Episode: Sunglasses

A fashion accessory turned into a medical necessity

It’s summer. Are you wearing your sunglasses?

New episode!

Apparently, according to my own eye doctor, I’m supposed to be wearing sunglasses anytime I go outside for more than 20 minutes. In all seasons. This struck me as a bit much. But, doctor’s orders! And so I found myself in the market for good shades.

My custom-fit sunglasses from Cubitts. They withstand the Texas sun at SXSW! Photo by none other than Avery Friedman

Sunglasses have a really interesting and complicated history, which I will not delve into here (podcast! listen to the podcast! I spent so long on it!) - but some of the earliest precursors were these 2000 year-old inuit eye goggles, called “ilgaak” in Inuktitut and “nigaugek” in Central Yupik. They could be made out of bone, antler, hoof, wood and other materials from the arctic landscape.

These would later become the inspiration for designer Andres Courreges’ “Eskimo” glasses

The Courreges “Eskimo” sunglasses. They can be yours if you have an extra 2k to burn

But! “Sunglasses”, even in the industrial world, really began their lives more like googles. You’ll see these early American shades had these side-parts that swung out to protect not only from glare, but from smoke and debris. In the turn of the last century, these were often worn for riding in a train or a car.

You can also get yourself a pair of these “D Spectacles” too

When glasses started to be made of plastic, suddenly a whole new world of style and color opened. Even though, arguably, the first plastic glasses were really boring.

“Dawn” - a pioneering frame of the 1930s and 1940s (but this is a reissued version from the 1970s)

“Dawn” (as in the Dawn of Plastic) was created by a company called Oliver Goldsmith- they got their hands on some plastic by trading with a clothing company that was manufacturing plastic buttons. By the way, Oliver Goldsmith would go on to create many iconic shades of the 20th century, including the Breakfast At Tiffany’s glasses, which they still make.

Sunglasses slowly became cool. Yes, even these “uncool” kitschy ones in different shapes (I’m not going to tell you why)

But suffice to say a huge reason that sunglasses became cool was their use by jazz musicians.

And side note I am obsessed with this picture of Buddy Holly and Waylon Jennings

Not to mention the proliferation of sunglasses on movie stars. One person responsible for that (at least in many hit movies from 1973- 2000) was an eyedoctor named Steven Oppenheimer. He would fit (and eventually design!) eyewear for Hollywood. Look at some of the huge shows and movies he worked on!

other credits include Annie Hall, Grease 2, Earth Girls Are Easy, Poltergeist, and many many more. These are slides from Dr. Oppenheimer’s presentation at the annual meeting of the Ocular Heritage Society (where I had a great time!)

It should be noted that a major developer of sunglasses-as-art is Mercura, created by sisters Merilee and Rachel Cohen out of the Chelsea Hotel in 1975. They’ve put glasses on everyone from Cher to Bowie to Elton John, and their glasses are almost more like face jewelry than medical equipment.

Ok, that’s all for now! Another episode next month and then a new season is coming! stay cool this summer.