Do you hate shopping for new glasses? You’re not alone.
Choosing glasses frames is a high-stakes endeavor: they’re expensive and omnipresent. You can easily spend $400+ for a pair with prescription lenses, and they live on your face for at least a couple of years. You have to take so much into consideration:
- Intention – fashion statement or innocuous?
- Shape of your face and eyebrows
- Scale of your face and body
- Dark circles or bags under the eyes?
- Color – to enhance your natural coloring
- Color – to work with the majority of clothes in your closet
No wonder you’re anxious.
First let me help you rule out one option… “transitions” glasses that darken when you enter a bright space and lighten in a darker space. I know you like the idea of “two for the price of one,” but most of the time the glass stays just dark enough that to us your eyes are semi-obscured behind a shadowy haze. We look into each other’s eyes to connect, and when we can’t really see them, it’s off-putting. (Shades are fine; we don’t expect to see into your soul in sunglasses.) Plus most people’s eyes are really beautiful and deserve to be seen. Trust me on this– I look into them a lot when I do clients’ palettes. If you feel you can’t afford prescription sunglasses, get a pair of inexpensive clip-ons or wrap-overs which work just fine and look only semi-dorky.
Your intention. What do you want others to notice first about you? We’re so used to traditional styles that we see past them to focus on you as a person, whereas highly styled glasses enter the room first and make a loud statement. I adored the swoopy purple frames I found in France (see above) and they actually flattered my face, but I realized I didn’t want to have to live up to such high style on a daily basis. Flattering shape, color, etc may be less important to fashion mavens like Iris Apfel than the statement their glasses make. 
Shape of your face and eyebrows. If your eyebrows and face shapes are very curvy, glasses with straight lines will look weird. Try on lots of pairs in lots of stores and ask for feedback from the proprietor as well as the mirror. In general it’s best not to have the frames exceed the width of your face, unless you’re doing a cat-eye look (Autumns…).
Scale of your face and body. If you’re petite and/or fine-boned, stick with delicate frames. If you’re big and bold, and have dark brows and eyes, well, you can go for it.
Dark circles, bags. As a person with some poochiness under my eyes I prefer the bottom of my frame to align with the dark circle, so it’s less obvious. Iris, above, doesn’t seem to care that her circles are enhanced by her glasses.
Color. One more reason to have a personal color palette–you know what colors flatter you. Frames in your eye color will bring attention to your eyes (duh), in your skin tones will disappear in a kind way, and in your hair color will also bring attention to your face. Metallics, like gold for blondes, pewter and silver for us gray-heads, rose-gold for redheads, etc will be super flexible with your wardrobe, whereas (for example) red frames won’t look great with a green outfit and vice versa. Both women below have made fantastic choices.
My brilliant color consulting colleague in Las Vegas, Pati Springmeyer, has written three detailed posts on this topic. Do read it. And if you’d like to get your colors done before selecting your next pair of glasses, I’m here… And you can call me from the optometrist’s office with selfies, if you want my opinion.