Colourful glasses frames aren’t just for the bold: the right frame colour makes your face look fresher and gives your outfit an accent. Here you’ll find out which colourful glasses suit your skin tone, hair colour and wardrobe, and how to wear colour every day without a second thought.
Key points at a glance
- Your skin’s undertone is what matters most: warm undertones suit coral, orange, olive, honey and tortoiseshell, cool undertones suit blue, petrol, berry, burgundy and grey.
- Your hair and eye colour decide how bright the colour can be. A lot of contrast in your face can take rich shades, a softer look suits muted or transparent ones.
- Single-colour frames are easier to combine than multi-coloured ones. The simplest option is a frame that picks up a colour you already wear often.
- Dark shades such as navy, burgundy or bottle green and transparent frames with a hint of colour are ideal if you’re new to colour.
Single colour, multi-coloured or transparent: types of colourful frames
How the colour is used determines how eye-catching colourful glasses look and how easily you can combine them.
| Type | Effect | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single bold colour | a clear splash of colour, calm overall look | everyday wear, because it’s easy to combine |
| Tone on tone | several shades of one colour, such as a matt dark blue front with lighter blue temples | colour with depth that doesn’t look busy |
| Multi-coloured or patterned | playful, extravagant, a real statement | statement looks with a calm outfit |
| Gradient | the colour fades from top to bottom and looks soft | a gentle introduction to colour |
| Transparent with a tint | light and modern, the colour is less dominant | beginners and very fair skin |
Frames in a single bright colour add colour to your look without making you look like a painter’s palette. Multi coloured glasses frames can look great, but they tip over into “too much” more quickly. You can read more about soft colour transitions in our article Gradient Frame Glasses.
Colourful glasses and skin tone: which colour suits you?
When choosing a colour, your skin’s undertone matters more than whether your skin is fair or dark. It’s warm, cool or neutral, and it stays the same even when you get a tan in summer. Here’s how to find out yours:
- Vein test: if the veins on the inside of your wrist look greenish, your undertone is warm. If they look bluish or purple, it’s cool. If you can’t tell, it’s probably neutral.
- Jewellery test: if gold suits you better, that points to a warm undertone; silver points to a cool one.
- White test: if your skin looks fresh next to pure white, you’re probably cool. If cream flatters you more, you’re probably warm.
| Undertone | Flattering frame colours | Use sparingly |
|---|---|---|
| Warm | coral, orange, mustard, olive green, khaki, honey, tortoiseshell, copper, warm red, gold | icy blue, cool pink, silver grey |
| Cool | blue, navy, petrol, berry, burgundy, pink, purple, grey, silver, black | orange, mustard, camel |
| Neutral | almost anything, especially muted denim blue, dusty pink, emerald green, taupe and burgundy | hardly anything, only very loud neon shades can be too much |
The table is a guide, not a rulebook. You can wear almost any colour you love as long as its brightness and saturation suit you. Our article Which glasses suit me? shows how to choose frame shape and colour together.
Hair, eyes and beard: how bright should your frames be?
Your skin tone sets the direction, while your hair, eyebrows and eyes determine the intensity. The stronger the contrast between your skin and hair, the bolder your frames can be.
- Blonde hair: light to medium shades such as dusty pink, light blue, honey or crystal look harmonious. A very dark frame can look harsh, while a bold colour makes a deliberate statement.
- Brown hair: tortoiseshell, olive, burgundy and petrol pick up the warmth of your hair. With dark brown hair, rich colours work well too.
- Black hair: the strong contrast can take bold colours such as cobalt blue, red, emerald green or black-and-white combinations.
- Red hair: green, petrol, olive, copper and amber bring out your hair colour. Red and pink frames tend to compete with it.
- Grey or white hair: a colourful frame adds a lot of freshness here. Blue, berry, burgundy, petrol or a clear red stand out nicely against grey, while transparent grey looks elegant and subtle.
Your eye colour helps too: blue eyes stand out with copper, tortoiseshell or amber, green eyes with burgundy, berry or purple, brown eyes with blue, green or petrol. If you have a beard, your frames can pick up its colour.
