We expect a lot from our eyewear. We expect our glasses to fit, flatter and hopefully look cool.
They are the one wardrobe item that you wear everyday, so the impact glasses have on your personal style can be enormous. Then there is the little matter of actually needing glasses to see.
It all adds up to a purchase riddled with potential problems.
There are several big trends related to utility in eyewear right now. The first is rimless frames, which are great because they make your face, rather than the frames, the focus.
Another new option is the three-piece mount, which connects the lens, the endplate and the temple and gives the glasses a more comfortable fit (see frames above right). Titanium is gaining in popularity because it is “crazy lightweight and good for people who feel uncomfortable with the weight of traditional glasses,” says Lisa Wiener, a spokeswoman for the For Eyes chain.
It’s never just about utility, though. Also wildly popular right now are tinted lenses (which look coolest when they match the rims of the glasses), gradient-tinted lenses and rhinestones, for total rock star glamor.
Eyewear companies are doing a great job of taking the trends from fashion and putting them into eyewear. But when you walk into an eyewear store, the options can be overwhelming. And how do you pick a frame that best suits your face?
The standard method is a cross between geometry and the principles of yin and yang. If you have an oval face, you’re in luck because you are evenly balanced and can wear what you want. If you have a round face, you want to cut the roundness with a square shape. If you have a heart-shaped face, you can wear super trendy aviators and rimless styles.
For those who really can’t see themselves clearly without their glasses, For Eyes has a software program called Activisu. It lets you see yourself in the frames you like by taking video and digital images of your face.
You can see what the frames look like from all angles and how they look as you move and gesture. And you can see what the same frames would look like with lots of different options, such as tints and thinner lenses.
Once you’ve gone through all the options, the computer saves your image, profile and prescription.
Be sure to allow yourself some time when choosing your new frames. And try on a couple of pairs that you don’t think you’ll like–you may wind up with something totally different from what you had in mind.
