Come with me as we delve deeper in to the world of sunnies…
How To Wear Sunglasses
Don’t you love sunglasses, or more accurately, don’t you love how effortlessly sunglasses cover a multitude of sins. Big night out last night? Grab a pair of sunnies. Child kept you up all night? Grab a pair of sunnies. Want to add edge to a rubbish outfit, grab a pair of sunnies!!!
Sunglasses are like the superhero of accessories!!
My prerequisite to purchasing is that spectacles pass the ‘hair test’, if they don’t double as a head band, then they’re not coming home with me!
Personal Stylist Advice
Don’t you find that one of the most difficult aspects of buying sunglasses is that the tinted lens means you can’t see what you actually look like!
My personal stylist advice? Take photos of you wearing them for a few different angles and send them to a couple of friends to help decide.
Ultimately they have to feel comfortable on your face. I’m a professional personal shopper and even I struggle!!
Personal Shopper Tips
Here’s my run down on how to buy your perfect sunglasses:
Colour
The shade of your sunnies are KEY!!!!
As a colour consultant, we chat about sunglasses and reading glasses during our session which is REALLY helpful as we all wear some kind of glasses on our face. Do you struggle with why heavy black sunglasses don’t suit you? It’s probably because, like many of us, you don’t suit black so it’s important to find out what shades DO suit you, particularly as buying glasses can be quite an expensive investment for some people.
I love seeing those glasses wearers that rock a pop coloured frame and it’s generally because they’ve undergone a color consult and have the confidence to know what tones flatter. I can do this for you!
Size
As with hats, you want to keep the scale of this accessory in keeping with your body type, unless you go for a statement pair which I categorise as a ‘fashion look’ rater than a ‘flattering look’, read below:
- Petite, slim body shape or delicate facial features = finer frames such as metal in small sizes with lighter lenses
- Fuller, taller physique = heavier, wider or darker frames with deeper lens shades even some decorative feature on the side to make more of a statement
Width-wise, reading spectacles ideally would be the same width as your face, the narrower set they are, the nerdier you’ll look, but with sunglasses they can be a little wider set and the bigger they are, the more Hollywood film star you’ll look!
Fashion Trends
For about a decade or two thanks to fashion stylist Rachel Zoe, the fashion trend has been towards oversize sunnies as the thinking was, they made your face look smaller and slimmer – remember Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie pre her style makeover? This is still a key look and statement sunnies do offer instant glamour, great for new mums who have approximately 1.5 minutes to get changed and out the door!
However nowadays there is a newer trend towards a smaller, more retro French girl style, and who doesn’t want to look like a trés chic French girl?
Fashion Style
In the same way that you want to choose a hat that represents your personal fashion style, glasses should too. If your style is:
- CLASSIC = opt for a timeless style such as aviator or rectangular
- EDGY = try the straight-top statement style or retro cat eye?
What Sunglasses Suit My Face Shape?
As with hat guides, there’s several, ok hundreds of different guides to help you choose a style of glasses based on your face shape and a lot of them say slightly different things or can get a bit scientific, so let me break it down for you, if you have a:
- ROUND face shape = you suit glasses that are squarer
- SQUARE face shape = you suit glasses that are rounder
This is because you want your sunglasses to create the opposite effect of your face shape
- OVAL face shape = lucky you! Pretty much all shapes will flatter
- HEART / OBLONG / DIAMOND = styles that echo your natural face shape suit you best
This guide from TravelModa.com I found on Pinterest is pretty good:
Or this one from GlassesUSA who offer further explanation by clicking on this link
Cat eye sunglasses that emphasise the angle of our cheek bones whilst offering a combination of round AND straight lines, generally suit most face shapes so this is a safe style to choose if you’re unsure. Just play with the scale and shade to best suit your features and personal style
Unflattering Fashion Style
Ok, so this combination of hat & sunnies is an example of wearing unflattering styles for her face shape which is square.
