In an optometry shop, you’re bound to get advice from an optician regarding the fit of your eyeglasses. When you shop online to enjoy a larger selection and lower prices, it’s helpful to understand the nuances of fitting eyeglasses. 

It’s a material world. Frame materials, that is. From plastics to metals, and everything in between, here we offer you a look at today’s top frame materials.

Eyeglass frames materials are generally described as metal, plastic, or a combination of the two. These are the broad buckets in which most frame materials belong but there’s quite a bit of variety within them.

How do you select an eyeglass frame material?

It’s likely, you’re more concerned with a look, color, or feel—not a material per se. Or maybe you’re looking for a particular feature…

• You’re into fun colors with flair. Plastics fit the bill.
• You want fashion? Perhaps you’d prefer a combination metal and plastic cat-eye frame with rhinestones or crystals.
• Function? For styling thin, lightweight, or hypoallergenic frames, titanium is tops.
• Want high tech and futuristic? Check out carbon fiber, made from fibers woven together for super strength.
• And, finally, you have options for eco-friendly eyeglass frames.

To help you understand your options and select the material that’s right for you, we present a comprehensive rundown of frame materials—three plastics and seven metals.

Cat-eye glasses were born in the 1930s (though they had yet to labeled as such). Altina Schinasi, the inventor of the popular frame, explains in her documentary Altina how she first came to the idea.

Image source: Parade

Schinasi had noticed how boring all glasses were as if most frames hadn’t improved from the time of Benjamin Franklin. She asked herself, “What would look good on a face?” Her answer: a Harlequin mask. And so the “Harlequin glasses” were born.

There are some TV personalities you just can’t picture without their signature style eyeglasses. Whether they rock the same style as their TV counterpart or not, the television celebrities have great style on and off the screen. We gathered some of the most notable glasses-wearing TV stars and the frames you can shop to steal their style.