Khelan Style: I Only Have (Four) Eyes for You

From Khelan Bhatia. Got some style questions or comments for Khelan? Send him an email or catch him on Twitter. Khelan lives in the U Street area and recently started writing about style for Borderstan.

Welcome back, Borderstanis. Today, I’m going to focus on one of the most important fashion accessories for those with 20/20 vision and those who can’t tell the difference between Lacoste’s Alligator and Burberry’s Equestrian Knight without corrective lenses. Of course, I’m referring to eyewear.

Even if you don’t need to correct your eyesight, the right pair of glasses can help frame your face and add an extra oomph to your outfit. The wrong pair, however, can distort your features and ruin your otherwise impeccable look.

For those who are budget-conscious (and frankly, who isn’t these days), I highly, highly recommend checking out Warby Parker. You can get a stylish pair of glasses for under $100 (frames and lenses). They’ll even send you five pairs of frames to try out at home at no cost.

If you’ve seen the movie A Single Man by fashion-designer Tom Ford, then you probably remember the vintage frames sported by Colin Firth. After the film came out, it seemed to me that every guy was wearing those glasses, or a pair inspired by them. On some, they looked fabulous. On others, well… let’s just say, they could have picked out something more flattering. (I can attest to this, ’cause I tried on those Colin Firth-esque frames the day after I saw the movie, and quickly realized I couldn’t pull them off).

And that’s the key ingredient of style. Fashion should inspire you, but it shouldn’t dictate your overall look. Just because something looks good on an actor or a model, doesn’t mean it’ll work with your face or figure (they’re models, everything looks good on them).

So let’s help you find the right pair of glasses, shall we? But before we start, take a good look in mirror and figure out what shape your face is: square, heart-shaped, round or oval.

The Square Face

Since I have a square face, let’s start with that shape. Since squares have strong and defined angles in their cheeks, jaw lines and foreheads, a slightly rounded or oval-shaped frame should do the trick. Check out these rounded frames from Phillip Lim and Oliver Peoples.

The Heart-Shaped Face

Heart-shaped faces may be the toughest to fit because of narrower jaw/chin and a broader forehead. If you have this type of face, you ought to go for frames that help narrow your face. I dig these rimless frames from Tag Heuer or this retro pair from Christian Lacroix.

The Round Face

Those with rounds faces should stick to frames with sharp angles, like a rectangle or other geometric-shapes to add contrast. These frames from Lafont Issy work really well for those with softer features.

The Oval Face

If you’ve got an oval shaped face, here’s the good news: your face is the equivalent of a 6’2″, 160 lbs lean build. Meaning, just about anything (or in this case, any frame) will look good on you. Lucky bastard.

It’s important to remember that that style is an inexact science; the frames featured in this column may or may not work with your individual face. When I’m hunting for frames, I try to take a friend or two for their opinions. Now that I think about it, I may have spent more time hunting for frames than I did looking for a condo.

Until next time.

For the Square Face

Square by Khelan featuring metal sunglasses

• 3.1 Phillip Lim/Parker Eyeglasses, $250, lagarconne.com
• Oliver Peoples Eyeglasses, Designer, $315, contactsandspecs.com

 

For the Heart-Shaped Face

Heart-Shaped by Khelan featuring glass shades and oval sunglasses

• Retrosun Vintage Christian Lacroix optical glasses, $300 – net-a-porter.com
• Tag Heuer Eyewear Trends 8103, $340 – contactsandspecs.com

Round Face by Khelan featuring glass shades

• Lafont Issy & La Eyewear Triomphe, $216 – contactsandspecs.com
• Sunglasses, Lafont Issy & La Eyewear Vanille, $219 – contactsandspecs.com