BEAUTY MUST-HAVES

VINTAGE EYEWEAR

As a follow-up to my post with makeup tips for girls who wear glasses, I thought I could share my recent experience selecting new frames online. Normally I would buy frames in a store so that I could try on several pairs at once. This time around, however, I wanted to try out some vintage eyewear, which isn’t easily available at the place where I usually buy my glasses. Enter vintageopticalshop.com, where I found these sassy rhinestone cat-eyed frames at a very reasonable price point. I LOVE the frames and part of the adventure has been testing out the best way to wear them – especially since I don’t have a retro personal style. Turns out, they look quite nice with my natural curls, a simple outfit and easy makeup. Score!


Confession – I’m very insecure about my naturally curly hair, but I love the way it looks with these frames! The width of the bigger hair style actually works with the width of the glasses to draw your eyes up to mine. I think it adds a layer of casual modernity to the uber-retro style, as well.

For this first makeup look, I went with my own advice to go heavier on eyes, as well as lips. I usually recommend heavier eye makeup under glasses so that they don’t get lost behind the frames. And bright lips always add a little glamour to the specs in my opinion. 

Then I decided to experiment with a more natural makeup look to see if the glasses would still work. And they did – I love proving myself wrong! 

I wore my normal face makeup but went with a lighter brown shadow instead of liner. And for lips, just a light pink lip balm. I do however always stick with plenty of mascara under glasses – no matter what!

As for the frames, I chose these for their simple details and for their sparkle potential. I’m a veritable magpie, drawn to anything that glitters and shines! I also already knew that a cat-eye style worked on me because I have one other pair with a somewhat similar shape. I didn’t have a black pair in my collection yet, so that helped steer me in the direction of these beauties. They are authentic and never used and have some really extraordinary etching in the corners – I didn’t grasp how unique they were until they arrived, which was such a pleasant surprise.

Now, let’s talk a bit more about The Vintage Optical Shop! They carry authentic vintage styles, which means the browsing experience is the best part. It’s so fun to see all the different styles from way back when. From cat-eye and pince nez to windsor and rimless, the selection is vast. 

Word to the wise and in the market for something similar – they still have these glasses in tortoise shell available! At under $150, they are a steal. One thing to note is that you’ll of course need to get your prescription lenses added to them yourself at your own expense. 

So what did I wear when I debuted these babies to the public? Something simple from head to toe – black skinny jeans, a black top and some red pumps to match the red lipstick! No retro outfit necessary (though now I kind of want to find an amazing vintage dress to try with them).

vintage eyewear on belle meets world blog

Thank you so much to The Vintage Optical Shop for the opportunity to work together. These frames (c/o) are killer, and I’m already daydreaming about purchasing my next pair!

Belle