How To Look Good With Glasses: 10 Ways To Style

It wasn’t always the case, but these days, wearing specs can be as trendy as you please.

Eyeglasses can enhance your look and act as an accessory that showcases both your personality and your fashion sense — if you choose the right glasses for you and style them well. Which raises the question of how to look good with glasses.

Let’s explore what you can do to make sure both you and your eyeglasses look stylish, rather than nerdy — unless, of course, that’s the look you’re going for (nerdy can look fabulous). How to look good with glasses starts with finding the right frames for your facial features, and then styling around those so you look your absolute best.

How to Look Good Wearing Glasses: 10 Style Tips

If you can think of your pair of glasses as an accessory to play with like your favorite necklace or scarf, rather than something annoying you have to wear, you’ll be off to a good start. As any good stylist will tell you, your face is a canvas, and you get to create the artwork you choose on it every day.

Let’s start with the basics of how to look good with glasses.

1. Select the Right Frame for Your Face Shape

When you choose your glasses frame shape, your goal is to complement your face shape rather than match it. The style of glasses makes all the difference.

For example:

• For a round face or oval face, square frames or rectangular frames can add structure and balance.
• If you have a heart-shaped face or a square face shape, add some softness with round frames or oval frames.
• If your face tends towards a diamond shape, try cat-eye frames to add width across your narrow forehead and draw attention to your eyes and cheekbones.

It’s also important to choose the right size frame. Too small and they’ll look pinched and feel tight on your face, and too large, they may swamp your features. To get this right, check the size guide of the retailer you’re buying from.

2. Choose Flattering Frame Colors

Choosing the correct frame colors is another important aspect of how to look good with glasses. The right frame colors flatter your skin tone, hair, and eye color.

For example, cool skin tones often work best with blue, silver, gray, dark tortoise, shades of pink or purple, or black frames. On the other hand, warm skin tones are flattered by slightly more neutral colors like brown, beige, gold, olive green, or light tortoise eyeglass frames.

When it comes to eye color, you can choose to match or complement it. For example, blue eyes can look great with blue or gray frames, while purple or gold frames can work well for green eyes. If you’re not sure but want to be a bit more adventurous than clear glasses, tortoiseshell is a very versatile color that almost everyone can wear.

The frame color of your perfect pair can also be an expression of your personality and unique style. If you’re extroverted, you might be perfectly comfortable drawing attention to yourself with bright colors and adventurous designs. A more introverted person might prefer more subtle colors that allow their inner light to shine.

3. Wield That Makeup Brush

Bear in mind that whatever lies behind your glasses is magnified through the lenses. That includes blemishes you’d rather not highlight or dark circles under your eyes after a few late nights. Starting your day with tired eyes is not how to look good with glasses. For people who wear glasses, even if you use no other makeup, applying a little concealer can go a long way to helping your eyes shine.

Beyond that, if you’re not someone who wears much makeup, a simple swipe of lipstick or lip gloss might be all you need. If your frames are fairly neutral but you do like a little color, go with a bold lip shade like deep pink or red. If your frames are a bright color though, be careful your lip color doesn’t compete for attention. Sometimes a more muted or even neutral color on your lips can let your eyes and frames shine.

For eyeliner, go with a color like gray, brown, or navy, rather than black, which can look harsh behind glasses. Line your eyes lightly rather than laying it on thick — remember the magnifying effect of those lenses.

Keep your eye shadow fairly neutral to highlight both your eyes and glasses or pick a complementary color to make your eyes look extra bright. And bear in mind that very dramatic eye make-up can make the wearer’s eyes look smaller, especially behind glasses.

Curl your lashes up and away from the frames to avoid smearing your glasses with mascara (and annoying yourself every time you blink). And lastly, put your blush on after your glasses to make sure it’s not covered by your frames.

Helpful tip: If you can’t see much without your glasses, use a magnifying mirror to put your makeup on.

4. Experiment With Your Hair

It’s a good idea to take your glasses to the hairdresser with you to make sure the hairstyle you’re planning to get works with your glasses.

Aim to balance the size of your hair with the size of your frames so everything looks in proportion. So if you have fairly big hair, you can get away with bigger frames, whereas a shorter style — especially a blunt cut — can look better with smaller frames.

