Old City Trends:

Sunglass Statement

By Michaela McNamara

Calling all space cadets and astronauts! The sunglasses in the Oldest City are bigger than ever, for both men and women. Are we shielding our eyes from ultraviolet sun rays, or just trying to outdo other trendsters with the largest, funkiest, most bubbly sunglasses we can find?

Whatever the case may be, I like it — a lot. I think that sunglasses are a translation of our personalities, and like shoes, they can say a lot about the sorts of things we’re into. For instance, jocks like Oakleys, surfers prefer their Electrics and Von Zipper’s, and funny guys love aviators.

Ladies have a bit more variety and fun with their eyewear. The two biggest trends I’ve noticed are huge sunglasses that take over faces and bubbly white frames. The Jackie O./Nicole Richie-style glasses are pretty cute, but they sure are enormous. Celebrities have definitely brought them back into style, but there’s no point in spending $250 on a pair. Von Zipper’s Dharma pair costs about $70 and is available down the street at the Surf Station. Rochelle’s and the Final Groove also sell sunglasses for a fraction of that cost.

Even if you don’t hop on the oversized sunglasses trend, you’ve got to admit that sunglasses reflect what’s going on in fashion and culture. The hippies wore colorful, small sunglasses to suggest their preference for all things psychedelic. Ray-Bans and aviator glasses were sweet in the 80s when Tom Cruise was making movies like Risky Business and Top Gun. Movies were so much more culturally significant and cherished then. In the 1990s sunglasses were minimalist and understated to reflect attitudes.

So, the question I leave you with is, what are the flashy, enormous sunglasses of today saying? Perhaps we like everything bigger and better? Or do we want everyone to look at us and wonder, “Why the need for those mammoths on her face?” You decide.