6 Steps to Spex Appeal - By Carol Spencer

Six Steps To Spex Appeal - By Carol Spenser

With successful careers as a fashion PR and image consultant, Carol Spenser is Managing Director of the leading UK style consultancy, Style Directions.

Her clients for customer events, shows, training seminars and videos have included Harrods, House of Fraser, Gillette, Boots, Principles, Gucci, Selfridges, Clarins, Estée Lauder and Elizabeth Arden.

She has also been a regular style presenter on BBC Good Morning, GMTV, Carlton TV, Granada TV, Sky TV and Channel 5.

Carol has also written for most of the UK’s leading magazines and newspapers and has been nominated for the coveted ‘Columnist of the Year’ award. She developed and implemented the highly successful Personal Shopping service for Debenhams department stores in the UK.

During the many years that Carol has worked in the fashion and style industry, she has helped thousands of men and women – including leading political and corporate figures and TV personalities – to improve their appearance and confidence through her unique advice. Her
mail-order-makeover service, StyleProFile, has helped over 30,000 members of the general public. Carol is also the author of six books: Style Counsel, Wedding Style Counsel, Petite Style Counsel, Slimline Style Counsel, Style Directions for Women and Style Directions for Men.

Needless to say we are extremely pleased to have Carol on board with Spex4less to give you some great tips on how to choose the perfect frame for ultimate spex appeal. So without further ado here's Carol's Six Steps To Spex Appeal.

Step 1 – Analyse Your Face Shape

Curved Outlines:-

	Oval This face has gently curving sides and is longer than it is wide. The chin is slightly narrower than the forehead, resulting in an egg shape.
	Round This face has gently curving sides but it's length and width are relatively equal, making it almost circular in shape.
	Heart This face has a gently curving outline but the forehead is much wider than the chin, which can appear pointed.
	Pear This face has gently curving sides but the jaw line is wider than the forehead, giving quite an unusual face shape.

Angular Outlines:-

Rectangle

This face has straight sides and a square jaw and the length is more than the width: it is often called an oblong face.

Square

This face has straight sides and a square jaw but the length and width are relatively equal to produce quite a short face.

Diamond

This face has straight sides but a narrow forehead and chin: the cheek bones are the widest point.

Step 2 – Choose Your Best Frames

Glasses For Curved Outlines:-

	Oval Most shapes of frames will suit you, so to narrow down your choice and make a definite statement use the softness or angularity of you features to help make you selection - ie. choose angular frames for angular features; curved frames for softer features. Long oval faces can often look good in frames slightly wider than the face, or frames with extended arms.
	Round Avoid round glasses which will echo and emphasize you face shape. Gentle ovals or softened squares are the most flattering for you. A clear bridge will help to narrow your face, and high set arms will add extra length.
	Heart Avoid shapes with a heavy top frame as these will emphasize the width of the forehead. Fullness at the bottom of the glasses or low set arms are flattering as they balance the narrow chin area. Sharp or softened rectangles look good.
	Pear A wide or heavy top to the frame is good to broaden the forehead and balance the chin. Avoid fullness at the bottom of the glasses and low set arms which draw attention to the chin.

Glasses For Angular Outlines:-

Rectangle

As this face is longer than it is wide, frames which shorten or widen the face are best.

Deep or square glasses work well. Low set arms or a low bridge will also help shorten the face.

If you are already shortening your face with a fringe wide rectangles can be very flattering. If you have no fringe, however, a coloured horizontal line across the top of the glasses has a similar effect.

Square

This face needs to be lengthened, so frames which are quite shallow, such as ovals or rectangles, work best.

High set arms will also lengthen the face and a clear bridge will help narrow it. Coloured, patterned or contrasting vertical sides to the frames will help add to the illusion of extra length.

Avoid deep, square glasses at all costs.

Diamond

Frames that will add width to the forehead and/or chin work best. If you are widening your forehead with a fringe, you may want to have glasses with fullness just at the bottom.

If you are widening your chin with a longer hairstyle, frames with width at the top only may be best. If you want to widen your forehead and chin, aviator glasses are ideal.

Step 3 – Get Fitted

Knowing the shapes to look for is the first step in finding the perfect glasses but then ovals, squares, aviators and so on come in all different sizes and weights. Having glasses which are too big or too small for your face can destroy their desired effect.

What I particularly like about Spex4less is the detailed measurements given with each frame making it easy to choose the correct fitting frame (see "How to choose a frame that fits" in Mark Bowden's Guide to purchasing glasses online).

The following tips will also ensure that you are not under - or overwhelmed by your choice of specs.

SIZE

A) The top of the frame should not sit above your eyebrows or you will be left with a look of constant surprise! On the eyebrow is good if the frames are quite thin or do not obliterate your eyebrow completely. Below the eyebrow is best if the frames are heavy. You can slightly alter the height of your frames by adjusting the nose pads accordingly.

B) The sides of the frame should not extend too far beyond the sides of your face or come too far in towards your nose. Parallel to the sides of your face is best. Providing that you follow the instructions on comparing the total width of your existing frames to the measurements on the web site this should not be a problem. However, go for something slightly wider if you want to deliberately widen a long face.

C) The bottom of the frame should never sit on your cheeks – this is the most common problem. Not only can it irritate your skin but it fattens your nose and leaves your eye ‘floating’ at the top of the glasses – the ‘goldfish in a bowl’ syndrome! Ideally, your eye should be near the centre of the frame.

Step 4 – Consider Weight

If you are petite or small-boned, lightweight plastic, delicate metals or frameless styles will look more complementary than thick, heavy varieties. Conversely, if you are large-boned, or fuller-figured, heavier styles will be more flattering - delicate, lightweight frames will conflict with your scale and make you appear bigger.

Step 5 – Colour Co Ordination

Use your present hair colour (whether natural or not!) as a guide to selecting your most harmonizing colour for glasses frame:

HAIR FRAME COLOURS

Hair Colour	Frame Colour
Blonde/Mousey	Silver, Light Gold, Pastels, Muted Colours, Tortoiseshell
Copper/Red	Brown, Gold, Beige, Copper, Tortoiseshell
Grey/White	Black, Silver, Gunmetal, Pastels, Charcoal
Dark/Brunette	Brown, Black, Bright Colours, Dark Metals, Tortoiseshell

NB: Frameless glasses suit all colour patterns

Step 6 – Creative or Classic

The advice I have given on glasses assumes, of course, that you would like the frames to complement your face. This is true of the majority of people.

Some people – particularly extrovert, creative types or showbiz personalities – deliberately break the rules to make their glasses a dominant feature of their appearance. Small, round glasses on a large, round face (Lenny Henry) or large square glasses on a small square face (Chris Evans) are ‘wrong’ in shape, weight and scale, and result in an almost comic look which needs a great deal of confidence and personality to carry off well. A similar effect can be achieved by selecting a colour of frame which clashes with your own colouring - e.g black frames with blonde colouring.

For more information on selecting clothing, colours, hairstyles, accessories etc, visit my website – www.styledirections.com

Enjoy Your New Glasses And Wear Them With Pride

Carol Spenser

Click Here To Choose Your Lovely New Glasses