom third. To minimize the width of the top of the face, try frames that are wider at the bottom, very light colours and materials and rimless frame styles (which have a light, airy effect because the lenses are simply held in place by a few screws, with no surrounding frame material).
Diamond: Diamond-shaped faces are narrow at the eye line and jawline, and have broad cheekbones that may be high and dramatic. This is the rarest face shape. To highlight the eyes and soften the cheekbones, try frames that have detailing or distinctive brow lines, or try rimless frames or oval and cat-eye shapes.
Square: A square face has a strong jaw line and a broad forehead, plus the width and length are in the same proportions. To make a square face look longer and to soften the angles, try narrow frame styles, frames that have more width than depth, and narrow ovals.
Colour Analysis
The Vision Council’s three keys to colour analysis are:
- All people have either cool (blue-based) or warm (yellow-based) colouring.
- Everyone looks best in his or her own colour base.
- Eyewear colour should complement personal colouring.
The main factors that determine the best colour palette are the colours of the skin, eyes and hair.
Skin
Skin tone is the prime element in determining colouring. All complexions fall into one of two colour bases — blue (cool) or yellow (warm).
A cool complexion has blue or pink undertones, and a warm complexion has a “peaches and cream” or yellow cast. Olive skin is considered cool because it is a mixture of blue and yellow.
Eye colours usually are a secondary element in determining colouring because of the many variations of eye colour. For example, blue eyes can range from a cool almost-violet to a pale blue-grey, which is warm. Brown eyes can vary from a light cider shade (warm) through a medium-brown to a cool almost-black.
Hair
Hair colours also are considered warm or cool. Strawberry blonde, platinum, blue-black, white, auburn, salt-and-pepper and ash brown are cool. Warm hair colours include golden blond, brownish black, brown-gold, “carrot” and “dirty” grey.
Frame Colours
Once you have determined if you are “warm” or “cool,” then you can find the eyeglass frame colours that will suit you the best.
Some examples of frame colours best for warm colouring are: camel, khaki, gold, copper, peach, orange, coral, off-white, fire-engine red, warm blue and blond tortoise.
For cool colouring, the best eyeglass frame hues are black, silver, rose-brown, blue-grey, plum, magenta, pink, jade, blue and demi-amber (darker) tortoise.
If you have an introvert type personality then consider subtle colours and shape frames but if you have an extrovert personality then consider bolder, bright colours with unusual shapes and patterns.
Which Colours Are “In” for Apparel and Eyeglass Frames?
If you keep abreast of fashion trends, then you probably pay attention to the colours that dominate each season on the runways, in fashion magazines and in clothing stores. Retailers and manufacturers adjust their apparel and accessories colours according to what designers think consumers will consider most appealing at a given time. Eyewear designers create frames in the latest colours, too.
