In this week’s journal, we thought we’d explore face shapes. Not literally – that would be weird, even for us -- but specifically in terms of how our handmade sunglasses are likely to fit one’s face. Because "I have a big head and most sunglasses don’t fit me, will yours?" is one of the most common questions we get asked here at Mosevic HQ.
And it’s certainly a valid question, not least because it feels like we still sort of live in a pernicious one-size-fits-all world, where finding the right fit for anything outside ‘the norm’ can be a challenge that no-one needs, but many endure.
And so, to our handcrafted, hardened denim eyewear. Firstly, for reference, we list the full dimensions of each frame on their respective product pages, which you can find under Collections. Scroll down to the frame description, and you’ll find dimension details at the bottom, under ‘Dimensions’ (sneaky, I know).
Our frame widths range between 130mm – 141mm (Cassini Small (think Wayfarer) is the smallest frame width we currently make, and Andromeda (our take on the Aviator style) is the largest).
Cassini:
Andromeda:
To put these dimensions into a wider context, most spectacle retailers in the U.K. categorise frame widths as below:
Small: 129mm or less
Medium: 130mm – 139mm
Large: 139mm+
Now, at first glance, our handmade glasses frames fit comfortably in the Medium size category, which suggests that we don’t really cater for small face shapes and only squeak into the larger face shape category. But not so fast.
As many of you already know, our frames are made from denim infused with resin. This creates a material similar to carbon fibre, without the carbon. From this material we precisely cut out the frames, and then spend a long-time hand shaping and sanding them, until they are ready to be fitted with Zeiss polarised lenses, cleaned, and then packaged, to be sent all over the world.
But anyway, I digress.
The hardened denim is malleable when heated, so you can adjust the frames for a bigger fit, simply by heating them with a hairdryer. By heating them, you are able to relax the bend in the arms as well as the bridge.
If you are someone, like me, whose face shape sits on the larger side of the ‘Medium’ sized frame width category, then crack out the hairdryer.
Make sure the hairdryer is nice and hot, and then use it to heat the frame on the arms and the bridge. Once the frames are at a temperature that’s safe to put on your face (please do not put them on when they are too hot), pop them on. Let them sit on your face until they've gone from warm to cold. During this time, the fit should be adjusting to your face shape so that when you take them off, they fit perfectly.
If you want the fit to be smaller, heat them up in the same way as above but instead of putting them on your face when they’ve been heated, bend the arms inwards with your hands to tighten the frames accordingly.