5 Tips to Make Sure You Look Great In Glasses

You workout, and stay up to date on your wardrobe and the latest hairstyles, but are you forgetting something important right in front of your eyes? Unknowingly picking a bad eyeglass or sunglass shape or size or making a color mistake can sabotage your look. However, with the availability of high-quality replacement lenses from SeekOptics, you can easily update your glasses to enhance your appearance.

Conversely, great glasses or sunglasses like those from SeekOptics are like the perfect-tailored blazer or top; you can mix and match them with your wardrobe, and they can instantly update your look by 10 years. Jennifer Anniston, Cate Blanchett, and Steve Carell are just a few examples of celebrities that wear glasses well and know how to make them an accessory rather than a hindrance. Here are five tips to make sure you get a great look with Seek Optics glasses or sunglasses.

1. Not all retro is good.

   Most people today agree they would not wear parachute pants or a piano key necktie. But wearing the same eyewear year after year can leave you stuck in a trend that says something similar. While a few evergreen styles in glasses exist, most trends go five years, and a lot can change: style, thicknesses, metal versus acetate, and mini trends in between. Just turn on Seinfeld or Friends for a dose of how frames come and go. Though round metal frames are coming back, the narrow rectangular clear lens oval optical frames Elaine Benes wore are so not in fashion now. Instead, look for something more elegant where detail speaks for itself with a lightly deeper, more contemporary, rounded shape. Semi-rimless and rimless frames can also be great alternatives depending on face shape. Oversized frames that were in style for the past few years are starting to die out. Today’s thinner, more translucent colored frames can be a good alternative, and metal aviators with clear lenses, popular in the 70s are coming back with modern styling.

2. Want to go bold? Be sure to back it up. 

   Very few people can get away with a bright red pair of glasses or go ultra-glam of the moment, and you might want to rethink the decision too unless it’s your signature color and you can back it up. Quirky styles and a too irreverent approach to eyewear can quickly backfire after more than three days in a row of wearing the same pair: your glasses start wearing you rather than the other way around. To wear quirky glasses well, you need to have a funky look from head to toe. An alternative is to consider blending your eyewear with your personal style and still have fun doing it.

3. Complement your personal style/profession.

   A great pair of glasses should complement your personal style in the environment you are wearing them. If you are dressing in pantsuits in an ultra-conservative office – you might not want to wear a fashion-forward, contemporary round frame that does not match your clothing and has not hit that environment yet. But if you work in a creative profession – yes. And if you are an architect or designer, a bolder, mid-century-inspired style or minimal round shape in a rimless lens may also work. For more conservative personal style and/or office environments go for subtle hints of color or take a more gradual creative approach with blue tortoise versus conventional grey or an over-the-top sparkly frame.

4. Fine tune the fit.

   Just like a great suit or dress—if it’s too big or small, it won’t look right, and, in the case of glasses, may not help you to see any better. Ill-fitting glasses can also have a wild effect, making your eyes look too small or big. Here is where a qualified optician needs to perform all of the necessary measurements to determine how your eyes should fall within the frames (make sure to ask for an optician’s fit from online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores).

5. Have enough frames to fit your lifestyle.

   If you have a broad sense of style but not enough frames—perhaps you are in a business setting during the week and more trendy on the weekends—that can be a fashion situation. Parties, interviews, weddings – there’s always a reason to have more than one pair. And even that "great blazer" can only take you so far. Expanding your collection and rotating through just two to three pairs of glasses, versus one, can exponentially expand your wardrobe’s range with more options for your lifestyle, giving you that always pulled-together look.

How can you pick the best frames for your face and personal style? Consider what’s on point today, follow trends and brands you trust, check out what people you admire are wearing, get advice from a friend, and ask your optician. A good optician will not only ensure a great fit but can also serve as a style expert. He or she should know the differences between eyewear lines, what your face shape and look are, what your Rx is, and which contemporary frames will best capitalize on the looks you want to achieve.

When you put on the right frame at the right time, you instantly communicate your personal style and accentuate your best facial features.  A great pair of glasses can immediately bring your style and appearance light years forward. It’s a huge step in the right direction that can make a big impact. Designer glasses aren't just about vision — they're an essential part of a polished, modern look.

Dave Barton is CEO of DavidKind.com, and formerly of Oliver Peoples and Paul Smith Spectacles. He draws on over a decade making eyewear for the best brands in the world, having traveled across the globe in search of the best materials and style options, and is based in San Diego.

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