Style Guide

When choosing the right pair of vintage glasses or sunglasses for your face shape, hair colour and skin tone can be difficult, especially if you haven't tried them on. Our guide has all the tips to help you choose your perfect pair of vintage specs.

Glasses and sunglasses have become a  major accessory and can be one of the first things people see on a face. They are an extension of your personality and we want you to feel comfortable and excited wearing your new frames. We want eyewear that compliments you as a person.

 

Oval Faces

Oval faces have a tendency to be longer than they are wide. Their features are balanced and they have a rounded jawline. Lucky for the oval faces out there, they suit most types of glasses, as long as the frames are no wider than the broadest part of the face. A bold/strong bridge can help to draw focus to the centre of the face, preventing it from looking drawn. Larger frames, cat eye styles and exciting and eccentric shapes work very well.

Oblong Faces

Oblong faces are longer than they are wide. They tend to have prominent cheekbones and a high forehead which exaggerates the length. All features are well balanced. Oblong faces are best suited to round or square frames as they accentuate the balanced features. You want to add width to the face and this can be achieved by having a colourful top rim or decorative sides.

Particularly with oblong faces attention should be given to the distance between your eyes. If your eyes are wide-set you want to draw attention to the centre of your face making your eyes appear closer together. This can be done by choosing a frame with a prominent bridge. If your eyes are close-set decorative detail on the outer edge of the frame will give the illusion of greater width.

Diamond Faces

A diamond-shaped face is at its broadest point across the cheekbones and narrows towards the forehead and the chin. To balance the proportions of the face it is important that the glasses are no wider than the cheekbones. Softer frames such as oval-shaped will help balance the features of the face. If you want to add width to the brow line choose frames with colour and detail on top. Avoid rimless and cat-eye styles as they draw emphasis on the cheekbones.
 

Square Faces

A square face will comprise of a strong jawline, broad forehead and straight prominent bones. The face will 
be relatively symmetrical with both the jaw and the forehead being the same width. The idea for those with square face shapes is to soften the face, round frames or oval shapes will help achieve this. Plastic frames should be relatively thin/fine to stop the face appearing bulky.

Round Faces

First of all let's get this clear, by no means does a round face mean a fat face. It's just equal in length and width with fuller cheeks and a softer curved jawline. What we want to achieve with a round face is some angularity so stay away from round glasses and go for something more square, angular and strong. Plastic frames in strong dark colours such as blacks and tortoiseshells will draw attention to the natural lines of your face. Thinner metal frames with a prominent bridge will distract people away from those fuller cheeks and help them focus on your eyes.

Heart Faces

Heart-shaped faces are wider at the top of the face than the bottom and the cheeks contour down towards the chin. As the facial proportions are less balanced oval and square frames with curved edges suit best. This gives the narrower jaw a more proportioned look. Thin light metal frames or crystal plastic can draw focus towards the eyes and away from the prominent chin.

So Face Shape sorted, it's time to think about skin tones and hair colours. Even with the right shape, the wrong colour could send things woefully wrong. 

Skin Tones

So first of all you need to know your own skin tone. We want to make sure you choose a colour complementary to your nature tone. Skin tones can be split into two categories ; Warm and Cool.

Warmer skin tones tend to have yellow or green undertones to their skin whilst cooler skin tones have more of a blue or pink undertone. You may find you fall into both categories and then you can base the colour on your eye and hair colouring. To check your skin tone look at the veins on your wrist. If the veins appear green it suggests a warmer skin tone, more blue a cooler skin tone. 

Fair Skin

People with a fair complexion and a warm undertone tend to suit warm neutral colours such as tortoiseshell or brown. If you fancy a more saturated shade you could try something more bold, like red or purple and darker colours can work well providing a contrast against the fair base. Stay away from blues or lighter colours as they can make you look flat and muted. 

If you have fair skin with a cool undertone, cooler shades and neutrals work great for you. Blues, pinks, lighter neutrals such as a cool beige can work really well along with jewel tones. Keep away from colours with yellow tones, such as gold or green.

Medium Skin

Medium complexion and a warm undertone, neutrals and earthy colours are going to work great for you. Tortoiseshells, warm browns work great along with green and gold, rich nice earthy colours. Stay away from jewel tones. 

If you have medium skin with a cool undertone, or olive skin then jewel tones are for you. Purples, blues and blue-tone reds work incredibly well. Wanting something more understated, then head towards black or dark grey. Keep away from insipid warm hues that blend too much with your skin tone.  

Dark Skin

Dark skin colours with a warm undertone are rich and are best complemented with warm colours. Tortoiseshell, gold and deep brown work well, along with gold tone greens and reds. 

Dark skin with a cool undertone work best with deep shades. Purple and black work really well along with blue-based greens and smoky blues. Off white can also make a striking look for this skin tone. 

Remember this is but a guide. It's worth considering your personality, style and overall look in conjunction with the above hints and tips. 

Hair - Style & Colour

When it comes to hair, there are so many variations in colour and style. Be it long, short, tied back or curly and loose, it can impact on the way a frame looks. Try to consider how you wear your hair daily and take this into account when looking at styles.   

Brunette

Tortoiseshell looks great on brunettes, choose a depth of colour to complement your hair, light brown, choose a lighter tortoiseshell. The darker the brunette, the more you should avoid pastel colours. Earthy tones really work well for darker brunettes, with reds, greens and golds as do metal frames in silver gold or bronze. 

Red/Orange

Autumnal shades always look great with red hair, coppers, golds, reddish browns, tortoiseshell and of course green. Cooler tones of red hair will work well with blues, greens and black. Stay away from yellows and whites. 

Blonde

Are you a warm blonde or a cool blonde? Warm will have honey and bronze tones running through the hair. They suit light tortoiseshell and warmer neutral shades like amber, peach, pinks and reds. Darker greens and gold metals can also work well.

If you are a blonde with cool undertones your hair will be platinum or have an ashy finish. You can carry something a little bolder like dark tortoiseshell, greys, purple, blues and even pastel pinks. These will create a stylish look without being overbearing. Avoid anything too dark and heavy so as not to look washed out.

Grey

Rich, deep shades will add warmth; for example, red, tortoise shell and navy. Metal styles work well as do monochrome frames. Short hair can really create a striking look with bold frames, but be sure to keep away from yellow, gold, beige or brown tones that can have an insipid and flat effect.

Something more colourful?

With hair colours becoming more daring and different we need to think outside of the box. Those with pink hues look fabulous with transparent frames, but consider your skin tone, be careful not to look washed out. Greens, teals and aqua colours can also compliment pink hair. If you have blue or teal hair  go for plum or pink hues to contrast.