Chapter 21: how glasses became the biggest beauty statement of 2023

Get your glasses out, stat.

Nov 09, 2023

I can no longer ignore it. I’ve been thinking about it for almost an entire year. Glasses—thin, wire-frame rimmed and all sorts of heavenly nerdy versions—are everywhere. In 2023, it felt like glasses wholeheartedly usurped the previous throne held by any lipstick, various style of eyeshadow or different kinds of radical eyeliner. Glasses are now, without a doubt, beauty’s biggest statement. Are you ready for wild rise of eyeglasses? Welcome, to the new era of reading glass heroes.

At Chanel, Shushu/Tong and Miu Miu’s spring 2024 shows (and more), models wore kooky intellectual librarian looks with bookish glasses. But off the runway, Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa, Kaia Gerber, Bad Bunny, Ice Spice, Pedro Pascal and plenty of others are embracing little rectangular eyeglasses as the nerdy aesthetic rises in beauty culture. Subversive with a hint of intellectual—that’s what we’re seeing.

Rather than deck out one’s eyes with masterpieces of eyeliner or eyeshadows, people are trading that out for eyeglasses, even if they have prefect vision. All over TikTok people are obsessing over Miu Miu's early 2000s glasses as well as Emily's glasses from The Devil Wears Prada. And though I try to do anything but give the Kardashians more attention, Kim wore glasses in her SKIMs nipple bra campaign.

Glasses are entering the beauty conversation, and we love it. While it seems most people are partial to a very particular kind of Y2K thin frames right now, I myself love extremely large, oval Italian grandma style frames despite my near-perfect vision.

I also love frameless, square glasses with extremely odd details. I bought a pair of vintage retro Chanel glasses just like that; with a singular pearl drop beneath one of the frames. It’s totally evil spy genius. Glasses undoubtedly add an extra layer of meaning to any outfit, but they also literally change the shape of your face in one very analog step. In an AI-obsessed world, that feels extra meaningful right now.

In the next few months, more and more people are going to embrace glasses over contacts or opt for non-prescription versions wherever they go. Like the humble gas station glasses from last year, cheap reading glasses will be scooped up right and left.

Anyway, these are a few of my favorite glasses to indulge in right now:

Vintage Miu Miu Glasses

Everyone wants to be a Miu Miu nerd right now. These ones are $59.

The Miu Miu reading glasses to end all reading glasses. These are the iconic style people are obsessed with right now.

Vintage Italian (Granny) Glasses

You’ll never convince me not to love these. $48.

These extra-wide versions also allow you to play with eye makeup. Also $48.

This shape is so chic to me. $50.

Evil Spy Chanel Glasses

Chanel made a lot of clear sunglasses that also look like (chic) eyeglasses in the early 2000s. I love the frames on these. $148.

These have the slightest bit of tint (to make you look all the more evil) and the seller photo is iconic. $189.

Your local cool mom

My mom is one of the best eyeglasses icons I know. A true hardcore eyeglass connoisseur through and through who prefers out-there shapes and colors that no one else dares to wear. Some suggestions from two of her favorite brands: