History and Origin of Sunglasses

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admin June 22, 2018
Updated 2019/11/24 at 9:40 AM
Sunglasses Origin

This article is about sunglasses origin. How are our favorite sunglasses came into existence and its evolution.

Today, once we see the blinding sun, then it is time to dig out those sunglasses; and onto our eyes, they go. There are so many varieties right now; from the large frames that take up half of our faces to the little sunglasses; like the Kardashian-Jenner glasses that barely cover our eyes.

Different colors, size, texture shades; all are out to give a sense of mysterious sensuality to our overall look, masking away emotions and keeping but a spirit of rebellion, since the eyes naturally are the gateway to the heart.

Sunglasses Origin

Sunglasses Origin

All of these and more, but we often cannot tell just how  long  it really took us to get here; and that we would learn from Dr. Vanessa Brown. Brown is  author of “Cool Shades: The History and Meaning of Sunglasses” and also a professor of culture, style, and fashion at the School of Art and Design, Nottingham-Trent University. According to records, it is said that the first pair of sunglasses can be traced back to the native Inuit cultures; who were said to have made large goggles out of whalebone with slits to combat the blinding sun; which were more reflected by the presence of snow.

According to Brown about sunglasses Origin, she said that the industrially styled glasses evolved from the late 1910s in a bid to inspire the sense of contemporary arts. As early as the 1920s, the glasses we know today were used at the beach to help with squinting because of the Sun; but they were not regarded as a fashion statement.

After the World War 1, Sunglasses, according to Brown, were also used to help people especially soldiers who sustained eye injuries from the war.

In the 1930s, glasses began to find its way into the Fashion world; as women who rode in cars that didn’t yet have windows wore them. This was as a result of the revolution that Women were becoming independent; it was worn to reflect just that independence.

By 1938, the first fashion-branded glasses were seen on every street corners; because it genuinely gave its user a cool and collected composure.

Following this revolution, Bosch & Lomb created the classic aviator frame, at first, it was invented for pilots to protect their eyes but it fast overtook the fashion world, because it was said to exude the same bold and risk-taking composure as seen with the World War 1 pilots.

It was said that Fighter pilots were notorious for their inability to stay within the rules; so they wore these glasses as a finishing look to show just how much better they were than their superiors.

By late ’40s and early ’50s, the revolution by women was way underway; with a lot of women, cutting off their hair. Soon companies, who made combs ran out of business and to grow with the trend took on the creation of more an more alluring sunglasses made to exude femininity delicately.

Then came the jazz induced iconic sunglasses of the 1950s, orchestrated by Ray-Ban; and especially worn by jazz performers to give an air of mystique to their overall performance.

By 1960s, sunglasses became seen in many more sizes and shapes; and although we still had the aviators and wayfarers; small rounded frames were fast becoming everyone’s favorite; as well as the big bug-eyed Francois Pinton styles favored by Jackie O.  In addition, another favorite sunglasses was the Paco Rabanne debuted spacey, alien-like frames; which stood out completely from every other glass.

Sunglasses Origin

With time, the trend moved towards clearer, brighter lenses, as opposed to dark ones; with the idea of being natural while still portraying an edgy view of the face; and this moved quite well with the hippie movement.

The 80s were seen with glam style rock sunglasses that made away with angular and asymmetry. These sunglasses were made in many different colors including white, yellow, red and blue. These glasses were created to give that look that keeps each user away from the crowd. Quite ironically, the Wayfarer glasses remained in trends especially due to the Tom Crusie movie “Risky Business” in 1983

With the onset of technology, the 90s were dominated by frames that exuded the air of alien dominance, but this quite contrary gave way to slender frames in the early 2000s. According to Brown, the movement of these slim frames came as a result of the negative feeling towards technology as technology sought to overturn the World.

In today’s World says Brown about sunglasses origin; glasses are all about riffing through the cycles of glasses that has been seen before, for a reason we can’t seem to understand, there is no shape or size that seems to dominate, all we see is different shapes and sizes; classic as well as modern frames.

According to Erica Russo,” the Oversized crazy heart shape with glitter certainly means you are fun and whimsical And if you enjoy staying within the trends but have the tendency to be unique, then you are probably more comfortable in slim sun style glasses.

Well, whatever your choice of sunglasses, keep slaying it; the lovely out of the World look it gives means we have not even seen the last of it yet. We hope you learnt a lot about sunglasses origin from this post.

 

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