Sunglasses

by smitikumar

What we now know as sunglasses (or shades or glares or other cool, expensive sounding names- but more on that later) had rather non glamorous origins. They first made their appearance in 17th century Europe as tinted spectacles considered beneficial to the eye or to conceal the eyes of the blind. In the 19th century early polar explorers and high altitude mountaineers felt the need to protect their eyes from the sun and snow glare giving rise to the first sunglasses. Tinted spectacles soon caught on with European and American explorers to the tropics.
But it was only in the 1880s that ‘sun glasses’ became popular among the general public when Europeans took to seaside holidays and bathing. Sea side vendors began selling cheap, tinted dark glasses and called them ‘sun glasses’. In the 1910s, with the invention of automobiles, motoring became a fashionable sport, and protective tinted goggles became popular among motoring enthusiasts.

(Leonardo Dicaprio as Jay Gatsby takes Toby Maguire’s character for a spin, sporting a cool pair of sunglasses. The Great Gatsby, the book and the 2013 movie, is a social commentary on the decadence of the 1920s post war American society.)
What really gave sunglasses their current, exalted status as the quintessential fashion accessory was Hollywood’s embrace in the early1930s. Sunglasses came to symbolize the glamour of Hollywood, with movie stars sporting them at public events (often in an attempt to remain incognito). Despite this, sunglasses of the period were fairly basic, with round, flat glass lenses with narrow, celluloid frames. Over the years sunglasses have continued to evolve both in design and utility.
Some of the popular styles include aviators, wayfarers, over size sunglasses and wrap arounds. I found this interesting website on trends in sunglasses for 2013.
http://fashionbombdaily.com/2013/04/02/spring-2013-shopping-10-must-have-high-fashion-sunglasses/

Oh and now for my favorite bit- popular names for sunglasses. Here are a few interesting ones.
-Shades: sunglasses are commonly called shades in North America
-Glares: commonly used in India specially if the glass is dark
-sun glass: a monocle version
And my absolute favorite. Got this out of Wikipedia, although I have never heard anyone use this.
-cooling glasses: a term used in South India, predominantly Kerela & also the Middle East.
(Source: Encyclopedia of Clothing & Fashion; Wikipedia)