Now that the summer has arrived, it is time to upgrade your chic look by swapping those clear lens nerd glasses for a pair of cool retro sunglasses. And there is something for everybody’s sense of style, from the basic functional “keep the sun outta my eyes” models, to cute hippy chic heart shaped sunglasses. Plus you will be able to find something hip whatever your budget, from super cheap Blues Brothers Wayfarers for under $10, to a designer pair of iconic Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses for anything up to $200.
Blues Brothers Wayfarer Sunglasses
| Click Here To Browse Wayfarer Sunglasses | ||
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| Bargain Wayfarers | Ray-Bans Wayfarers | Blues Brothers Shades |
This style is extremely popular at the moment, with teens and older people, mainly because for the teens they offer a retro look to go along with the current trend for vintage clothing. And for older people, they relate the classic shape to an earlier time in their life, and perhaps enable them to return to their youth just for a while.
Of course, the Wayfarer style is synonymous with the Blues Brothers movie, so at some point, everybody – whatever their fashion sense – has to agree that they are just so cool!
Shutter Glasses
| Click Here To Browse Shutter Shades | ||
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| Shutter Shades | USA Shutter Shades | Lens Shutter Shades |
Another style which has gained popularity from the hip-hop artists, notably Kanye West, is the shutter shades. These are another fashion accessory where you can pay a little or pay a lot, but if you are only happy to spend less than $5, you will have to be careful with them; some brands are very sturdy, and others break easily, so it’s a case of “should I spend $2 but need to keep replacing them” or “should I spend $6 and get a pair which lasts”. The choice is yours, but I noticed the customer review of this pair, which confirmed the quality. Your best bet is to look around the reviews and see what others are saying about each pair.
John Lennon Sunglasses
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| Pink round glasses | Mirrored round glasses | Dark round glasses |
For a retro 60′s style, perhaps one of the most memorable images was of John Lennon and his round sunglasses. This is a fashion statement that many fans of the man and The Beatles tried to copy, and for the younger generation today, the John Lennon sunglasses have become more popular again.
As usual, Amazon is a great place to find these glasses at great prices, and there are some very nice designs, whether you like the classic black lens, or are more extrovert and prefer the mixed pink and blue ones.
Heart Sunglasses
| Click Here To Browse Heart Shaped Sunglasses | ||
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| Red Heart shades | Floral Heart glasses | Love Heart glasses |
For a more colorful, hippy style, heart shaped sunglasses are perfect and look really cute. They are often worn for fun by college girls at music festivals around the world, but are also ideal for the beach, and can be worn to suit your mood, because they are (again!) pretty cheap. The great thing about heart glasses is that, while the lenses keep the sun out of your eyes, the frames are pretty much “anything goes” with a whole range of different colors to choose from and even glittery ones if that’s your gig!
Aviator Sunglasses
| Click Here To Browse Aviator Sunglasses | ||
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| Ray-Bans Aviator | Plastic Aviator Shades | Red Aviator Shades |
While many of the styles mentioned so far are either for boys and girls, or exclusively for girls (I don’t quite picture the guys wearing heart shaped glasses!), the mirrored aviators are probably something more associated with the men. Aviator sunglasses for men are the ones associated with movies like Top Gun, and have that military feel about them. But despite all that, Aviator shades are also available for women, and are commonly branded as unisex.
This style tends to cover a wide range of brands, and various levels of quality, and that is reflected in the sticker prices, from the expensive Ray-Bans to the more affordable ones for under twenty bucks. And some high-priced high-quality pairs have glass lenses, whereas others are plastic. It depends on you, but it might be best to steer clear of glass in any case (I’m always dropping my shades, so glass ones wouldn’t last very long!)
So those are just some of the best sunglasses out there at the moment, some of which are almost novelty value fashion, others are more serious fashion statements, many are best classed as vintage sunglasses, whereas in some cases they are retro with a contemporary twist. Truly something for everybody. Just make sure the ones you buy have proper UV protection for your eyes though, as there’s nothing worse than thinking you are nicely protected, only to find out later that you might as well have not bothered! So, take care in the sun, and stay cool!
