What browline glasses are
A browline frame has two parts that most frames keep as one. The upper part is a heavy bar across the top of each lens, usually in acetate, that runs from the outer corner to the bridge and carries the hinges and the brow of the frame. The lower part is a thin wire or a nylon cord that holds the bottom of the lens, or nothing, so the lens edge shows. The effect is a frame that reads from a distance as two thick eyebrows with lenses hanging from them, and it is that top-heavy balance, not any particular lens shape, that makes a frame a browline. The lens underneath is usually a soft rectangle or a rounded square, but a browline can be built over a round lens or a keyhole-bridged panto as easily.
The shape was designed in the late forties, owned the fifties and early sixties as the standard office frame for men in the United States, and came back in the late 2000s with the wider mid-century revival that the retro glasses guide covers; the types of glasses frames guide places it among the combination frames. It comes three ways: the full browline, an acetate brow over a thin metal rim that goes all the way round the lens; the half rim, with a nylon cord or nothing under the lens, lighter and more modern but easier to chip; and the combination, a brow in acetate with the rest in matching metal, the quietest version.
Who browline glasses suit
The browline is a strong line at the brow, and almost every face is improved by one:
Round and oval faces take the browline best, because the heavy top edge adds the definition a round face lacks; the glasses for a round face guide has the rest.
Square and angular faces take it over a rounded lens, so the frame does not repeat the jaw; the glasses for a square face guide explains why.
Long faces take it when the lens is deep, because a shallow browline sits as a thin stripe on a long face and makes it longer.
Heart faces should keep the brow narrow and the colour soft, because the browline adds width at the widest point of the face.
It suits strong eyebrows better than faint ones, because two brows stacked on a faint one look heavy, and it is one of the best frames for a bald head, where the bar gives the upper face a line, which the glasses for bald men guide covers.
Browline glasses for men and for women
The shape started as a men's frame and most of the search for it is still men's, where the rules are a dark brow, black, dark tortoise or deep brown, over a gold or silver lower rim, in a lens that is wider than it is deep. The glasses for men guide sets it beside the other four men's shapes.
Browline glasses for women take the same brow bar and change the lens under it: a cat eye with a lifted corner, a rounder lens, a clear or coloured brow, a warmer tortoise. The women's browline sits close to the cat eye, and the cat eye glasses guide draws the line: a cat eye lifts at the outer corner, a browline is heavy along the whole top edge, and a frame can be both.
How to wear a browline
Sit it at the brow. The brow bar should sit on or just under the eyebrow, not halfway down the nose; a browline that has slid shows the real brow above the fake one. The checks in the how should glasses fit guide apply with extra force here, and a lower bridge cut or adjustable pads keep it up on a lower nose bridge.
Match the brow bar to the hair. The bar reads as hair colour on the face: black and dark brown on dark hair, tortoise on brown and auburn, a lighter tortoise or crystal on blonde and grey. A black brow on very light hair is the hardest version to carry.
Keep the rest of the frame quiet. A thin lower rim, plain temples, a clear lens. A browline with a thick lower rim is just a thick frame, which the thick frame glasses guide covers on its own.
Size it so the lens reaches the cheekbone, because a shallow lens leaves a gap of cheek that the heavy top makes more obvious.
Browline sunglasses
The sunglass version never went away: an acetate brow over a thin metal rim, with a dark or green lens, is one of the five permanent sunglass shapes and the sixties pair in most people's minds, which the 60s sunglasses guide covers. The rules are the optical rules with one addition: a dark lens under a dark brow can read as a solid block, so the lens is usually a shade lighter than the brow or a gradient that fades to the bottom, and a green or brown lens is the classic pairing. The retro sunglasses guide places the browline beside the other revived shapes.
The MUJOSH frames that carry the brow line
A straight answer first: MUJOSH does not make a true browline, in either range, at the time of writing. What it has is a group of frames that put their weight at the brow and read as the same idea, the upper edge defined and the lower edge lighter. If the browline look is what you want, these are the frames; if the browline construction is what you want, the range cannot supply it yet, and this guide says so rather than stretching a cat eye to fit.
- Trendy Diamond, $99: a diamond-cut cat eye in acetate with a low bridge fit, in GBT black or BBT. The brow-led optical frame in the range, with a defined upper edge and a facet along the top that catches the light the way a brow bar does; the nearest optical cousin to the women's browline.
- Beta Pitot, $135: a square-round front with beta-titanium temples and a low bridge fit, in BGT black with gold temples or HTT dark tortoise. The combination frame of the range, a dark front over fine metal, which is the browline's material pairing in a full-rim shape; the men's choice here.
- Ban Habit, $79: a cat eye sunglass with a defined brow line, polarized on both colourways, cut for a lower nose bridge, in BAB amber brown. The product page uses the words brow line itself; this is the sunglass in the range that reads most like a browline.
- Flashback, $79: a square sunglass with an acetate front and slim metal temples, polarized on every colourway, cut for a lower nose bridge, in TSS, SSR or SGB. The combination sunglass, acetate meeting metal, with the top edge of the front doing the brow's job.
The optical frames are in the eyeglasses collection and the acetate frames collection, the sunglasses in the sunglasses collection, and the two with the low bridge cut in the low bridge fit eyeglasses collection. The glasses styles for women guide and the metal frame glasses guide cover the rest of the optical range, and the acetate glasses guide the material a browline brow is made of.
The bottom line
Browline glasses are a heavy brow over a light lower rim, a shape that suits most faces because it does what a strong eyebrow does, worn at the brow in a colour that matches the hair. MUJOSH does not make a true browline today; the frames that carry the brow-led look are Trendy Diamond and Beta Pitot in the optical range and Ban Habit and Flashback among the sunglasses, named here as the nearest cousins rather than the thing itself.
Frequently asked questions
What are browline glasses?
A frame with a thick upper rim along the eyebrow and a thin or absent lower rim, so the weight of the frame sits at the brow. The shape dates from the late forties, was the standard men's frame of the fifties and came back with the wider mid-century revival; it comes as a full browline, a half rim and a combination of acetate and metal.
Who do browline glasses suit?
Most faces, because a strong line across the brow improves almost everyone. Round and oval faces take the browline best, square faces take it over a rounded lens, long faces need a deep lens under the bar, and heart faces should keep the brow narrow. It suits strong eyebrows and a bald head particularly well.
Does MUJOSH make browline glasses?
Not at the moment, in either the optical or the sun range. The frames that carry the brow-led look are Trendy Diamond, a diamond-cut cat eye with a defined upper edge, Beta Pitot, a dark front over beta-titanium temples, and on the sun side Ban Habit, a cat eye with a defined brow line, and Flashback, an acetate front on metal temples.
How should browline glasses sit?
On or just under the eyebrow, so the brow bar follows the real brow rather than sitting below it. A browline that slides down shows two sets of brows, which is the look to avoid; a lower bridge cut or adjustable nose pads keep it in place on a lower nose bridge, and the lens should reach the cheekbone.
