We all have unique size needs, but it helps to know what ballpark you might be in.
Don’t know how to read glasses sizes? Find out here.
Lens Width
Lens width 45 to 50 is petite in most frame shapes.
However, round frames are an exception. That’s because round frames have relatively narrow lenses and wide bridges. Lens width 43 to 48 is petite in round frames.
Bridge Width
Like lens width, bridge width is different for round frame shapes versus other shapes. Since the round lenses are narrower, the space between them is wider. Most likely, your bridge measurement for round frames will be 2 or 3 mm larger than it is on other frame shapes.
Temple Length
The temples on petite frames are shorter than on average sized frames, allowing for a more secure fit. They are also generally longer than the temples on children’s frames. That’s good because kid’s glasses with too-short temples can cause pain behind the ears.
Lens Height
The height of your lens should be proportionate to the length of your face. Frames that are too short on a long face will make it appear overlong. Likewise, too-tall frames on a short face will make it appear swallowed up by the frames.
If your face is long and thin, go for frames with more height. Try square or round frames.
If your face is short and wide, go for frames with less height. Try rectangular or oval frames.
Total Width
The total width of the frame front is not a traditional part of glasses measurements. However, as more people are buying online, many sellers are beginning to include this measurement.
It’s very useful because the total width should be about equal to or slightly wider (up to 5 mm wider) than the total width of your face at its widest point.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m not sure of the science on aging of faces either, but I think you are right about face widening. I’ve been vaguely aware of that from looking at photos of family members at younger vs older ages and watching slender faces widen over time. But it never occurred to me to consider how that would change an individuals preferred frame size over their lifespan. Very interesting insight! Thank you for sharing.
On a practical note, I do hope to offer some wider bridge options. Most of my offerings are 15 to 16 bridge. Widest bridge I currently offer is the Heather with 17 bridge. This is on my list for future designs!
Thanks so much for taking the time. That’s nice about the earrings ;)
Hello,
I am so very pleased to see your petite glasses venture. Am old enough to have endured the ridiculousness of oversized late 1980s-1990s frames (it was that or something with Tweety Bird on the temple).
Have done okay since a small handful of name brands finally started to offer more 46-49mm frames. I appreciate your breakdown of the various other numbers. Turns out a 16mm bridge is now too small for me, increasingly uncomfortable and something I need to pay attention to.
Actually, I will say – somewhat due to weight gain with middle age, but perhaps more so to apparent skeletal remodeling, my facial structure in an otherwise still kinda tiny head has changed (spread) over these past 5-7 years, enough so that I find myself just outside of the rectangular lens and bridge parameters of your frame offerings.
Besides things like skin sagging/eyelid droop, facial paralysis & conditions involving ptosis, or say cheek muscles bulking up from jaw clenching (ie, reflux), I am not entirely up on the various impacts of aging on the cosmetics and practical anatomical considerations of buying eyewear, especially with an otherwise smaller face. There may be something medical contributing to my situation. Beyond physical fit for comfort and needing to accommodate a larger field of vision within a frame for my progressive lenses, the bottom line for me this buying round does seem to involve going slightly bigger to 17 mm at the bridge while staying as close to 50mm as possible with the right shape & overall width rectangular frame so the glasses are not wearing me. My face and vision have changed enough at this stage that I have to go big enough to meet vision & fit priorities. There’s also no denying that going up to a proper-fitting larger frame also works better aesthetically for me now. Trying on my older pairs of petite frames confirms that. I can’t believe 46 & 48 mm lens width frames worked well for me. Photos say they certainly did.
Curious stuff but wanted to make note of it as I apparently age out of the eyewear I was so desperate to find for years, then able to enjoy for at least 15.
Well, at least my earrings from high school still fit!
Best of luck to you.
And happy shopping to everyone.
Hi Renya, Thanks so much for sharing what you need. I LOVE hearing customer frame requests, and I always take them into account when creating new designs.
I’m sorry we don’t have anything that currently matches that size, but I do hope to offer more options for high prescription glasses for small faces. I will follow up off list for more information on what you’d like to see in the store.
Thank you!
