Whether you have been a lifetime glasses wearer or you’re preparing for your first pair, deciding on your new glasses can be a stressful situation. Since you’ll likely be using your glasses daily, you don’t want to be unhappy with the glasses frames you select. The eyeglass frame style you decide on will be a big reason for how happy you are with your new pair. When buying eyeglasses, it’s not just about getting the correct prescription, but also about loving the way you look. Whether you want a more business-professional look, something with an artistic flair, or something simpler and more unassuming, you’ll have several options to choose from. Choosing the right eyeglass frames comes down to both needs and preferences. Your Kansas eye care team will go over how to determine what kind of glasses you should get, and also take a look at some classic styles to see if they suit you.

How to Choose the Correct Frames for Your Face

It’s important to take note of your needs and preferences when choosing the right eyeglass frames. First, we’ll talk about what characteristics of your face might impact your decision.

Face Shape

Understanding your face shape is one of the most crucial factors in determining what style of frames to buy. Most people either have a round face, a square face, an oval face, a heart-shaped face, or a diamond face. 

Your face shape is determined by your cheekbones, forehead width, and jawline length. Typically, you would try to choose a frame shape that is the opposite shape of your face shape. If you have a round face, try to choose square glasses and vice versa.

Skin Tone

Choosing glasses frames is like shopping for clothes. You would typically buy clothing that looks best with your skin tone, and that same line of thinking applies to glasses. While there’s no perfect color for your unique skin tone, there are some general guidelines. If you have a warmer skin tone, you’re better off with olive, honey, beige, and light tortoise colors. If you have a cooler skin tone, you should look at frames that are black, silver, pink, purple, or gray.

Regardless of what we say about shape and tone, your personal style preference is the most important part. All that matters is that you’re happy with your choice of prescription glasses.

Popular Eyeglass Frame Styles

From aviator frames to rimless spectacles, here are some of today’s most popular eyeglass frame styles.

Cat-eye Frames

Made popular by movie icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, cat-eye glasses have upward-sweeping corners and can be a stylish pick for those that need glasses. This timeless frame can work with many face shapes, so they can be a great option for nearly anybody. Cat-eye frames are also great at slimming down wider faces, emphasizing the eyebrow line on those with diamond-shaped faces, and pulling eyes upward for those with triangular-shaped faces. They also look great on those with balanced, oval faces. Cat-eye frames are also a youthful style for those who wish to look a little younger. These frames make a bold statement and may not be best suited for everybody. We recommend checking out other styles if you want something more simple.

Rimless Frames

If you want your glasses to blend into your face more, and look as if you're not wearing glasses, the rimless style might be for you. Without the rims to outline and call attention to your lenses, rimless glasses tend to blend in with your face and bring the focus to your eyes. The lack of rims can also make your frames feel lighter on your face. You may even forget that you are wearing them. Rimless glasses may not be for everyone. Someone who needs a strong prescription for nearsightedness needs especially thick lenses. Without the rim to hide some of the lens profile, this style would only accentuate the size and thickness of the lenses. By going rimless, you also lose some valuable protection for your glasses.

Aviator Frames

These classic teardrop-shaped glasses were originally developed for pilots and were made even more famous in the movie “Top Gun.” The large lenses gave pilots a clearer view of the instrument panels. Most people will like how these glasses look on their faces, though they look especially good if you have an angular face with well-defined cheekbones. The longer lenses also offer additional space for your eyes to see through, provided your lenses have a single correction. With all that being said, aviator frames may not be suitable if you want progressive lenses or bifocals. The area at the bottom where the reading prescription would go might be too narrow.

Round Frames

Round frames are one of the most classic eyeglass frame styles. This style tracks back to the 13th century when glasses were first invented. While round frames have a retro style, it’s a style that is very much in fashion today. For those with thick lenses, round or oval shape frames are an excellent choice for minimizing the profile of your lenses. In addition, round frames go well with many face shapes, including diamond-shaped faces. They can also bring some soft curves to a square-shaped face. However, if you have a round face, then you may not like how round frames look on you.