When was the last time you changed your glasses frames? If it’s been a while, you’ll find plenty of ideas in this article on what glasses to buy after 40.
Here is why good eyewear is so important
If you have had the same glasses for years, they may well be aging you. Glasses are right in the middle of your face, so people cannot help but notice them. Rather than spending lots of money on those really trendy shoes, you may want to invest in a good pair of glasses instead.
Here are some good reasons to pay attention to your glasses:
They’re one of the first things people notice
You only get one chance to make a great first impression, and one of the first things anyone who meets you will see are your glasses.
Glasses can change your look
Eyewear can completely change your look – and depending on the frame, can make you look sexier, more youthful, etc. Think about the impression you want to create when considering what glasses to buy after 40.
Claudya (above) opts for on-trend clear glasses which make a statement, while still being a subtle option.
Check out this similar pair of clear cat-eye glasses.
The wrong pair of glasses can certainly have the opposite effect. It’s fun to experiment with different types and become edgier one day and more romantic the next.
Eyewear is an accessory
Like your shoes and handbags you will want to match your glasses to the rest of your outfit, so your whole look is seamless.
Although it’s good to have one very versatile pair that fits with everything, it’s great fun to have more pairs in different colors and styles.
Dayle (above) often wears round glasses because they perfectly fit her face shape.
Check out this similar pair of round eyeglasses.
Also take a look at glasses to suit your face shape.
You can change your glasses to suit the occasion
Since glasses come in so many different colors and styles, why not have multiple to match your moods?
You may even want to have different frames for office, free time or formal parties.
What glasses to buy after 40?
When it comes to glasses over 40 you will want to make sure that you pick glasses that do not age you.
Avoid
- Boring and outdated frames
- Metal rims
- Frames that droop downward
- Half glasses
- Coke bottle lenses
Misja (above) opts for cats eye glasses which draw the eye upwards.
Get this similar pair of eyeglasses from Amazon.
Things to keep in mind when considering what glasses to buy after 40
- Try to add warmth and softness to your face. Translucent colors are often better than hard metals.
- Add color: one of the easiest ways to add a bit of hipness to your style.
- Think upwards: After 40 you will want things to go up not down, so choose frames that are horizontal and have a slight tilt at the outer edges. You will want to eye to be drawn upward!
- Get glasses that suit your face shape.
How many pairs of glasses do you need?
Obviously, this will come down to what you need your glasses for, as well as your lifestyle.
You may need to consider glasses for reading as well as for longer distances.
While you may find you don’t agree with all of the advice in the late Charla Krupp’s book How Not to Look Old, her advice on glasses is sensible. She suggests one pair of glasses for work (or daytime), one pair for going out and a pair for weekends.
What glasses to buy after 40: Give yourself a virtual facelift
As we age, many things do start to fall victim to gravity. However, you can create the illusion of giving your face a lift by choosing frames which draw the attention upwards.
Cats-eye glasses can create this uplifting effect.
Kelly (above) opts for a pair of black cats eye glasses which look stunning with her striking pink hair.
Here is a similar pair of cats-eye glasses from Amazon.
Glasses that make you look younger: More cats-eye glasses for you
Burberry 53mm cat eye optical glasses
Dolce & Gabbana 54mm optical glasses
Stylish eyeglasses: Choose color
A colorful pair of glasses can be a quick way to add youthfulness and warmth to your look.
It can be harder to wear glasses with a lot of blue or gray in them as these are cooler shades, but there are no hard and fast rules.
These can look fabulous with gray hair and cool complexions.
Red is a good choice to add warmth.
Gabriella (above) matches her glasses to her coat.
Check out this similar pair of red glasses.
Red glasses
Trendy glasses for women: What if you like black?
As we get older, black can be a tricky color to wear as it can make you look drained unless you have winter type coloring and black really suits you.
However, oversized black “geek-chic” glasses are very on-trend right now, and I’ve seen plenty of older celebrities including Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis looking amazing, and very youthful, in black glasses.
You may want to add a bit of color to other parts of your face though through lipstick, eye shadow, earrings or scarf to avoid looking too harsh.
@pieknoscdnia (above) looks great in her black glasses, and adds color elsewhere in her outfit with her scarf and hat.
Here is a similar pair of black eyeglasses.
More black glasses options for you
Quay Australia 47mm optical glasses
Trendy glasses frames: An alternative to black
If you like the look of black glasses, but want to bring more warmth to your face, you could always try a burgundy or a dark brown.
Brenda (above) matches her glasses to her outfit.
Check out this similar pair of burgundy eyeglasses.