I currently have an adult xx petite glasses full rim and plastic. The glasses are discontinued, and I am not having luck finding the size I need. The size of my current glasses is 43-19-135 (Aspen Easy Clip) Do you customize glasses? Unfortunately, with my prescription I cannot go up a size.
Hi Morgan,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share! I always love hearing customer frame requests.
It sounds like you want something that is a bit of a taller square vs a shorter square / tall rectangle? That is helpful feedback.
I will look to offer more styles as soon as I can. In the meantime, you might try the Julie or Jennifer styles! They have a bit more height.
Thank you,
Hi. I was very excited to discover this store as I have a very hard time finding glasses that fit my face as well, however the only shape I really like on me is the rounded square lens shape. When I filtered for square shape frames here, I saw more horizontally elongated shapes than the traditional square lenses I see when I apply that filter on other online glasses stores; the ones here appear more ovular or what I would call rounded rectangle shape.
For reference, my current pair is the Elias model in Cacao Crystal from Warby Parker, and even those are slightly more elongated than traditional square frames due to their width!
So, if there is any possibility of introducing square-er frames to the lineup, please let me know and I will likely be a customer for life!! Haha.
Hi Deborah, Thanks for your message! I always love it when customers like the frames with their own name :D All frames were named after customers who I’ve spoken with. I hope the Debbie will be a good fit for you! Thank you so much.
Just found your site on Google and watched your Video – very informative. I am Australian, but luckily visiting my daughter in California early 2023 for a few weeks. May try to order some “try-ons” then as I do struggle to find appropriate glass frames. Kind regards, Deborah
PS. Co-incidentally, I think the “Debbie” may be my favoured frame. :)
Hi Colleen, Thanks for reaching out! Size 50-16-135 glasses would be on the large end of the petite spectrum. For a very narrow face, I’d usually recommend a lens width of 45-48 (rather than 50). I’m sorry to hear that your local shop purchase turned out to be a damaged frame. Many stores do sell customers the same frames that are tried on in-store (we do that here as well with Home Try-on – “keep what you like, send back the rest”). That said, most stores also have very generous policies and warranties around frames that turn out to be damaged, so I’d recommend getting in touch with them for a replacement. You might also consider a smaller size while you’re at it ;) Thanks for reaching out!
Hi. I would like your opinion please… I have a very narrow small face and I just got a new pair of glasses locally. They’re way too wide and completely bent out of shape. The brand name is AV Studio and the measurements on the side are 50 – 16 – 135. Do these measurements seem right to you for a very petite face? When I look at petite glasses online most of them are 48 or 49 for the first number. I didn’t know if 50 was larger or smaller. Also, I’m sure they are the floor model hence the reason they’re stretched out of shape. Do most places give you the floor model when you choose that particular glass or do they order brand new frames for you? I’m getting ready to take them back and I’m just curious about all of this. Thank you very much.
Comments (42)
Hi Christine,
Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m not sure of the science on aging of faces either, but I think you are right about face widening. I’ve been vaguely aware of that from looking at photos of family members at younger vs older ages and watching slender faces widen over time. But it never occurred to me to consider how that would change an individuals preferred frame size over their lifespan. Very interesting insight! Thank you for sharing.
On a practical note, I do hope to offer some wider bridge options. Most of my offerings are 15 to 16 bridge. Widest bridge I currently offer is the Heather with 17 bridge. This is on my list for future designs!
Thanks so much for taking the time. That’s nice about the earrings ;)
Hello,
I am so very pleased to see your petite glasses venture. Am old enough to have endured the ridiculousness of oversized late 1980s-1990s frames (it was that or something with Tweety Bird on the temple).
Have done okay since a small handful of name brands finally started to offer more 46-49mm frames. I appreciate your breakdown of the various other numbers. Turns out a 16mm bridge is now too small for me, increasingly uncomfortable and something I need to pay attention to.
Actually, I will say – somewhat due to weight gain with middle age, but perhaps more so to apparent skeletal remodeling, my facial structure in an otherwise still kinda tiny head has changed (spread) over these past 5-7 years, enough so that I find myself just outside of the rectangular lens and bridge parameters of your frame offerings.
Besides things like skin sagging/eyelid droop, facial paralysis & conditions involving ptosis, or say cheek muscles bulking up from jaw clenching (ie, reflux), I am not entirely up on the various impacts of aging on the cosmetics and practical anatomical considerations of buying eyewear, especially with an otherwise smaller face. There may be something medical contributing to my situation. Beyond physical fit for comfort and needing to accommodate a larger field of vision within a frame for my progressive lenses, the bottom line for me this buying round does seem to involve going slightly bigger to 17 mm at the bridge while staying as close to 50mm as possible with the right shape & overall width rectangular frame so the glasses are not wearing me. My face and vision have changed enough at this stage that I have to go big enough to meet vision & fit priorities. There’s also no denying that going up to a proper-fitting larger frame also works better aesthetically for me now. Trying on my older pairs of petite frames confirms that. I can’t believe 46 & 48 mm lens width frames worked well for me. Photos say they certainly did.
Curious stuff but wanted to make note of it as I apparently age out of the eyewear I was so desperate to find for years, then able to enjoy for at least 15.
Well, at least my earrings from high school still fit!
Best of luck to you.
And happy shopping to everyone.
Hi Renya, Thanks so much for sharing what you need. I LOVE hearing customer frame requests, and I always take them into account when creating new designs.
I’m sorry we don’t have anything that currently matches that size, but I do hope to offer more options for high prescription glasses for small faces. I will follow up off list for more information on what you’d like to see in the store.
Thank you!
I currently have an adult xx petite glasses full rim and plastic. The glasses are discontinued, and I am not having luck finding the size I need. The size of my current glasses is 43-19-135 (Aspen Easy Clip) Do you customize glasses? Unfortunately, with my prescription I cannot go up a size.
Hi Morgan,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share! I always love hearing customer frame requests.
It sounds like you want something that is a bit of a taller square vs a shorter square / tall rectangle? That is helpful feedback.
I will look to offer more styles as soon as I can. In the meantime, you might try the Julie or Jennifer styles! They have a bit more height.
Thank you,
Hi. I was very excited to discover this store as I have a very hard time finding glasses that fit my face as well, however the only shape I really like on me is the rounded square lens shape. When I filtered for square shape frames here, I saw more horizontally elongated shapes than the traditional square lenses I see when I apply that filter on other online glasses stores; the ones here appear more ovular or what I would call rounded rectangle shape.
For reference, my current pair is the Elias model in Cacao Crystal from Warby Parker, and even those are slightly more elongated than traditional square frames due to their width!
So, if there is any possibility of introducing square-er frames to the lineup, please let me know and I will likely be a customer for life!! Haha.
Hi Deborah, Thanks for your message! I always love it when customers like the frames with their own name :D All frames were named after customers who I’ve spoken with. I hope the Debbie will be a good fit for you! Thank you so much.
Just found your site on Google and watched your Video – very informative. I am Australian, but luckily visiting my daughter in California early 2023 for a few weeks. May try to order some “try-ons” then as I do struggle to find appropriate glass frames. Kind regards, Deborah
PS. Co-incidentally, I think the “Debbie” may be my favoured frame. :)
Hi Colleen, Thanks for reaching out! Size 50-16-135 glasses would be on the large end of the petite spectrum. For a very narrow face, I’d usually recommend a lens width of 45-48 (rather than 50). I’m sorry to hear that your local shop purchase turned out to be a damaged frame. Many stores do sell customers the same frames that are tried on in-store (we do that here as well with Home Try-on – “keep what you like, send back the rest”). That said, most stores also have very generous policies and warranties around frames that turn out to be damaged, so I’d recommend getting in touch with them for a replacement. You might also consider a smaller size while you’re at it ;) Thanks for reaching out!
Hi. I would like your opinion please… I have a very narrow small face and I just got a new pair of glasses locally. They’re way too wide and completely bent out of shape. The brand name is AV Studio and the measurements on the side are 50 – 16 – 135. Do these measurements seem right to you for a very petite face? When I look at petite glasses online most of them are 48 or 49 for the first number. I didn’t know if 50 was larger or smaller. Also, I’m sure they are the floor model hence the reason they’re stretched out of shape. Do most places give you the floor model when you choose that particular glass or do they order brand new frames for you? I’m getting ready to take them back and I’m just curious about all of this. Thank you very much.