5. Minimize Other Accessories

With how to look good with glasses top of mind, don’t make your jewelry and your glasses compete for attention. Keep earrings and accessories like decorative hair clips on the smaller and more delicate side, and make sure their color compliments your glasses.

The same goes for other accessories like hats — unless you want to hide your features completely.

6. Keep Your Glasses Clean

This might seem like a strange style tip, but a dirty pair of glasses can detract hugely from your overall look. It’s also more difficult to see clearly through all those smears.

Invest in a cleaning kit — or even just a microfiber cloth — and learn how to clean your glasses correctly so they do their twin jobs of helping you see and making you look good. For example, microfiber is a synthetic material that is durable, reusable, and attracts dirt and grease. That means you can use it to clean your glasses without having to worry about a cleaning liquid.

7. Try On Glasses Before You Buy Them

Finding the best glasses for you is a little bit like picking out a wedding or prom dress — you need to see what’s out there and compare how you feel in different frames to know when you’re ready to say yes.

When you’re ready to try on frames, prep your face how you normally would in day-to-day life (makeup, shaving, etc.). Bring along a hair clip or tie you use to put your hair up and style your hair as usual. Doing so will ensure you get the most accurate sense of what the frames look like based on your go-to style.

It can also be helpful to bring along a trusted friend or family member to get an honest outside opinion. That said, don’t forget that your glasses should be a reflection of your personal style — at the end of the day, you’re the ultimate expert.

At Pair, we make it easier than ever to try on countless frames with our virtual try-on feature. Mix and match different styles, all from the comfort of your own home!

8. Look for Inspo From Celebs

If you turn to celebrities for inspiration when trying a new haircut or putting together a formal look, it only makes sense to look to your style icons when it’s time to find your next pair of glasses.

For example, few musicians have made glasses a staple of their look quite like John Lennon. In fact, when most people hear his name, they instinctively think of his classic circle frames.

Another musician you can look to for a wide variety of styles is Elton John. Known for having an impressive frame collection, John can be your go-to reference if you’re trying to figure out your personal look.

In terms of women’s frames, supermodel Bella Hadid has given the Bayonetta frame, a staple of ‘90s fashion, the comeback it deserves. This small, rectangular shape is on trend now thanks to Hadid and other celebrities like musician Billie Eilish, who wear them everywhere.

For fans of the classic aviator frame, you can consider a few different celebs for reference. Men like designer Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Jackson, and Tom Cruise have made this frame style a classic in the cool guy closet. Recently, even Jennifer Aniston has been rocking aviators.

9. Don’t Stop Your Search at the Optician's Office

Many opticians sell frames at their offices, so it can be tempting to stop your search right then and there. Although trying on a few frames in person might be useful, don’t limit your search to just what’s available in the office. In fact, there’s a whole world of stylish frames waiting for you, like here at Pair.

It’s also important to remember that shopping at your optician's office is usually a more costly option. If you expand your search to online retailers, you can find high-quality, durable frames for a fraction of the price. Online platforms like Pair also tend to have a wider selection to choose from, ensuring you’re able to find the perfect frame for your face shape.

10. Get a Pair With Snap-On Top Frames

Wouldn’t you love to be able to choose a different look for your glasses every day, depending on your mood, your outfit, and the occasion?

If that sounds like a pipe dream, it doesn’t have to. Sure, high-quality eyewear can be expensive, but there are ways around that.

Take Pair Eyewear for example. You only need one pair of Base Frames — which contain your prescription if you need one — then you can mix and match your Top Frames to your heart’s content. Pick a professional look one day and a fun and flirty vibe the next. Or even switch between the two as you go from day to night. With our huge collection of Top Frames, there’s something for every personality and every occasion.

How to Look Good with Glasses? It’s Easy if You Know How

To look your best in glasses, start by choosing the best frame shape for your face and colors that flatter your features. Then go ahead and style them further with the right makeup, hair style, and other accessories to pull the whole package together.

Get creative with your look by shopping with Pair Eyewear for your Base Frame and Top Frames that will take you anywhere. Most importantly, choose eyewear that reflects who you are and makes you feel confident and fabulous. We can all do with more of that.