More burgundy glasses for you
Kate Spade New York 47mm reading glasses
Cool glasses frames: Blue glasses to try
While cooler colors can be trickier to wear, they can also look beautiful if you choose the right shade.
@hagitdana_stylist wears blue glasses but adds warmth with her red lipstick.
Blue glasses styles for you
Tortoiseshell glasses
If you really can’t decide what glasses to choose, or what could be flattering, tortoiseshell tends to be a safe, yet stylish option.
Shelbee (above) wears tortoiseshell glasses which pick up the tones in her leopard print scarf.
Here is a similar pair of eyeglasses from Amazon.
More tortoiseshell styles to choose
Quay Australia x Chrissy Teigen 50mm optical glasses
Michael Kors 50mm optical glasses
Trendy glasses: Clear frames
Clear glasses are one of the most on-trend styles right now because they manage to be subtle, yet fashionable at the same time.
If you don’t want to draw attention to the fact you are wearing glasses – perhaps because you want the focus to be on other areas of your outfit – you can get the look of rimless frames without looking old-fashioned by choosing clear frames.
Hallie (above) opts for a similar trend with her subtle metal frames.
Check out this similar pair of clear aviator eyeglasses from Ray-Ban.
Trendy eyeglasses: clear glasses
Quay Australia 47mm optical glasses
Sunglasses are a 40+ woman’s best friend!
If you are like me then your eyes show your age the most. In my case there are wrinkles and dark circles. The absolute best remedy for this are sunglasses which have the extra benefit of protecting your eyes from dangerous rays as well.
You will hardly ever see me outside or in my car without them. Shops like VizioOptic will allow you to get your sunglasses with prescription glasses as well. Perfect for people like me who require glasses for driving.
Diana (above) wears round glasses which mirror the shape of her earrings.
Check out this similar pair of sunglasses from BP.
More sunglasses styles to choose from
Tory Burch 56mm round sunglasses
Longchamp 54mm gradient sunglasses
What glasses do you prefer? Which of the glasses mentioned above would you like to add to your collection?
Continue reading:
- How To Pick The Best Glasses For Face Shape And Personality
- The Best Women’s Accessories For Fall: 20 Accessory Trends To Try
- How To Wear Earrings With Glasses
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Feature image by Gabriella
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Hi, can you tell what brand the glasses are at the top of this website. They are red and white. Thanks Janice
All featured glasses on this page are by VizioOptic.com, but I am not sure if they are all still available…
Hey Sylvia,
I’m a glasses wearing kind of gal. For me, and my SoCal ways, I’m a tried and true Ray Bans wearer. It’s not so much for the style, all though you can’t go wrong with the classics, but the durability. I’m very careless with my eyewear and they always end up at the bottom of my pocketbook. My Ray Bans have survived the abuse 🙂
Interesting feedback Beverly. Thanks!
Sylvia, this is so funny that you should mention this, because we decided to go glass shopping! Thank goodness I instinctively figured out your rules. We ended up with five pairs.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/glasses
I had posted these in a FB group as well, here is what I said (I removed the part about where they came from)
I’ve been noticing the way some women, particularly silver women, accessorize with glasses. And I’m noticing my wife has only one set of pretty ugly everyday glasses, and one set of cool sunglasses. She is near-sighted and also needs glasses for reading, so she takes progressive lenses. So I told her, let’s go shopping!
So the plan was to get one low key set for work with progressive lenses, then maybe to get a couple of other cool colored frames with regular prescriptions. Well, she got a little carried away. lol. Also since they gave us a discount for multiples, she ended getting four out of the five progressive. I said, what do you need progressives on all these frames? She says ‘I have trouble seeing the instruments when I drive’. I’m like who cares, you never go over 50mph anyway. lol. She won.
So I decided to take some pix for y’all. The one black-looking frame didn’t photograph well. It’s not really black at all, it’s a sparkly gray. And yes the blue frame is pushing the limits, but I think she’ll look great driving our convertible!
Hi Denton. Thanks for sharing these pictures with us. Your wife got some really funky glasses! Congratulations and enjoy!
Good topic. I will have to buy frameless glasses (for driving at night) because one ear sits higher than the other and if I wear nice framed glasses they become lopsided immediately! I’m hoping to find ones with nice “arms” that have personality!
I love wearing glasses!! There are lots of really cool shapes, colors and designs out there to choose from. Here in Quebec, glasses are very costly. I bought my last pair at Costco. They are see through frames with a little yellow in them. Marc Jacobs line.
Thanks for your feedback Andrea and thank you for your first comment at 40+Style!
Ha ha! I have a magnifying glass but I look like Sherlock Holmes when I am peering at the can of beans! LOL!
