Sizing

	The Optometrist Attic
	Vintage Twentieth Century Eyeglasses

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Fitting and Measuring

Check Your Glasses - Measure Where? - Cable Temples - Skull Temples - Virtual Fitting

Vintage Eyeglasses Were Smaller

Please keep in mind that vintage frames were worn smaller than modern glasses, so give some thought to your minimum size, especially in wire frames. This will give you more selection when considering vintage and antique styles. Why were they smaller? Until the early 1950s, lenses were almost all glass, much heavier than modern plastic lenses. Smaller lenses meant lighter glasses!

Compare Measurements

To check your measurements, look first to your current glasses. If you don't have any daily-wear glasses, you can use some sunglasses, keeping in mind that they'll tend to be a touch larger than prescription frames. If your glasses were made after 1950 or so, they might have the measurements etched on them already!

If you're wearing contemporary, modern-style frames, the measurements you find written on your glasses may not translate directly to a vintage style of frame. You may want to take some measurements and then spend a little time in front of the mirror considering size options using a pair of your own glasses and a ruler.
(If you don't one, here's a useful ruler to print and use to measure. The link opens a millimeter ruler in PDF format intended for printing. Disable any ''resize'' options when printing.)

Older wire rims almost never have sizes engraved on them, so check out the Measure from Where to Where section down below.

If your glasses do have sizes marked on them, most lens and bridge measurements will be in millimeters and many, but not all, temple measurements will be in inches. Strange, but that’s the way it's done.

	Lens widths run from 35 mm up to 54 mm (and even higher in the 1970's and beyond) and bridge sizes are usually from 16 mm up to 26 mm. This frame has 48 mm lenses and a 24 mm bridge.
Sometimes measurements will be written on the bridge tabs, especially on clear frames or women's frames. This one has a 46 mm lens width and an 18 mm bridge.

On the temples, you'll see ''4 1/2 – 5 3/4'' or sometimes just ''7'', which is the longest temple I've found. The longer temple number is the full length. More contemporary frames may be in metric, in which case they'll be 135, 140 or 145, something like that. The photo below shows a 5 3/4 inch (145 mm) temple, the average length for most men's frames.

Sometimes plastic or aluminum frames will read ''48 – 22'' on the back corner of the rims, or sometimes 48 in one corner and 22 in another. The frame shown above is a 48-22-5 3/4'' (145 mm).

Even if your frames are marked for a size, I heartily recommend measuring…

Measure from Where to Where?

	The lenses and bridge are measured from the edges of the lenses themselves (not the sides of the rims).
Hinge-to-hinge is measured from one hinge screw to the other and is not across the full front of the frames. It's very helpful to get an idea of your own, personal MINIMUM hinge to hinge measurement. Minimum is helpful because vintage frames were smaller than today's glasses. If there's space between your temples and the side of head near your eyes, how much space is there? Could your glasses temples be closer to your head? If so, how much closer? Subtract that space from your hinge to hinge to get an idea of your minimum hinge to hinge.
	Temples are measured from hinge to tip, as though they were straightened out.
Temple measurements are hinge to tip as though straightened out for ALL glasses: wire, plastic, or aluminum. Why? Because temples are adjustable.

If you don't one, here's a useful ruler to print and use to measure. (This link opens a millimeter ruler in PDF format intended for printing. Disable any ''resize'' options when printing.)

Measuring Cable Temples

To measure cable temples, use a cloth measuring tape or you can even a use a piece of note paper. Tuck one end of the paper against the hinge and lay it flat against the length of the temple, curling it completely around the ear-bend to the end of the wire.

Don't have any cable temples to measure for comparison? Check below for some ideas on figuring your cable temple length without cable temples at hand.

Mark the end of the temple on the paper.

Flatten the paper and measure to your mark. This should give you a good idea of your cable temple length.

If you don't one, here's a useful ruler to print and use to measure. (This link opens a millimeter ruler in PDF format intended for printing. Disable any ''resize'' options when printing.)

Measuring for Cables without Glasses

If you don't have any glasses with cable temples, you can do a similar trick to what's shown above with a piece of string or wire wrapped from the corner of some glasses to behind your ear. Antique wire frames are usually narrower than modern-day frames, so you might cheat the ''imaginary hinge'' toward your nose just a bit to compensate.

What Length Cable Temple?

A standard cable temple length for an adult male is around 6 1/2 inches (165 mm), though they run from 5 to 7 inches. It's usually better to get them a little long and then bend back the cables if they poke you in the back of the ear. The bend-back technique is also used to keep cable temple covers in place, which I heartily recommend. Also note that cables really are adjustable. The curvature of the cable can be changed so that they fit you properly. Most experienced optical shops can handle this for you without blinking. It does help to have ''the touch'', but you can do the adjusting, too, and I'm happy to explain how if you're interested.

Cable Temple Covers

I recommend plastic cable temple covers to extend the life of your temples. Before discovering temple covers, I was replacing my cable temples every two years. Now I just replace the covers every few years and have kept the same pair of temples for over ten years! I'm partial to the vintage ''flesh'' color, but they come in other colors, too.

What Length Skull Temple?

Skull temples run from 5 to 7 inches. The average temple length for men is 5 3/4 inches (145 mm) and women’s frames are 5 1/4 (133 mm) or 5 1/2 inches (139 mm). Again, please remember that temples are adjustable and your optician will fit them specially to your head.

Virtual Fitting Trick

Here's a good trick:
1. Copy the front view photo of the frames.
2. Paste it into a blank Word document (or most any document creation software of your choice)
3. Re-size the image so that the full-front frame width will print out at the width listed in the frame dimensions table.
-I set my ''View'' menu to ''Print layout'' and then make the ''paper'' measure 8 1/2 inches across using the ''zoom''. This is trial and error.
-I put a ruler against my screen to see if the ''paper'' is 8 1/2 inches across.
-Then whatever size I make the photo image on the screen will print out that size on paper.
4. Print, cut-out the image and ''try them on''!

Glasses Will Need Adjustment

Please don't expect your glasses to fit perfectly without a little adjustment. Many opticians do small adjustments free of charge. Cable temples are flexible and with a little adjustment at home or by your optician, they form to fit your face properly and comfortably. For adjustments to plastic and aluminum frames, an optician warms up the frame and bends it a little to fit your head. If you have special vision requirements and aren't sure about using a particular frame, check-in with your eyecare professional of choice or feel free to inquire here.

Find a Local Optical Shop

It's always a good idea to check with your own optometrist or optician before getting new glasses. For filling your prescription, try to find a long-established, local optical shop. The 1-hour lens places, discount stores and online lens-makers do their own thing well enough, but I'm partial to the local shops, especially when dealing with the oldest frames. The optician will be glad to see someone who appreciates the old frames!