Vintage advice for bespectacled girls 1943 –

AO-Numont-Frame-Ad-from-a-1940-AO-Vision-Magazine

We generally flee like mad from statistics, but the other day we ran smack into some figures on women’s eye-glasses that sent us dashing out to find out more about them.

Do you know that you and some 25,000,000 of your sisters in the United States wear glasses? And that the way you wear your hair and put on make-up can make your glasses conspicuous or a beautiful, integral part of your personality?
Did you know for example that the safest rule is to choose eyeglass frames which follow the general shape of your eye orbit and brows? A 45 degree angle eyebrow above a roundish lens – can make the wearers face look – well – positively funny.

1941-woman-with-glasses – Getty

Here is short painless list of Do’s and Don’ts for wearing glasses we ferreted out from optometrists, beauty specialists, etc.

Dorothy Malone—Glamour-in-Glasses-1946-Big-Sleep

Don’t think of your glasses as a beauty handicap – and buy just any old pair.
Do think of them as a piece of jewellery that can augment your feminine good looks, in terms of color, shape, size as relates to your face and complexion.

Ava-gardner- hanging out in a Hollywood nigth club sporting a beret and-horn-glasses-1948—photo by-Allen-Grant

Don’t let your eyebrows extend beyond – or stop short of the end of your frames.
Don’t let your rouge end in a sharp line beneath your glasses, as it calls attention to them.Blend rouge smoothly.

Ingrid-Bergman—Spellbound-1945 – glasses glamour

Don’t forget that paleness becomes pastiness when glasses are a part of the facial picture. Wear mascara to make your eyes look big and beautiful; lipstick to make you look vital and alive.

Janet-Leigh-1948 wearing glasses

Don’t wear your hair so that glasses seem to nestle in it. brush your hair up from the temples in a soft line – it much more flattering. Low bands and busy side-curls are out !

Woman with glasses operating a hand-drill-at-the-North-American-Aviation-1942-LOC

Try some of the new colored butterfly frames in soft blues and greens and pinks !

That’s all !
Text©Glamourdaze

Originally published in “Salute” newsletter published by the Augusta Arsenal
Featured Image courtesy of the Optical Heritage Museum 

Read the Concise Illustrated History of 1940s Fashion – 1940 to 1949

Also read: Beauty advice Film for Women with Glasses
Hollywood Eyes- Vintage 1930s Film
Sunglasses – 20th Century’s Coolest Accessory
The Top 20 Movie Glasses