Hello, I’m Mr. Linen.
Today’s topic is glasses.
This may sound like bragging, but I actually have very good eyesight.
Still, I’ve always admired the intellectual, sophisticated look of a well-dressed gentleman in glasses.
So I’ve collected quite a few non-prescription frames and happily wear them as part of my style.
Since glasses sit in such a prominent position on the face, I believe the color of the frames becomes a major part of an outfit.
And because glasses sit at the very top of the body while shoes sit at the very bottom, I think coordinating their colors creates a more harmonious look.
So today, I’d like to explore the relationship between glasses and shoe colors.
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What Should Your Glasses Frames Match?
What part of an outfit should your glasses frames actually coordinate with?
For example, let’s say you’re wearing a brown suit.
In most cases, brown frames will naturally pair better than black frames.
But what happens if you wear black shoes with that brown suit?
Brown frames certainly create harmony with the suit itself, since they share the same color family. However, the colors at the two ends of the body — the glasses and the shoes — become disconnected, with brown on top and black below.
Of course, style is subjective, but personally, that imbalance feels slightly off to me.
If you’re wearing black shoes with a brown suit, I think black frames create better overall balance.
To go even further, with tailored clothing I think not only the glasses and shoes, but even the jacket buttons, should work together in color. If you’re interested, please check out the article below as well.
Moving away from suits for a moment, the same idea applies to casual outfits. For example, if you’re wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, and brown shoes, black frames don’t necessarily look bad — but to my eye, brown frames still feel slightly more natural.
In other words, as I mentioned at the beginning, I believe glasses and shoes generally look best when their colors are coordinated.
Similar to the Relationship Between Shoes and Belts
I think coordinating glasses and shoes is very similar to coordinating belts and leather shoes.
In other words, it looks great when the colors harmonize, but they don’t need to be perfectly identical.
With belts and shoes, for example, if both are exactly the same shade of brown and even made from the same crocodile leather, it can start to feel overly intentional.
Even when both items are brown, it tends to look more natural when there’s a slight variation — such as a darker brown belt with lighter brown shoes.
Brown comes in countless tones, so it’s easy to subtly vary the shades between belts and shoes. Black, on the other hand, is much less forgiving — black is simply black.
Dark brown and black can still work because the contrast is relatively small. But when you combine light brown with black, doesn’t it start to feel mismatched?
With glasses and shoes, however, there’s less risk of looking overly coordinated because glasses are usually made from acetate or other synthetic materials rather than leather, so the textures naturally differ.
Personally, I think having just two acetate frames — one brown and one black — is enough to pair with almost any shoe color.
Metal Frames Are Universally Versatile
So far, I’ve been talking mainly about acetate frames, but of course there are also metal-framed glasses.
Metal frames are incredibly versatile because you don’t really need to worry about matching them to your shoe color.
However, another consideration appears instead: how the metal color interacts with watches, bags, jewelry, and other accessories.
I’m not saying every metal item you wear must perfectly match, but when they coordinate, the overall look feels more refined and cohesive.
That said, if your watch, glasses, and rings are all pink gold, it might start to feel a bit excessive.
Do We Need at Least Four Pairs of Glasses?
Following this logic, having four types of glasses — black frames, brown frames, gold metal frames, and silver metal frames — would theoretically cover almost every outfit combination.
As for me, I own more brown-framed glasses because most of my shoes are in brown tones, and I also wear a lot of brown and beige clothing.
One of my absolute favorites is this pair from Jacques Marie Mage.
The frames are extremely thick, with a translucent whiskey-like color that’s mesmerizing just to look at.
I even wrote a dedicated review article about them, so feel free to check it out if you’re interested.
Conclusion
I believe glasses frame colors should coordinate more closely with your shoes than with your clothing.
And metal frames are the most versatile option of all.
That sums up today’s article.
Thank you very much for reading.
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