Many trends come and go, but round frames have been around (pardon the pun) for what seems like forever. They remain a staple in eyewear.

Cemented in Pop Culture by both fictional characters, such as Harry Potter, and real-life legends, such as John Lennon, round frames could never go out of style. They work both as an optical frame and sunglasses. While the opticals are usually quite modest in size, the sunglass designs tend to follow the ever-popular oversized trend or favour the itty-bitty-mini trend.

Gender

Because of their classic shape, round frames are genuinely unisex (this is this humble opinion of a woman who often shops menswear). The most important thing to consider with round frames is the fit. Too small, and you can give off primary school vibes, too big and before you know it, your glasses are wearing you. What is too big for one person may be perfect for you, so trying on frames (or paying attention to their measurements) is always your best bet.

Face shape

A popular belief is that those with round faces should stay away from round frames. I agree (for the most part). If your face is round, it’s best to stay away from extremely round frames because round and round is a whole lotta round. However, you may consider a soft round pair. These are still round but not perfectly circular. They slope slightly and are, in my opinion, more forgiving than traditional round frames (see Tom Ford frame below).

For those with square or oval face shapes, round frames are usually complimentary (but remember that the size of the frame matters!).

For those of you who are considering round optical frames as your every day pair but are tentative or doubtful of how they will look, I recommend trying a pair of round sunglasses to begin with. This will give you a good idea of how you feel about the style on you initially without you having to commit to full time wear.

Price points

As you can imagine, round frames are extremely popular. For this reason, you can find them at both high, medium and low price points all with various degrees of quality. Here are three round frames I’ve found that differ in both style and price point.

See more of my round frame collection in this short video;