If you absolutely love your sunglasses, you’ve probably found a perfect expression of your personal brand.
Summer is my favorite time of year. It’s a time to relax, be in the sun, get active, and enjoy a cool drink. I think most of us look and feel our best at this time of year. Do you agree?
As you are enjoying the sun, you may have your favorite warm-weather accessories on your mind: sunglasses. More than ever, I put in contacts so I can enjoy my sunglasses at this time of year! Nothing makes me feel more youthful and hip than my shades.
Shades, sunnies, glints—whatever you call them. What’s more important is how they make you feel. Sure, sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun, but they aren’t just for function; they’re a great way to add your personal style to your outfit and a little more confidence to your step.
What’s Your Style in Sunglasses?
How do you feel about the sunglasses that you currently wear? Do they communicate to the outside world a little bit of insight into your personality? Do you feel like a million bucks when you put them on? Unfortunately, not everyone does. What I hear a lot is that it’s easy to struggle because there are so many options.
Embracing your unique style is the secret sauce that gives you the confidence to stand out from the crowd. What you wear—everything from small accessories to whole outfits—makes a difference. Starting small, with something like a new set of shades, is a great way to begin finding your unique style.
So, if you’ve never thought too seriously about sunglasses, or you could just use some inspiration before splurging on a fun new pair, we’re here to give you some tips.
Let’s get you the absolutely perfect pair!
Shape It Up
The shape of your sunglasses is one of the most important things to think about when determining what eyewear will be best for you. Get frames to work in your favor by finding the best sunglasses to give your face shape a natural facelift.
There’s a concept in art called repeating pattern or “relatedness.” It describes the way our subconscious mind looks for things similar to what it already knows. The same idea can be brought to choosing the right pair of sunglasses. Choose frames that mimic the shape of your face, because that creates beautiful harmony.
For example, if you have a square-shaped face, angular glasses would be the best fit; while if you have an oval-shaped face, oval or round glasses would be better.
There are some generally accepted tips for matching sunglasses and face shapes:
- As we age, it’s even more important to consider both the face shape and eyewear shape. In fact, we need to fight gravity and angles as we age. There’s a particular type of glasses that are incredibly uplifting. Cat eyes, or chunky plastic frames with wide corners at the top edges, are trendy and fun. Their shape also has softer edges which creates a slight uplifting impression.
- The frames you choose should match your face size and shape and should rest comfortably on your nose. As we grow older, it may be worth avoiding sunglasses with a downward steep, like aviators. These can sometimes create the illusion of sagging and make cheeks look looser than they are.
- Finally, your frames should mimic your eyebrow shape or cover them all together. This comes back to the relatedness concept—when things match and align, it looks more pleasing to the human eye.
Diving a little deeper, there are certain types of glasses that match people’s face shapes. When it comes to your exact face shape, here are the common shapes and the sunglasses that usually best suit them:
Oval: almost all sunglasses look great on oval faces. Since an oval face is relatively balanced, go ahead; try something new and edgy — every shape will look good on you!
Oblong: you can mimic your long and narrow face by finding thin and wide shades. Or you can shorter the appearance of your face with a deeper style–maybe a square or rectangular style.
Heart and Diamond: people with heart-shaped or diamond-shaped faces may be guided to wear sunglasses that direct the eye downward. This makes a face appear more elongated. However, as you age you may not want to pull attention downward since you are finding the natural gravitational pull downwards. The best styles for heart-shaped and diamond-shaped faces are therefore cat-eye, square cat eye, flat top, rectangular frames, and aviators (for those that are younger).
Square: with a square-shaped face comes a strong jawline. You might want to try curved frames to soften sharp features. The best styles to look for are oversized round, oval and cat eye. However, you also look great in angular glasses that celebrate your strong jaw.
Round: similar to the square-shaped face, round-shaped faces might want to add dimension and actually avoid repeating a circular frame. Instead, consider rectangular frames, slim cat eye, retro square, and wraparound sunglasses are the best looks for you.
