Hairstyle Tips for Eyeglass Wearers

Man and woman wearing fashionable glasses — Photo: Rock and Wasp/Shutterstock

The Right Hairstyles to Combine with Your Eyeglasses

One part medical device, one part fashion accessory, modern eyeglasses serve both function and fashion. For many people, they are necessary for daily function, while others, who prefer contact lenses for daily wear, may see them as a part-time nuisance. Regardless, for everyone who wears eyeglasses, they are concerned about how they look.

Today's lightweight lenses and designer frames are a far cry from the thick, heavy lenses and blocky, utilitarian frame styles of thirty years ago. These new styles are designed to be unobtrusive and attractive, even flattering. However, like every fashion trend, eyeglass styles evolve. In the 1970s, women's eyewear styles were large and rounded. By the 1980s, the trend shifted to shorter but wider glasses. In the 1990s, there was a movement towards smaller eyeglasses.

Now in the second decade of the new millennium, we're witnessing a resurgence of larger and wider frame styles, in addition to the smaller sizes. The right style for someone largely depends on personal taste and what will complement their facial shape best. As a result, we see a diverse array of women with different eyeglass styles. Surprisingly, glasses can completely change the look and balance of your facial features, making choosing a hairstyle that works with your glasses style an important decision.

First and foremost, our goal in choosing a hairstyle is to establish balance and harmony in our facial features. Eyeglasses add another element to this equation, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a need for a drastic change in your hairstyle. The glasses you wear are likely chosen to complement your features, emphasizing a feature set you would already consider when selecting your hairstyle.

With this in mind, let's explore three basic categories of eyeglass styles, why they were likely chosen, and what to consider when choosing a hairstyle to wear with your glasses.

Wide-Framed Eyeglasses:

Hairstyles suitable for wide framed glasses

The lenses of this style of eyeglasses are significantly wider than they are tall, resulting in eyeglasses that extend past the outer corners of the eyes and create a distinct horizontal line at the temples. This style is typically chosen by people with wide faces or faces that are wide at the temple area (inverted triangle, heart-shaped, and diamond-shaped).

The challenge in choosing hairstyles for this style of glasses lies in avoiding emphasizing the width of the face. A hairstyle with a lot of volume on the sides can make the face appear even wider, especially when combined with the effect of the glasses.

To counteract this, select a hairstyle that adds a little height on top and incorporates chunky, textured bangs with closely-styled sides and longer length with some volume at the ends. This creates the illusion of a longer face to balance the emphasized width. Even shorter hairstyles with strong vertical lines and close-in styling on the sides can help balance the effect.

Because these eyeglasses are typically chosen to accommodate an already-existing facial feature - width at the temple area - the style will still complement you even if you switch to contact lenses from time to time or permanently.

Continue reading ...