Accessories for your face shape

Every face shape is a set of proportions, and each accessory adds a line or a width at one height of the face. A hat works at the top, through the height of its crown and the width of its brim. Glasses draw a line across the eyes and brows. Hair frames the sides and decides how much forehead shows. Earrings act at the jaw and the neck.

The rule is to add what your shape lacks where it lacks it, and not to echo what it already has. A round face gains from corners and length, a square face from curves, a long face from width, and a face that narrows toward the chin from width low down. Repeating the shape does the opposite: round frames on a round face, or long drops on a long face, make the trait stronger.

Scale matters as much as shape. Small features look lost under a wide brim or oversized frames, and on a broad face tiny studs and narrow frames look like an afterthought. Read the section for your shape, then adjust the size of each piece to your face.

An oval face, a little longer than it is wide and with a jaw a little narrower than the forehead, is balanced already, so it has the widest choice in every category. Instead of correcting the shape, let other things decide: hair texture for the cut, the width of your face at the temples for the frames, your height and shoulders for the hat brim, and your neck for earring length. The one real risk is hiding a good outline under heavy bangs or a brim pulled low.

A round face measures nearly the same across as from hairline to chin, with full cheeks and a soft jaw, so every category should add length and a few angles. For hair, keep height on top and the sides narrow, or let the length fall past the chin with a side part; a cut that puffs out at cheek level adds width where you have the most. Choose angular frames such as rectangle, square or browline, at least as wide as your cheekbones. In hats, a creased or pinched crown with a medium brim adds height, more so worn with a slight tilt. For earrings, think long and narrow.

A square face has forehead, cheekbones and jaw at about one width and a firm jaw corner, so the aim in every category is curves. Hair with soft, textured ends around the jaw breaks up the corner, while a blunt cut that stops right at the jawline draws a ruler along it. Round, oval, aviator and cat-eye frames soften the face, and boxy frames repeat it. Hats with soft, rounded crowns and curved or floppy brims beat stiff, square ones. Hoops and teardrops bring movement near the jaw, and the earring try-on lets you set them against angular pieces on your own face.

A heart face is widest at the forehead and cheekbones and narrows to a small chin, so add width low and keep the top light. Hair with volume around the chin, soft bangs that cover part of the forehead, or a cut that ends between the chin and the collarbone fills in the lower half. Frames that are light along the top or wider at the bottom, such as aviator, oval, round or rimless, suit it better than a heavy brow bar. A medium brim and a close-fitting crown keep a hat from widening the forehead further. Earrings that widen toward the bottom put weight beside the chin.

An oblong face is long for its width, and its forehead, cheekbones and jaw are close together in width, so add width and take away length. In hair, go for fullness at the sides and straight or curtain bangs that shorten the forehead, and avoid extra height on top or very long, flat lengths. Frames with deep lenses or a strong horizontal line break up the length. A wide brim and a low crown, worn a little lower on the forehead, shorten the face. In earrings, choose studs, huggies or short hoops that add width at the ear, and skip long drops.

A diamond face is widest at the cheekbones, with a narrower forehead and jaw and often a pointed chin, so add width at the brow and the chin. Side-swept bangs or fuller hair at the temples widen the top, and a cut that ends at the chin fills out the bottom. Frames that stress the brow line, such as browline, cat-eye, oval or rimless, balance the cheekbones. Pick a hat with a brim at least as wide as your cheekbones, so the head does not look narrow above them. Studs keep the cheekbones calm, and earrings that widen toward the bottom add width at the jaw.

Each piece can be right for your face and the whole look still be too much. Keep one statement per look: bold frames and large earrings both pull the eye, one at eye level and one at the jaw, and together they compete. With heavy frames, choose studs or huggies; with chandeliers or long drops, choose thin metal or rimless frames.

A hat and the hair under it work as one shape. Long hair worn down under a hat adds width below the brim, which helps a heart or oblong face, while short hair leaves the neck and jaw on show, which helps when the brim already adds a lot. Voluminous hair needs a hat that sits on top of it rather than one that flattens it. With glasses, let the temples run under the hat's edge to the ears, and keep in mind that a wide brim over heavy frames stacks two strong lines across the upper face.

Hair decides which earrings are seen at all. Hair worn down over the ears hides studs completely, so pick a piece that hangs below it, while a pixie or a buzz cut shows every earring and gives small ones more presence. Matching metals ties the pieces together: gold frames with gold hoops read as one choice, mixed metals as two.

On the home page you can see several pieces on your own selfie at once as a Full Look, for two credits: glasses, earrings and either a new haircut or a hat, since a hat would hide the cut.