You try on twenty pairs, none of them feel quite right, and you leave with something you have already decided is fine rather than good. Choosing glasses for your face shape is the quickest way out of that, and it rests on one idea: contrast. Below you will find how to work out your own shape, the frames that tend to suit each one, and the three things that matter just as much as shape once you are standing in front of the mirror.
Start with contrast, then feel free to break the rule
The fastest way to narrow down a wall of frames is to look for shapes that contrast with your own. A round face gains definition from something angular. A square jaw softens behind a rounder or oval frame. A long face looks more balanced behind a deeper frame that adds width rather than length.
That is a starting point though, not a law. Plenty of people wear something that should not work on paper and look brilliant in it, because personality and colouring pull just as hard as geometry. The rule is there to get you from fifty possibilities down to five, and after that it is about what you actually enjoy seeing in the mirror.
It also helps to have someone honest in the room with you. If price is your main concern, a chain will usually beat us on the frame, and that is a perfectly fair choice to make. What you trade away is time and continuity: a longer appointment, someone who remembers your face and your prescription next year, and a range of glasses and frames that was chosen frame by frame rather than ordered in bulk for every branch in the country. You will wear these more often than anything else you own, so it is worth knowing which of those two things you are actually buying.
How to work out your face shape
Stand in front of a mirror in good light and pull your hair back so you can see your whole face. You are looking for two things: which part of your face is widest, and whether your face is longer than it is wide.
- Widest at the cheekbones, with a soft chin and a similar length and width, and you are likely round.
- Longer than it is wide with balanced proportions, and you are likely oval.
- Strong jaw, wide forehead and a similar length and width, and you are likely square.
- Wide forehead narrowing to a pointed chin, and you are likely heart shaped.
- Narrow forehead and jaw with prominent cheekbones, and you are likely diamond.
- Noticeably longer than it is wide with a straight cheek line, and you are likely long or rectangular.
Most people land between two shapes rather than squarely in one, and that is completely normal. If you cannot decide, take a photo straight on with your hair back and look at the outline rather than the features.
Matt recommends trying on the one frame you are certain is wrong for you, early in the appointment. People arrive with a shape in mind from a website and walk out with something they would never have picked up. It costs you ten seconds to find out.
The main face shapes and the frames that suit them
Round faces
Angular frames work best. Rectangular shapes, browline styles and anything with a clear horizontal top line adds definition and makes your face read as slightly longer. Keep away from small round frames, which tend to echo the shape rather than balance it, and look for a frame that is as wide as the broadest part of your face so your proportions stay even.
Oval faces
Almost anything suits you, so let your style decide rather than the geometry. Oversized frames, aviators, round shapes and sharp rectangles all sit comfortably on an oval face. The only real risk is size. Go too big and the frame overwhelms your features, go too small and your face looks larger by comparison.
Square faces
Round and oval frames soften strong angles beautifully, and cat eye shapes do the same job with more character. The contrast between a curved frame and an angular face is what creates the balance. Heavy, sharply squared frames tend to make the jaw look wider, and very thin wire frames often disappear against strong features rather than balancing them.
Heart shaped faces
Frames that carry a little more weight at the bottom balance a wider forehead against a narrower chin. Rimless and semi rimless styles work particularly well because they add nothing to the top of your face. Avoid heavily decorated brow lines and very narrow frames, which draw attention to the point of the chin.
Diamond faces
Cat eye and oval shapes flatter prominent cheekbones, and detail along the brow line brings attention up to your eyes. Rimless styles are a good option too, because they let your bone structure do the work. Narrow frames are the main thing to avoid, as they make the cheekbones look wider by comparison.
Long or rectangular faces
Depth is your friend. A frame with more distance from top to bottom breaks up the length of your face and makes it look more balanced. Bold colours, interesting temple detail and larger shapes all draw the eye horizontally. Small, shallow frames tend to get lost and make a long face look longer.
Fit matters more than shape
A frame in exactly the right shape will still let you down if it does not fit. This is the part most people skip and the part that decides whether the glasses live on your face or in a drawer.
The front of the frame should sit level and reach roughly to the edge of your face without gripping your temples. The bridge should rest on your nose without pinching or sliding, because if you are pushing your glasses back up all day the bridge is wrong rather than your face. The arms should follow the shape of your head and sit gently behind your ears with no pressure point. Get those three right and you stop noticing you are wearing glasses at all.
It is worth knowing who is doing that fitting. Anyone dispensing your glasses in the UK should be registered, and you can check the public register held by the General Optical Council in about a minute if you ever want to.
Your colouring changes what works
Shape gets you to the right frame. Colour is what makes it look like it belongs to you. The simplest way in is to work out whether your skin has warm or cool undertones, which you can usually tell from the veins on the inside of your wrist. Green suggests warm, blue or purple suggests cool, and if you cannot tell then you are somewhere in the middle and most colours will behave.
