Eyewear is your dynamic friend

Linda, owner of Diamond Facials in Novato

Linda, 68: Strength, edgy, confident, flirty

Eyewear is an investment. Clearly, it’s an investment in your well-being. How else do we see 20/20? But it’s also an opportunity to bring your image up to date. With well-chosen eyewear you can do a lot of advertising about yourself … in a good way!

A phrase tossed around a lot these days is personal branding. To me good personal branding means that you are in charge of how you want others to see you–that would be in business as well as your personal life. When I’m working with my clients I’m helping them tell their story (i.e. their personal brand). My tool chest for helping them speak for themselves (without having to open their mouth) is through the language of clothes and accessories (including eyewear).

Every outfit I create takes into account my client’s physical self. I want clothes to relate to her coloring, the scale of her features, even the sound quality of her voice. I’m especially interested in how the language of clothes and accessories can tell her personal story including qualities of her personality, her aspirations and values.

I think we could all use help in this area. It’s hard to talk about ourselves. It’s especially hard to say nice things about ourselves. I like making it easier. A well put together outfit does the talking for them.

I had a client tell me that while at a wedding someone came up to her husband and said, “Kathy looks so ____, ______, ______,” and they were her exact style words! That’s good personal branding!

Eyewear does a lot of talking

This might help you understand why I LOVE choosing eyewear for clients. Eyewear can say so much and be so informative. Eyewear is in prime position–on the face–to be one’s personal billboard.

That’s a good thing, and an especially good thing for women over 50. Some women are wearing glasses for the first time. They’ve shifted from pulling out reading glasses a few times a day to wearing them all day. Others have been wearing glasses forever, getting updates occasionally. As in many aspects of fashion and style, things change after 50 and this is one place where change can be met with such appealing choices.

Yesterday I talked about the benefits of adding a piece of eyewear that has color in it. Let’s pick up where we left off with my conversation with Nancy Billings Revis owner of Uber Optics in Petaluma.

Nancy’s passionate that women should feel photographable. She wants people to love their faces. She takes pictures of her customers in their new frames. She likes showing them how great they look. The pictures in this post were taken by Nancy and are customers of hers, all over 50. See how their frames help them express themselves.

Nancy adds five more tips

Here are five things Nancy wants women over 50 to know when choosing eyewear.

1. Glasses are a medical device but it doesn’t have to look like one. The right color and right shape can take years off your face. Not only are you not going to look old, you’re not going to seem old. Everything about you will look more youthful.

2. If you’re over 50, look for a shape that has a lifting effect. No drooping. Anything that goes in an upward motion will allow you to see and be seen.

3. Thinking you want your glasses to go away is a miss. It just makes you look older. Bring attention to your face. You’re going to come off interested and interesting.

4. Color is not scary. Color is friendly, happy, and more inviting.

5. Frames can be the inspiration point of your whole appearance. Someone looks at you and thinks to themselves, You have interesting glasses, your soul must be interesting.

And here’s a sixth tip for good measure: When you have interesting frames, it doesn’t take much to put an outfit together. Nancy suggests jeans, a T-shirt, great shoes and cool frames. Yup, I can picture that!