I really need to tie some glasses on me so that I never lose them – perhaps some elastic would do? As I get older a lot of my time seems to be spent looking for things!
You have small magnifiying glasses as well. People would not even see that you are holding it in your hand just above the letters of the can.
And I think it is better to tie that to your bag than to yourself. Glasses on a rope is also aging haha.
Looking for things is indeed something that happens to me a lot as well. Especially keys and the little box for my contact lenses. Whenever I am searching for something nowadays, not matter how big the item is, Ron (my husband) always says: “it is probably near your contact lenses box…”
The gardner (just once a year, before you get ideas that I am rich…) said his wife misplaces things too. The other day she looked for her car keys, nowhere to be found. At last she found them in the refrigerator. She had put them there, so not to forget to take milk and cheese with her to work when she left the house. I could so follow that line of thought. I might have done the same. And she is a lot younger than I am. We women are like squirrels. We stack and hide and then forget where we put it.
You are so funny Greetje! And you know what? I am squinting at the moment because I have mislaid my glasses! LOL!
Keys in the fridge is a good one! At least she did it on purpose! Perhaps my husband should do that as he often leaves his sandwiches (made the night before) in the fridge.
As for squirrels – I have been watching our local squirrel go round my garden scratching his head because he has forgotten where he buried the hazel nuts!
I have been incredibly lucky in that my eye sight was perfect until a couple of years ago when newsprint became blurry and I had to get reading glasses! I now have about five pairs of glasses, mostly from Poundland (LOL!), in various colours. The only problem is, I can never find them. It drives me mad. Unless they are clamped on top of my head (not a good look) I either spend hours searching for them, or give up and end up squinting at the computer, at price tags, at instructions – everything. For me it’s the worst aspect of aging and I can see the wrinkles forming from the squinting!
Now here is an advantage for wearers of contactlenses… I have a reading section at the bottom of my lenses. So at the supermarket I can read the labels and pretend I am ten years younger LOL. (Note: you cannot opt for this when you have never worn lenses.)
I have to say that scrambling around for your glasses is a sure sign you are of a certain age so lucky you! Otherwise I always pretend I am 10 years younger!
I am sure you will get away with that. I have a solution for you. Buy vintage glasses, you know the ones with just one glass on a handle. Very elegant.
Or take a small magnifying glass with you. Attach it with a string or chain to the inside of your bag. This way, you never lose it, and when you bring your bag (and the magnifying glass) close to the can of beans, nobody will spot it.
Actually, I wrote this as a joke, but come to think of it… not such a bad idea.
Hi Lorraine!
Kristen from Vizio Optic here. We totally understand this problem! I often find myself trying to figure out where I last left my glasses. But luckily, we now work with LaLOOP, which makes beautiful eyewear necklaces, not like the librarian look you’re probably thinking of. They are very pretty pieces of jewelry with a ring on the bottom to hang your frames so you don’t misplace them anymore. Check them out: http://www.viziooptic.com/accessories/laloop-accessories
Hope this helps!
I have worn glasses since I was 5 years old. Like Greetje I got contact lenses when I was 17 and they also changed my life as I became much more confident. I was tired of wearing thick heavy lenses in my glasses. Now it is much easier to get thinner, lighter lenses for your glasses. I have two pairs for distance and driving ( a pink pair and a purple pair), prescription sunglasses ( black and white frames) and reading glasses ( silver frames with black arms). I still wear contact lenses a lot but my eyes are changing as I get older so I have problems using them for the computer and close work.
My respons is short: I hate glasses on me. All of the expression in my face is around my eyes. When I wear glasses my whole appearance changes. I have glasses since I was 8 years old. At 17, with the first money I earned with a holiday job, I bought contact lenses. It made me so happy, in fact it changed my life.
I do have have glasses. I bought them 19 years ago, after hours of contemplating and I still sort of like them. And my new reading glasses (normal frame) are not bad either.
I know what you mean Greetje. I was ‘forced’ to wear glasses when I was young and hated them. The fact that they did not actually improve my eyesight did not help either. As I got older I tried contact lenses but no matter how hard I tried I could not tolerate them. So it’s glasses all the way for me now. I must say that I actually love a lot of the frames now and really like how they look on some women. It really has become a new accessory.
I’ve been wearing my contacts more for the last few years. but recently got new glasses and am happy to have that as an option. I bought both glasses and prescription sunglasses. I have received a lot of compliments on my navy frames with the white underneath that really lightens them up or so everyone keeps telling me… think I posted pics on the forum…
Very nice Tracey. Prescription sunglasses are such a good idea!