Warm undertones tend to sit well with gold, honey, olive, warm tortoiseshell and softer browns. Cool undertones are flattered by silver, black, grey, blue, plum and cooler tortoiseshell. It is also worth glancing at your wardrobe before you commit. A striking coral frame is a lovely thing, but slightly less lovely if everything you own is navy.
Matt recommends taking a photo on your phone of every frame you like as you go. By the fifth pair your memory of the second one has gone, and a camera shows you your face the way other people see it rather than the way a mirror does.
Your prescription quietly narrows the choice
The stronger your prescription, the more the frame and the lens have to work together. Larger frames mean more lens, which means more thickness and weight at the edges, so a slightly smaller shape often looks and feels considerably better. Deeper frames matter in the other direction if you wear varifocals, because the lens needs enough depth to carry the distance, intermediate and reading zones comfortably.
This is exactly why the frame conversation works better straight after your eyes have been tested rather than weeks later. A 40 minute eye examination gives us time to talk about how you actually use your eyes, at a desk, behind the wheel or out on the golf course, and that changes which frames are genuinely worth trying. The College of Optometrists explains what a full eye examination involves if you would like to know what to expect.
Matt recommends telling us your prescription before you start browsing rather than after. It is far kinder to know at the start which frames will suit the lenses than to find out once you have already fallen for something.
The frames themselves, and why the maker matters
Our frames are chosen by hand at international trade shows rather than ordered in bulk for a chain, which means the collection you try on in Harborne is not the one you will find on every high street. It also means there is usually a specific answer for a specific face rather than a wall of near identical shapes.
If you need clean angles to add definition, Ørgreen, Götti Switzerland and ProDesign Denmark all do precise, considered shapes in lightweight metal and acetate. If the job is to soften a strong jaw, the sculptural curves of FACE à FACE, the character of Theo and the vintage feel of Kaleos are good places to start.
If comfort is the priority, Lindberg builds screwless titanium frames that weigh almost nothing, and MYKITA offers the same lightness with a bolder look. YOU MAWO takes it further again by 3D printing frames to your own measurements, which is worth knowing about if nothing off the shelf has ever quite sat right. For something warmer, FEB31st makes wooden frames that feel completely different in the hand.
The same thinking applies to sunglasses. Most of our frames can be glazed with prescription tinted lenses, and there is a full sunglasses range alongside them, from the classic silhouettes of Ray-Ban to the polarised lenses Maui Jim built its name on. If you are choosing a pair for the summer, it is worth reading our guide to sunglasses with proper UV protection before you buy on looks alone.
What actually happens when you come in
You will not be handed a tray and left to it. We start with what you need the glasses to do, look at what you are wearing now and what does or does not work about it, and then bring you a small handful of frames rather than turning you loose on the whole wall. It is a far shorter process once someone has already ruled out the shapes that were never going to suit you.
Once you have chosen, we take the measurements the lenses need, fit the frame properly and adjust it again when you collect. Bring them back every six months and we will service and refit them at no charge, because a frame that has quietly bent out of shape stops putting the lenses where your eyes are. There is a 60 day guarantee on eyewear too, and the terms sit on our offers page. You can also read what our customers say about the fitting process.
Frequently asked questions
What if my face does not fit neatly into one shape?
Most do not, and it makes very little difference. Work out which two shapes you sit between and try frames from both, because the guidance overlaps far more than the neat diagrams online suggest. What the mirror tells you matters more than the label.
Should my glasses be wider than my face?
They should be about as wide as the widest part of your face, or very slightly wider, rather than noticeably beyond it. If the arms have to splay outwards to reach your ears, the frame is too narrow and it will feel tight by the end of the day.
Do I need to know my face shape before I visit?
Not at all. It is useful if you enjoy that sort of thing, but working out your face shape is part of what a good dispenser does the moment you sit down. You are welcome to arrive knowing nothing more than that your current glasses are not quite right.
Can I use the same frame for my glasses and my prescription sunglasses?
Often yes, although not every frame takes a tinted lens equally well and very light or rimless designs sometimes need a different approach. Bring it up while you are choosing rather than afterwards and we will tell you what will and will not work.
How often should I have my glasses looked at?
Have the fit checked every six months even if your prescription has not changed, and have your eyes examined as often as your optometrist recommends, which for most adults is every two years. Frames loosen gradually enough that you stop noticing.
Come and try a few on
Reading about face shapes will only get you so far. The quickest route to frames you actually like is half an hour in front of a mirror with someone who will be honest with you, and you can have a look at the glasses and frames we stock before you come in. Book an appointment online or call the practice on 0121 427 1007, and we will take it from there.
If you would rather ask something first, there is no obligation at all. Get in touch or message us on WhatsApp on 07376 400363 and we will happily talk it through before you commit to anything.
