“There is nothing more frustrating than going into a store with hundreds of pairs of frames and absolutely nothing fits.” -Octavia
Only a handful that fit
You run store to store, all over town, trying on glasses.
But each one has only a few options that actually fit you. All the frames you love are much too big. There are children’s glasses, but they don’t look or fit they way you’d like.
You end up with only 5 or 6 pairs to choose from, and you don’t really like any of them.
Have you had this experience? Then you need petite glasses.
8% of women need petite frames
That’s literally millions of women.
But for your local store, that’s not even 10% of their female customers. It’s even less of their total customers – a measly 5% – since half will be male.
Plenty of women need petite eyeglasses. But at any one location, there are not many people buying them. For any single store, petite frames are not exactly a best seller.
As much as they might like to, your local retailer simply can’t afford to offer you a better selection
Opticians can only stock so many frames. They need to carry what sells well. And of course, the most common sizes – the sizes that fit the largest number of people – are what sells the best.
So, retailers carry a disproportionate number of the most common sizes. That lets them offer the best selection to the largest number of people.
The result? You are flooded with lens width 52 frames – the most common women’s size. But there’s only a handful of the smaller sizes (lens width 45 to 50) that fit best on women like you.
That’s why everywhere you go, the selection is lousy!
Online shopping offers the best selection
Many women with small or narrow faces are starting to look online for their eyewear.
The selection is so much better than any single store. This makes it easier not only to find a comfortable and attractive fit, but also to find a style that matches who you are.
Have you struggled to find frames you like? Post in the comments!
I wish you offered a half rimmed style. I find these look best on a petite face. I’m glad to know someone is addressing this issue. I have always struggled to find appropriate glasses for my face. Although I am not ready to order, I have bookmarked your sight for the future hoping you will offer more styles at that time.thx
Thanks, Jennifer! I definitely intend to offer semi-rimless in the future. It is a popular request for sure 🙂
I appreciate that you offer petite eye glass frames, but your inventory (as of Jan 2020) lacks diverse styles. Most of these frames all have a similar cat-shape (I don’t know how else to describe it), whereby the upper-outer corners are a bit pointed, with a heavy frame. Not my style. I would love to find petite glasses that are rim-less, or have a more oval shape with a thin bronze-color frame. I hope your inventory expands into other frame styles.
Hi Cherie, Thanks for sharing your frame needs. I am very excited to offer more styles in the future, just as soon as I can!
I love that you are helping the fellow petite-faced women out! I’d love to see metal square/contemporary cat eye frames in dainty gold/rose gold/silver options!
Thanks so much for sharing what you want! Always helpful to get requests like these.
Those would be great colors. Do you know what size you need?
Can you offer glasses on the larger side of petite? I wear a bridge width of 17-19, but you only have glasses with a bridge width of 15-16. The narrow frames from Warby Parker are too tight at my temples, too. I have an impossible time finding glasses, especially the larger styles that have been popular in the past 10 years or so. Can you offer more current styles, like the rounder small metal ones, and the clear pink/lavender biggish ones?
Hi Mara,
Thanks so much for sharing that. I absolutely love hearing what my shoppers would like to see more of. It’s true that my current selection is in the mid-range of petite sizing. I plan to go a little larger, as well as a little smaller.
Great style requests as well. Love those looks! I hope to roll out new styles later this year.
Thanks for taking the time!
So frustrating to find glasses that fit my small face! Also have a narrow bridge and most glasses slip down my nose. The only glasses that fit are rimless with adjustable nose pads. Happy to find another option ! Can’t wait to receive my try on order. Live the pink Phyllis frames
Thanks so much for sharing, Iris! I hope the Phyllis works out for you 🙂
Such great explanations – I understand now why I can not find frames. People think I’m ridiculously picky but the frames are always too big. I’ve had some very expensive poor choices. But I’m in the UK so can’t visit your store. Thanks for the great article.
Jessica, Thanks for sharing your experience. I completely relate to spending too much money on frames that just weren’t that great of fit but were the best that I could find at the time.
I do hope to go international in the future 🙂