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You can't walk down an urban street without running into an emaciated hipster sporting a pair of knocked-off Wayfarers.

Thankfully, this fall ditches the indie-kid clichés and calls upon another bespectacled muse:

Harry Potter.

Proof that geeks are hitting the mainstream: Cool kids like Paul Smith and Ralph Lauren have added thick plastic and thin metal round frames in their sunglass and prescription collections. It's the perfect topper to fall's wardrobe for men, which skews nerdy with bow ties and cardigans.

Hip celebs are catching on as well. Mary-Kate Olsen, known for her style-setting ways, was spotted wearing a tiny pair of circular shades on her way to David Letterman recently.

And let's not forget the fall women's runway, where models at Marni, Lacoste and Sonia Rykiel looked like modern day Annie Halls.

"Thick plastic is ideal for the fall and winter season," says Amin Mamdani, vice-president of Josephson Opticians. "Layered, darker clothes go well with these frames."

Thin metal frames, on the other hand, are hot librarian when paired with sharp tailoring and classic lines. See Woody Allen's heroine of choice, Scarlett Johansson, who added sex appeal to round specs in his 2006 film Scoop.

As a rule of thumb, Mamdani advises to reach for rectangular glasses if your melon is round. Because circular specs sit larger on the face, they work best on longer, narrower visage.

While round frames can be very distinctive, if they just don't suit you, reach for sunglasses instead; they reference the trend without the commitment.