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EveryFaceShape

Eyewear frames

Aviators, wayfarers, cat-eye, round and browline frames, and the monocle. 29 face guides on EveryFaceShape so far.

Eyewear frames are among the few things worn on the face every day by hundreds of millions of people. Shapes include round, oval, rectangular, cat-eye, aviator, wayfarer and browline, in metal, acetate or with no rim at all, and older forms such as the monocle, the pince-nez and the lorgnette. Frames are made in clusters of towns: Belluno, Sabae, the Jura, Rathenow and China's eyewear cities.

Fitting a frame

Three numbers printed inside a temple arm, such as 52-18-140, give the lens width, the bridge width and the temple length in millimetres. A frame should be about as wide as the face at the temples, rest on the nose bridge without slipping, and sit with the eyes near the centre of the lenses. Opticians suggest shapes that balance a face, but comfort and taste come first.

Frames through time

Spectacles were first made in Italy around 1290. The pince-nez and monocle were nineteenth-century fashions. Harold Lloyd made horn-rims famous in the 1920s; Bausch and Lomb sold the aviator as Ray-Ban from 1937 and launched the Wayfarer in 1952. Cat-eye and browline frames ruled the 1950s, and round wire frames returned with John Lennon in the late 1960s.

Famous frame face guides

Aviator sunglassesTeardrop lenses, first made for pilotsWayfarerTrapezoid plastic frame of 1952Cat eye glassesUpswept outer cornersBrowline glassesA heavy upper rimRimless eyeglassesLenses with no frame frontHorn-rimmed glassesThick frames once made of hornPince-nezClipped to the nose, no armsMonocleA single lens held by the brow

Further reading

SuitsOval facesRound facesSquare facesHeart-shaped facesDiamond facesOblong facesTriangle facesMost faces
OriginInherited featuresGrown and groomedWornAppliedMarkedChanges with age
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest first
🇬🇧 United KingdomSnooker glasses Corrective eyewear designed for cue sports to maintain optical alignment while bending.Frame · Most faces · 1938 🇺🇸 United StatesAviator sunglasses Teardrop-lensed eyewear designed for pilots and adapted for fashion.Frame · Most faces · 1937 🇺🇸 United StatesMirrored sunglasses Sunglasses with a reflective outer coating that reduces glare and light transmission.Frame · Most faces 🇺🇸 United StatesGI glasses Government-issued eyewear for US military recruits, known by dysphemisms like BCGs.Frame · Most faces WorldGoggles Protective eyewear that encloses the eye area to block debris, water, or chemicals.Frame · Most faces WorldShooting glasses specialized corrective eyewear for sport shooting competitionsFrame · Most faces WorldInuit snow goggles Traditional Arctic eyewear with narrow slits to prevent snow blindnessFrame · Most faces 🇺🇸 United StatesBrowline glasses Eyeglass frames with a bold upper rim resembling eyebrows.Frame · Most faces · 1947 WorldHorn-rimmed glasses Thick-framed eyewear imitating horn or tortoiseshell.Frame · Most faces · 1917 🇦🇹 Austria and 2 moreRimless eyeglasses Eyewear where lenses attach directly to the bridge and temples without a surrounding frame.Frame · Most faces 🇫🇷 France and 1 morePince-nez Eyeglasses that clip onto the nose bridge without earpieces, popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centurieFrame · Most faces · 1840 WorldCat eye glasses Eyewear with an upsweep at the outer corners of the frame.Frame · Most faces · 1931 WorldGlasses Vision eyewear with lenses in a frame for correction, protection, or fashion.Frame · Most faces 🇩🇪 Germany and 2 morePanto glasses Rounded-oval frames with a flat top edge.Frame · Most faces · 1932 WorldBug-eye glasses Large-lensed eyewear from the late twentieth centuryFrame · Most faces · 1975 🇬🇧 United KingdomWindsor glasses Round metal frames with a saddle bridge.Frame · Most faces · 1840 Shutter Shades WorldShutter Shades Sunglasses with horizontal slats instead of lensesFrame · Most faces · 1950 🇩🇪 GermanyMonocle A single corrective lens held in the eye socket by one eye.Frame · Most faces · 1830 Wraparound sunglasses WorldWraparound sunglasses Curved frames that wrap around the face for full coverage.Frame · Most faces Round glasses WorldRound glasses Circular eyewear frames that soften angular facial features.Frame · Square faces

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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