GLASSES = too wide and rectangular, they should have some roundness to them.
HAT = too small and triangular for her square face
How To Match Hats WITH Sunglasses
Now, we’ve nailed the perfect hat styles from part 1 and now you know your ideal sunglasses, what about wearing them together?
Try to echo the essence of the hat in the sunglasses, so if you’re rocking a baseball hat, avoid 70’s Woodstock sunnies !
Take Bella Hadid here, for a supermodel she isn’t selling this ‘off duty model’ look to me as it’s too much of a mish mash of fashion styles. [ps: isn’t it reassuring that even a super model can look pretty ‘average’ sometimes?]
Remember, in practical terms, the bigger and wider the sunglasses, the harder it is to actually wear a hat with them!
Here’s an example where the glasses are SO BIG that they can’t wear the hat properly on their head, it tilts right back and could easily fall off if she look up, so if this isn’t the look your after, consider this. I have a similar pair and get very annoyed they don’t pair with any of my hats!
Never get it wrong again!
How To Accessorize Outfits WITH Hats & Sunglasses
Now let’s consider your clothes style, how do we combine these accessories WITH your clothes?
Good Fashion Style
Below are some examples from Pinterest of when all elements are working together, good combinations of hat, sunnies AND clothing. These people have committed to the ‘look’, even the example without sunglasses shows how her jewellery compliments the feel of the hat, creating a strong look with a strong sense of identity.
70’s Boho 
French Girl Chic 
Rock & Roll 
Ethnic 
Classic 
Ladylike
Personal Shopper Secrets
I’ll let you in to a personal shopper secret I tell clients when I plan their wardrobes, I suggest buying 2 (or even 3 depending on your needs) of the above types of ‘sunglasses & hat sets’ that work together and more importantly, represent your personal style so you always have a ‘set’ on hand for wherever you’re going.
Which personality style/s are you?
Need help with discovering the answer? Then contact me today
Wardrobe Planner
The sunglasses you purchase may be the same style you wear all year round, but you wear them with your straw hat for summer, then swap the hat for a felt or leather version for winter and voilà, you’ve updated your look with only 1 purchase, not 2.
Not everything needs to be new just because we enter a new season.
Now, I’ve found this rather fabulous instastar Rita Tesla I want to introduce you to…
I’m not saying I LOVE her personal fashion style, but what I do love is how she has hat & sunglass ‘sets’ that compliment each other in terms of style and colour – AND compliment her outfit!!
I’m not suggesting you need this many, she clearly gets product ‘donated’ to her (lucky girl) but take a few cues from how she combines her accessories WITH her clothes. It’s pretty good without being too ‘matchy-matchy’ (and I can’t say that phrase without having James Corden in my ear from Peter Rabbit – have you seen it? ….sorry, I’m digressing).
Rita is Russian, hence the cold weather styling, but she really nails different combos and is awesome inspiration for accessories, some of which is actually quite trans-seasonal!
Image Consultant Theory
However, as an image consultant I know that you can have all the style theory in the world, buy YOU have to LIKE what YOU look and feel like in these accessories, so my professional stylist advice is:
GO TO A SPECIALIST SHOP AND TRY SOME ON !
Get a feel for them, explore, take some photos. Hats and glasses are like personal shopping with a capital P & S!
STYLE TIP – experiment with lower priced pieces and the items you wear on rotation, buy better quality versions when needed.
Brands To Try:
Cheap Thrill
Witchery Q Le Specs Portmans ASOS
Wallet Friendly
Rayban Illesteva Pared Eyewear
Savvy Splurge
If you have a few more minutes, have a look through my Pinterest ACCESSORIES board for lots of style inspiration as well as practical guides to help you find the perfect hat and sunglasses.
….let’s just hope the sun comes back out!
Get in touch today if you want to improve your personal style and learn how to look better, effortlessly x
*All images from Pinterest unless otherwise stated