The form is closely related to the browline style, differentiated by having an upsweep at the outer edges where the temples or arms join the frame front.

An early precursor of the cat-eye eyeglass shape was American Optical's Ful-Vue product, from 1931, in which the hinges were placed on the upper portion of the eyeglass frame to reveal the wearer's eye from the sides.

One of the first pairs was bought by Vogue and Vanity Fair writer and socialite Clare Boothe Luce, raising the profile of the new style further.

[1] The style was popularized in the next two decades by celebrities and actresses such as Marilyn Monroe,[2] Catherine Deneuve,[3] and Audrey Hepburn.

[4] Other notable wearers of cat-eye eyeglasses include Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage, Jane Jacobs, Amy Lamé, Lisa Loeb, Dinah Manoff, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Chisholm,[5] Mary Whitehouse, Allison Wolfe and Barbara Windsor.