But I have a round face! The Myth of the Face Shape system

"What face shape do I have?"
"I was reading on line about frame shapes and your face and they said…"  

Enough already!

I have heard this for the last twenty+ years, it always revolves around matching a conceptual idea of a face shape, round square, oval, heart, whatever to a frame shape.  Here’s the problem, spend thirty seconds googling face shapes and you get mixed information.

   Three charts each more confusing than the last.  Diamond shape, oval, long, 5?  What does all this mean?

I don’t know about you but I have never met anyone that fits cleanly into any of these designations.  Better yet, I would argue the problem is that we all have a skewed idea of what we look like.  Personally, I walk around with a mental image of myself looking like Pierce Brosnan ala James Bond/Mama Mia.  The reality is that I don’t look anything like him, unless Pierce gets heavier and bald than maybe I have a shot.  The point here is that we all think we look different than we really do. Something similar to how you hear yourself compared to what you sound like when played back to you.  In the end most people walk in the office stating they have a round face, while in reality they may have a square or oval face, maybe even a heart shaped face.

As an aside, what exactly is a heart shaped face?  Every time I hear it I think of Helena Bonham Carter in Alice in Wonderland.   

I would like to propose an alternative to this that may be easier.

If we simply break a face down, not in terms of shape, but in terms of three basic lines, we can make the eyewear selection process easier. By simply looking at the relations of the brow line, the jaw line and the relation of jaw to cheek, we can isolate the key characteristics of the face and identify quickly what frames we should try on and avoid.  If you’re an optician, this is also a great way to gain rapport with your patients quickly by showing them what you are looking at and how this effects the outcome of their choices.

Let’s look at an easy face to work with first.

And with the Reference line drawn

So, we now have a face with three reference points, the brow, the jaw line and the angle between the jaw and the cheek.  When we start picking out a frame for this person we're going to want a frame that respects these points.  To respect the reference points we want to echo the brow line and compliment the jaw line and angle between Jaw and Cheek.

The idea is to find a piece (or possibly create one) that will follow these simple rules. The result will be a frame that will balance well and compliment with the persons features.  Here’s the fun part, when done well this sytem results in eyewear that people compliment again and again.

For Ms. Jolie, if she were to step into Corner Optical, I would start with a frame like the
 Ronnie by Barton Perreira                                            









 and finish on either the BP Veronica in Heroin Chic
or something more some from Tom Davies with a similar line.

Interestingly a Tom Davies had the opportunity to design a frame for Ms. Jolie.



This basic system works every time.

 Try this face.                                                         
 

With Reference points.

This person has a lower arch to the brow but a steeper angle to the jaw and prominent cheek bones that are echoing the jaw line.  Here you would probably be best served with a soft catish shape on the bottom of the frame and a low or flat arch on the top.  BP Lila Jane comes to mind.

On a male face it’s the same.

 

With lines

Mr. Pitt 

 

 Mr. Pitt with Lines

Mr. Pitt is interesting in that the Jaw and the cheek are inline some of the more recent images show a jaw that is further out than the cheek.

Simply follow the contour of the face will result in better looking frame fits and more complimentary eyewear. This is a simpler stem compared to the older face shape system and is easier for both patients and opticians to work with and understand.