Match Your Brand
Sunglasses are a great way to have your personality shine through without making a huge change to your wardrobe. This is great because everything you wear, including accessories, communicates who you are to the outside world.
A cautionary note: a pair of sunglasses can elevate an outfit and bring out your brand — but it can also send an inconsistent message. So, figure out how you want to be perceived — is it playful and outgoing, or mysterious and subtle? Sunglasses can give you a nostalgic, classic look, a calm, easy-going look, or they can give you an edgy, sophisticated, or modern look.
Color Your World
Don’t be afraid of color when it comes to your sunglasses, but make sure to follow the rules of the color wheel. Your frames should complement your complexion.
If you have warm-colored skin and hair, choose a warm color for your shades. Colors with yellow undertones will look great on you.
If your skin is cool in hue, cool-colored frames will most complement your complexion. Those are colors with blue or pink undertones. If you’re feeling bold, get extra colorful: check patterned or vibrantly colored frames.
Just remember to let your personality shine.
Size Matters
Contrary to trends in prescription glasses, you can play with sunglasses. You can experiment and have fun with them.
This is especially true as we age. A pair of oversized eyewear can give you a very distinctive look that lets you stand out from the crowd and look modern and cool.
This trend is great for yet another reason. Not only does it look good, it helps protect our whole eye area from skin-punishing UVA light rays. And, if you get prescription sunglasses, bigger glasses have enough surface area to allow for bifocals or no-line progressive lenses. That’s a big bonus.
But don’t go overboard! You will want to keep your scale in mind — if you (and your face) are small, you don’t want to overwhelm your face with sunglasses that are way too big. Experiment till you find a size that matches your personal stature and looks great with your face.
Measure Once to Buy Right
When you go to the eye doctor, they usually measure your PD — or Pupil Distance. It’s an important measurement for prescription glasses, but that measurement can also help when you are choosing sunglasses.
Your PD can allow you to center the lenses at the middle of your eyes to make them look their best, and can tell you if your eyes and your nose bridge are wider or narrower than usual, so your sunglasses lay right on your face.
Similarly, measuring your face width overall can help you choose the right sunglasses. You want to make sure that your glasses don’t touch your temples, while also not being more than a finger’s width between the temple and your face.
Choosing The Right Style with Rose-Colored Glasses
You might be wearing the same style sunglasses that you have worn for years or even decades. Of course that’s ok. But revamping your personal style with an easy accessory like sunglasses is a great way to test something new, gain a little confidence, and protect your eyes all at the same time.
Here’s an acronym I use to help clients remember all these details: GETSPECS!
G – Go Up (Fight gravity as you age)
E – Equal Distant (Use your pupil distance measurement to achieve symmetry – PD)
T – Temples (Don’t let the temples touch your face, but they should be close)
S – Shape (Compliment the shape of your face)
P – Personal Brand (That’s the point of this whole exercise! Express your wholly individual you!)
E – Eyebrows (Mimic the shape of your eyebrows or cover them altogether)
C – Color (Complement your complexion: warm or cool)
S – Scale (Big people can wear bigger glasses and still look good. Small people, be mindful of scale.)
Whether it’s the dead heat of summer, or a beautiful, sunny winter day, accessorizing with glasses all year round is a fun way to express yourself. There are sunglasses that match every personality, whether you like a retro, classic, or “cool” look.
If you’re nervous about changing up your personal style and making some changes to your beauty, clothing, and accessory routine, we’re here for you. We’re ready to coach you toward authentic confidence that aligns with your wants and needs and brings out your unique value.
Summer is a great time to focus on you, and that means making some changes—whether big or small! Since it’s summertime, why not start with finding your unique sunglass style that gives you a little confidence boost? Who couldn’t use a little of that?
Ready to learn more about your personal style, but don’t know where to start? Take our personal style quiz today.