Matching coloured spectacle frames to your wardrobe
You wear your glasses every day, but your clothes change. That’s why your frames should go with what you wear most often. A quick look in your wardrobe shows which colours keep coming up.
- Neutral wardrobe: if you wear a lot of black, grey, navy, beige or white, your glasses can be the only colour in your look. Almost any frame colour works.
- Tone on tone: the frames pick up a colour from your scarf, jumper, shoes or bag. It looks considered.
- Contrast: complementary colours such as blue and orange or green and red look lively, but need a calm base.
- Work and occasion: dark, rich colours such as navy, burgundy or bottle green look professional without being boring. Weekends can be louder.
- Make-up: lipstick and frames look best when they come from the same colour family, either both warm or both cool.
Be brave with colour: wearing bright glasses frames every day
Many of us reach for black, brown or silver out of habit. But the step to colourful spectacle frames is smaller than it feels, and on a grey autumn day, a blue or yellow frame adds a cheerful splash of colour. Here’s how to get started:
- Start dark: navy, burgundy, bottle green or aubergine look almost neutral from a distance and only show their colour up close.
- Go transparent: a frame with a light tint, such as smoky blue or dusty pink, makes the colour feel lighter.
- Colour in the details: a classic front with coloured temples or a coloured inside lets the colour peek through.
- One statement per look: if your glasses are bright, keep the rest of your outfit calm. That way the colour looks intentional.
- A second pair in colour: if you don’t want to commit, wear your classic pair at the office and the bright glasses at the weekend.
Colourful glasses for women
Cat-eye and panto shapes in berry, dusty pink, burgundy or tortoiseshell with a hint of colour are an elegant way to wear colour. If you like it extravagant, choose a multi-coloured or patterned frame and keep your jewellery and make-up simple.
Colourful glasses for men
Navy, dark green, blue-grey and tortoiseshell work particularly well because they go with both suits and jeans. If you want more colour, pick a familiar shape such as the Wayfarer in a bold colour: the well-known silhouette keeps the look grounded.
Multicoloured glasses and bold colours: brands and models
If you’re looking for colourful frames for glasses that really stand out, some brands are a particularly good place to start. You can see which colours are currently available on each product page in our UK shop.
- Etnia Barcelona: the brand from Barcelona is known for richly coloured acetate and unusual colour combinations. Models in the shop include AYA, ENRIC, STELE, CIANE and ROSALIND.
- Wood Fellas: the wooden frames Halo and Flake in the curled/blue version combine wood grain with blue, a natural way to wear colour.
- Polaroid: back in 1947, the traditional American brand introduced an instant camera, and from 1963 it added the colour film Polacolor. Today, Polaroid makes glasses such as the PLD D624 and PLD D827.
- Nike: the Nike 5077 is available in several colour variants in the shop.
- Classics: long-standing favourites such as the Ray-Ban Wayfarer Ease or the Oakley Holbrook RX also come in coloured versions, depending on availability.
Tom Ford FT6058-B 056£160.26
Guess GU50311 056£61.85
Ray-Ban WAYFARER EASE (RX4340V 8401)£73.55
Tom Ford FT6089-B 055£160.26
Tom Ford FT6085-B 056£201.01
Humphreys HU 581118 57£103.64
Tom Ford FT6058-B 055£160.26
Tom Ford FT5812-B 055£160.26Colourful glasses frames: frequently asked questions
Which frame colour suits almost everyone?
Medium tortoiseshell, navy, burgundy and transparent grey are considered particularly versatile. They’re colourful but muted enough to go with warm and cool skin tones and most outfits.
Can I get colourful sunglasses or tinted prescription glasses?
Yes. With colourful sunglasses, the frame, the lenses or both can be coloured. Grey lenses change colours the least, brown lenses look warmer, and coloured or mirrored lenses are mainly a fashion statement. The lens colour says nothing about UV protection, so look out for UV400 and the CE mark. Prescription lenses can also be tinted, for example for prescription sunglasses, so colourful prescription glasses are an option too.
