According to the World Health Organization, roughly 2.2 billion people are visually impaired. Despite knowing this, I’m often surprised when I find out some of my friends own glasses but refuse to wear them. Whenever I ask my friends “Why don’t you wear your glasses,” each give me the same response: “I don’t like how they look on me.” As an act of service, I will help you navigate glasses shopping and how to find the right pair for you. Because glasses are an accessory, and everyone deserves to find the right pair for them.
For context, I am a pale white girl with dark brown hair, a long face, and a down-turned nose. Features such as nose and face shape are crucial in determining the shape of your glasses. ForEyes has a great article with a chart of face shapes and glass shapes, and I agree with most of their choices. With that said, I don’t agree with their idea that people with oval faces look good in all pairs of glasses, and you’ll see why as we dive into my brief history with glasses.
My first pair of glasses were blue, wayfare, unisex Ray-bans. I had this pair from 10-13 years old. At the time, I was only wearing glasses part-time, so I wasn’t concerned about how they looked on me. The pair didn’t work with my nose, so they made it look a lot bigger than it already was. The blue clashed with my skin and was overall a poor match. Just because they looked bad on me doesn’t mean they look bad on everyone. The pair are very popular amongst younger kids, meaning I’ve seen many others with my old frames. I remember my little sister bringing over a friend who strutted the same pair as me. He was tan and had a round face, so the glasses worked with him rather than against him. He also proved that unisex usually works better for one than the other (Boys 1, Girls 0).
On the topic of shapes, I firmly believe the only people who suit Wayfare or rectangle glasses are people with round faces. For example, Renee Rapp sometimes wears rectangle glasses ,and she looks stunning with them on. Speaking of which, the glasses she tends to wear have very thin frames, which, in my humble opinion, look the best on people with square and round faces (couldn’t be me).
Returning to my journey with glasses, I was due for a new pair of glasses at the end of my sophomore year. I landed on round, brown, and black Versace glasses. Pause. Stay away from designer brands. I will continue to gush about these glasses, but no pair of glasses is worth hundreds of dollars (I don’t remember what we ended up paying for them, but it didn’t match the cost on eBay. That’s for sure). Okay back to the show. I gravitated towards these glasses as they had a very elegant and sophisticated appeal to them. If you’re wearing a dark outfit then they’re sure to match with it. The issue with these glasses is that you may get sick of looking at them. Due to the high contrast on someone as pale as myself, it gets annoying looking at a pair of glasses so much. They may “blend” better for those with darker complexions.
The other issue occurred with the nose bridge. It’s a little too narrow which I think slightly warped my face. It made the start of my nose look very tiny and then “expand.” They generally just could’ve benefitted from a wider bridge. Good thing my current pair solved that!
Now we have arrived at the holy grail of glasses; my current pair. Senior year I asked if I could get a 2nd pair of my dark Versace glasses. Unfortunately, they no longer made those frames. I was gutted. I swallowed my grief and began trying on dark circular pairs of glasses. None were doing it for me. But then… I found clear round Ray-bans with pink arms. Unlike my Versace glasses, I initially wasn’t sold on them. I wanted dark glasses. However, after staring in the mirror with these transparent glasses, I figured I’d be able to make them work. Also, my mom’s insurance covered the cost. I liked how these don’t pop out at you. I also like how the nose piece is a little wider, meaning my nose is a little more proportionate than they were in the previous pair. I would highly recommend getting clear glasses if you are unsure on what to get.
My eight years of glasses-wearing haven’t been the easiest. Some pairs worked better than others, and the journey was a little rocky. However, by the end, I was able to learn more about myself and my style; hopefully this article has helped you do the same!
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