Remember back in ’07 when Kanye wore those ridiculous-looking glasses and everyone mocked him until a month and a half later everyone bought them?
Well here we are, six years later and you can still see the odd pair especially on a night out at the socials. Hopefully, this post will change all that: I’ve presented a literal spectrum of shades to choose from, and I’ll help break down the options by category and what face shape they look best on.
(Collage courtesy of Polyvore.com<http://Polyvore.com>)
Round Glasses:
· Pretty straight forward, these glasses have circular frames and can be embellished with everything from rose decals to fake pearls. Initially popularized during the 1960’s along with middle parts, floral print, and flare-leg-everything, they’ve seen revivals during the 90’s grunge era and right now
· Who Can Rock Them: They look best on people with heart-shaped faces, so the round shape of the frame compliment high cheekbones and a narrow chin.
Sunglasses Shown: Red Daisy Round Sunglasses, $20 boohoo.com<http://boohoo.com>, Salmon Wildfox Couture Steff Mirror Frame, $149 wildfoxcouture.com<http://wildfoxcouture.com>, Yellow Linda Farrow Luxe Rounded Acetate and Leather, $440 brownsfashion.com<http://brownsfashion.com>, Green ASOS Round Sunglasses with Color Mirror Lens, $20 asos.com<http://asos.com>, Purple Large Retro Round Steampunk Mirror Revo Lens Sunglasses 8759, $9.99 zerouv.myshopify.com<http://zerouv.myshopify.com>, Hannah Rose Chanel Pearl Sunglasses, pinterest.com<http://pinterest.com>, Blue Thierry Lasry Magentry Sunglasses, $398matchesfashion.com<http://matchesfashion.com>, Blue Opening Ceremony Inlayed Metal Sunglasses, $150openingceremony.us<http://openingceremony.us>, Illesteva Freida Round-Frame Matte-Steel Sunglasses, $285net-a-porter.com<http://net-a-porter.com>
Aviator Glasses:
· So-named for the style created in 1930’s by RayBan to shield pilots’ eyes from the sun. As with every trend, the right people (who happened to not be pilots) wore them, and soon everyone had a pair.
· Who Can Rock Them: People with larger faces can usually get away with them since they don’t dwarf your features yet make a pretty legit fashion statement…or say you fly planes in your spare time.
· Sunglasses Shown: Orange Ray-Ban Rb3025 Aviator Large 55 Sunglasses, $212 mytheresa.com<http://mytheresa.com>, Green Oliver Peoples Eyewear Benedict Sunglasses, $450 shopbop.com<http://shopbop.com>, Purple River Island Calvin Klein Jeans Aviator Sunglasses, $125 riverisland.com<http://riverisland.com>,
Wayfarer Glasses:
· These were also a RayBan creation and saw a lot of popularity in the early 50’s and 60’s, with a revival in the 80’s (Miami Vice or The Breakfast Club, anyone?).
· Who Can Rock Them: These glasses are pretty popular for being so versatile. They look great on a lot of face shapes and generally come in a wide array of designs and colors.
· Sunglasses Shown: Red KG Kurt Geiger Danni Chunky Sunglasses, $92 kurtgeiger.com<http://kurtgeiger.com>, Orange Neff Daily Sunglasses Mirror Lens, $20 swell.com<http://swell.com>, Green ASOS Matt Crystal Wayfarer with Gold Mirror Lens, $20 asos.com<http://asos.com>, Blue Sheriff and Cherry Wayfarer Style Clear Acetate Mirror Sunglasses, $130 harveynichols.com<http://harveynichols.com>, Blue Italia Independent Sunglasses, $220 colette.fr<http://colette.fr>,
Cat Eye Glasses:
· Also popularized in the 50’s and 60’s, they were usually accompanied with small white gloves, a pocketbook, and beehive hairdo. Famous ladies that were known to wear the glasses: Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor.
· Who Can Rock Them: These glasses can go for people with larger foreheads since they draw attention to your eyes instead of your fore(maybe five)head. They could potentially be too much on someone with a small face, but they come in all sorts of sizes, so it would really come down to making sure the lenses were small enough to be stylish but not distracting.
· Sunglasses Shown: Light Blue River Island Mirror Cat Eye Sunglasses, $20 riverisland.com<http://riverisland.com>, Purple Tom Ford Anastasia Sunglasses $340 colette.fr<http://colette.fr>, Purple Marc by Marc Jacobs D-Frame Metal and Acetate Sunglasses, $70 theoutnet.com<http://theoutnet.com>
So, moral of the story is there’s a lot behind a pair of sunglasses, historically and aesthetically. The face shape guidelines are just some helpful hints on how to choose the best fit for you, but feel free to experiment, that’s the only way you learn anything new!
Happy Spring!