Stylish as they may be, I find it difficult to take small sunglasses seriously. Perusing TMZ has become an exercise in balancing my fascination with celebrity culture with my instinct to giggle helplessly at all the beautiful people wearing the teeniest-tiniest glasses.
Can I tell you a story? When I got my first car, which was used, I found a pair of sunglasses in the center console. The lenses were tiny — really miniscule, like sunglasses for an ant. Thenceforth, when a friend approached my car, I’d duck down, slip the sunglasses on, then pop up and stare at them, stone-faced. The joke killed roughly every single time. A pair of tiny sunglasses on a comparatively giant-seeming face — not the worst joke I’ve ever told!
If you want to buy tiny sunglasses, you should buy tiny sunglasses. But if you do, I humbly recommend that you buy a relatively cheap pair. Tiny sunglasses, like gigantic, face-obscuring Olsen-twin sunglasses, are a passing trend, and your sunglasses dollars might be better spent on a more timeless style and size.
If you aren’t prepared to submit to the siren call of thumb-size lenses, here’s an alternative: smallish sunglasses. It’s a nice compromise: They nod at their tiny, trendy counterparts, but are more likely to flatter your human-size face. The shape doesn’t much matter: oval, round, rectangle — so long as they’re on the small side of normal, they’re perfect for summer. I personally suggest either an oval or a rectangular frame. Both will make you feel like the heroine of a ’90s rom-com. We conducted an informal but highly considered vote at the Strategist and feel that you can get a cheap, fun pair to ride the trend out, but that a price range of $60 to $80 is appropriate — enough that the glasses will have some heft, but not enough that you are frightened to leave them on the beach while you swim.
Little round ones — like John Lennon meets Lisa Bonet.
These may be small, but they’re investment sunglasses: They’ll get you through several sunny seasons.
The famous Lolita Le Specs are very trendy, but are also very cute in pink.
These are out of our designated price range, but they’re great and timeless and perfectly smallish.
For those who just want to get trendy with teeny-tiny eyewear: Wear these at the beach! Leave them at the beach! Order another pair, if you still want them at that point!
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