Determining the Correct Width of Eyeglasses

For eyeglass comfort, choose the right width for your face.

Eyeglasses that are either too wide or too narrow are not only uncomfortable to wear, they won’t suit you as well as a pair that is the correct width for your face. When buying eyeglasses at the optician's office it’s a simple matter to choose the correct width as you can spend time trying on various sizes and styles. Online retailers of eyeglasses cannot provide that luxury. In order to determine which size you should order, you need to know how to find the size of glasses you require prior to purchasing.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure

Instructions

1. Determine the ideal size for your head by measuring the width of your face from temple to temple. You can either do this with a tape measure or by measuring the width of an old pair of eyeglasses that fit. This gives you the overall width that you need.

2. Find a pair of glasses online that you like, and then look for the given sizes on the webpage. Eyeglass sizes are normally given in four parts: eye, bridge, temple and height. They are always in millimeters.

3. Find the width by multiplying the first number given (the eye size) by two, and then adding to this the second number given (the bridge size).

4. Multiply the total you arrived at in step three by 1.1 to allow for the end piece measurements. The end pieces are the brackets that join the arms to the frames. The size of the end pieces varies depending on the style of the frames, but the rule of thumb is that the end pieces are roughly 10 percent of the total width of the frames.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose small frames if you have a small face.

• Don’t choose frames that are taller than your eyebrow line.

• Choose a frame color that complements your eye color.

• Choose a frame shape that contrasts with the shape of your face. For instance, choose wider, rectangular frames if you have a round face and rounded frames if your face is more square-shaped.