It is a truth universally acknowledged that nerds wear glasses. Usually ugly, unflattering glasses. There are several types of glasses that are signifiers of deeply-entrenched nerd-dom:
Chunky black plastic (tape on the bridge optional), sometimes chunky tortoiseshell plastic instead—as worn by the classic Nerd, though these have lately come back into fashion again, style being a Cyclic Trope
Coke-bottle glasses so thick they're opaque—have their own page at Opaque Nerd Glasses
Unflatteringly large glasses poorly proportioned to the wearer's face—often with thin frames; in live-action these have the advantage that they don't block the wearer's face
Old-fashioned round hornrims—sign of an Absentminded Professor or academic-nerd. Like the chunky black plastic example above, round hornrims have also become popular again as of The New '10s.
Half-moon glasses—around the 50's, these were the eyewear of choice for the original nerds, although nowadays they're more of an old lady librarian style
Browline glasses—a two-piece frame with thick plastic upper frames and thin wire lower frames popular in the fifties and sixties. Most often seen on highly intelligent and well-read types, or people who like to think they are. Similar to the above-mentioned black plastic and hornrim glasses, browlines are also back in as of late.
"Cat-eye" glasses—once ultra-fashionable for women in the 50's, now usually restricted to lady nerds (and the occasional hipster)—unless they have rhinestones or are purple, in which case they are Impossibly Tacky Eyewear
Repaired glasses—broken frames held together by a shoddy repair job involving improvised materials like paper clips and adhesive tape
Compare Bespectacled Cutie. You may also be interested in the other Glasses Tropes.
Nerd Glasses has been suggested to play 23 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
