Selecting glasses for men that accentuate your best features may take some thought, but is worth the effort. Whether you wear eyeglasses on a regular basis or only for occasional events like driving, watching movies, or viewing sporting events, you’ll want to choose frames that best complement your facial features. With so many styles, shapes, colors and accent details to choose from, it helps to know what glasses are mostly likely to look the best with your face shape.
Know Your Face
There are seven recognized face shapes. While everyone is slightly different when it comes to proportions like spacing between the eyes, width and length of face, and jaw and cheekbones the basic seven shapes are defined as:
- Oval – the most proportionally balanced shape, works well with most frames
- Round – soft features work well with rectangle frames, wider than they are tall
- Square – a strong jaw line and equal width forehead, works with narrow oval frames
- Triangle -minimize the width at the top of the face with light color or rimless frames
- Inverted triangle – accentuate the width at the top of the face with decorative frames
- Diamond – try frames that have a distinctive brow line, or cats-eye type glasses
- Oblong – choose frames that have more depth than width, with contrasting temples
One good way to understand which face shape you have is to take a straight on, passport-style photograph of yourself. Look closely at the outline of your face. Is the forehead wider than the base and chin? Is the length of the face noticeably longer than the width? You can accentuate facial features with eyeglasses to help balance proportions. Another important factor in choosing glasses that complement your facial features is to be aware of your coloration. From hair color to skin tone, it is important to choose frames that work well with your colors.
Get A Backup
When you are selecting a new pair of glasses, it may make sense to order two sets. This can help you if one pair is lost or damaged, so that you are not without your corrective lenses while waiting for replacement pair of eyeglasses. When you are picking the backup frames, go with a style that is slightly different, but still within the best range of size and shape of frame for your face shape and color. That way, you will have an option for variety, allowing you to accessorize and change your look for different occasions, perhaps using one pair for more formal events like work and meetings, the other for more relaxed events like going out in the evening or attending sporting events, for instance. Finally, remember to select accessories that will help you get the most from your glasses, including good quality cleaning cloths to avoid damage that can result from wiping the lenses on shirts or napkins, for instance. Quality cases are important as well, from a hard-shell case that provides maximum protection from smashing or breaking your frames, to a soft case that is more easily portable and protects the lenses from scratches or hard impacts. Take the time to get the right glasses for you, and add the accessories to protect your investment so that you will enjoy many years of good use from your new frames.
Article written by Jen Blair of the Sprightly Shopper, Follow her on twitter @sprightlyshopr
