Worn
Frames, jewellery and other things worn on the face. 68 face guides on EveryFaceShape so far.
Worn features are things put on the face and taken off again: glasses and sunglasses, the monocle and pince-nez, the bindi, the nath and other face jewellery. They are chosen for sight, sun, faith, marriage or style, and many carry strong meanings. Some, like the bindi or the nath, also have permanent counterparts, such as a pierced nostril or a tattooed dot.
Eyewear
Glasses are worn by a large share of the world's people for sight, and sunglasses by many more for glare. Frames are fitted by width, bridge and temple length. Older forms, the monocle, pince-nez and lorgnette, show how much eyewear has been about fashion and status as well as sight. Inuit snow goggles of bone and antler are among the oldest eyewear.
Jewellery and marks
The bindi, once a dot of kumkum, is now usually a stick-on in any colour. The nath and other nose rings are held in a pierced nostril; bridal naths can be large and chained to the hair. Maang tikkas and borlas hang on the forehead from the hair parting. Many pieces are passed down through families as heirlooms.
Famous worn face guides
Further reading
🇦🇹 Austria and 2 moreRimless eyeglasses
Eyewear where lenses attach directly to the bridge and temples without a surrounding frame.Frame · Most faces
🇺🇸 United StatesAviator sunglasses
Teardrop-lensed eyewear designed for pilots and adapted for fashion.Frame · Most faces · 1937
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreBindi
A coloured dot worn on the forehead in South and Southeast Asia.Adornment · Most faces
WorldNose jewellery
Ornaments worn through nostril or septum piercings.Adornment · Most faces
🇺🇸 United StatesMirrored sunglasses
Sunglasses with a reflective outer coating that reduces glare and light transmission.Frame · Most faces
🇮🇱 Israel and 2 morePe'ot
Sideburns left uncut above the cheekbone as required by Jewish law.Beard · 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
🇮🇳 IndiaSehra
A floral or beaded forehead garland for grooms.Adornment · Most faces
🇬🇧 United KingdomWindsor glasses
Round metal frames with a saddle bridge.Frame · Most faces · 1840
WorldBridge piercing
A surface piercing placed on the nasal bridge between the eyes.Adornment · Most faces · 1980
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
🇬🇧 United KingdomSnooker glasses
Corrective eyewear designed for cue sports to maintain optical alignment while bending.Frame · Most faces · 1938
🇫🇷 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
WorldMonroe piercing
Off-centre lip stud mimicking a beauty spotAdornment · Most faces
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
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreThreading
Hair removal using twisted cotton threadAdornment · Most faces
🇲🇽 MexicoDía de los Muertos face paint
Skull-style makeup worn during Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations to honour ancestors.Makeup · Most faces · 1913
WorldWraparound sunglasses
Curved frames that wrap around the face for full coverage.Frame · Most faces
WorldRound glasses
Circular eyewear frames that soften angular facial features.Frame · Square faces
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNath
Traditional nose ornament worn in South Asia and the Middle East.Adornment · Most faces
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sunglasses: Rich Niewiroski Jr., CC BY 2.5, source
- Rimless eyeglasses: Document1, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aviator sunglasses: Paul Evans, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nose jewellery: Etan Doronne @ www.myindiaexperience.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mirrored sunglasses: Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pe'ot: Andrew Dyer, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- GI glasses: Villarte, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Goggles: Joe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shooting glasses: Francis Flinch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pince-nez: Łeba, CC BY 3.0, source
- Cat eye glasses: Smithsonian Institution, No restrictions, source
- Monocle: Sobebunny, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Glasses: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panto glasses: Kelmaa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bug-eye glasses: Nicki Varkevisser, CC BY 2.0, source
- Monroe piercing: Sara Marx, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sehra: SynthContibutor, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Windsor glasses: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bridge piercing: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Inuit snow goggles: McLeod, Public domain, source
- Browline glasses: Piercetheorganist at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Horn-rimmed glasses: User:Robin Clement, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Threading: butterbeeee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Snooker glasses: SMcCandlish, CC BY 3.0, source