Historical Overview of Sunglasses

Sunglasses can be found around every corner you turn today. You can find them in grocery stores for a few dollars or in specialty stores for a few hundred dollars. Sunglasses come in so many different shapes, designs and colors that there is a pair out there for everyone. But the market for sunglasses has not always been this way.

Sunglasses have been in use for centuries and have evolved over time into what they are today. They were not always the fashion icon they are today. Similarly, they were not always used for the same reason they are today either.

Surprisingly, the first form of what we have as sunglasses today were not originally developed to shield eyes from the sun or help poor vision. In Ancient China, sunglasses were developed out of smoky panes of quartz glass. Judges wore these prehistoric ray bans as a way of keeping their expressions to themselves. Little did they know that poker players centuries later would adopt this same principle use of the eyewear.

Ancient Rome can also take part of the credit for today's sunglasses. The Emporer Nero, while watching gladiator fights enjoyed doing so through polished gems. It is possible that the Emporer saw the benefits of distorting the sun's beams as a way of seeing more clearly. It is also possible that he enjoyed these early sunglasses because he thought the gladiators looked better in different colors. For whatever reason, sunglasses still today are available in any lens color you can imagine.

During the eighteenth century, the design of the sunglasses were altered by an inventor seeking to use color as a vision correctioin.
He was convinced that blue and green tints helped the eye see better when vision was poor.
He had no reason to consider the advantages of shielding the eyes from the sun, as no one knew what a UVA ray was at the time.
It was not common knowledge during this time that the sun could be harmful and cause future vision problems.

Sunglasses were finally introduced in the United States in the early twentieth century, around 1930. These innovative eye pieces were marketed on the boardwalks of Atlantic City and promised to protect the wearer's eyes from the harmful sun. It was in this same decade that polarization of the lenses was developed as well. The inventor of the famed Polaroid camera integrated his Polaroid filter into the makeup of the sunglasses' lenses. This technology, which is still used today, was the greatest step of its time toward the protection of the eyes from the sun.

Since the 1930's, sunglasses have steadily become a favorite accessory for everyone from the true fashion icon down to the style novice. Sunglasses have been implemented as a way of showing off one's style, sophistication, and social status. Individuals have made their own styles famous and timeless.

The most famous of all the sunglasses style icons is unarguably the late Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, or simply "Jackie O.". The oversized sunglasses of the same name were a token symbol of the former First Lady and American Icon. Around the year 2000, Jackie's signature style was made popular again for young women by another style icon, Nicole Richie.

Not enough for you, let's run through history one more time!

Sunglasses in some form have been around for a very long time. Roman Emperor Nero made sunglasses by watching gladiator competitions through polished light emerald green gems held up to his eyes. The true invention of sunglasses was somewhere between 1268 and 1289.

Before 1430, smoky quartz, flat-paned sunglasses were worn by Judges in the Courts of China to conceal any expression in their eyes. Prescription sunglasses were developed in Italy in 1430 and were later used by the Chinese Judges. In the mid 18th Century, James Ayscough developed blue and green corrective lenses, beginning the use of sunglasses for correcting optical impairments.

Until 1730 when Edward Scarlett invented hardened sidepieces, there were problems in keeping eyeglasses propped on the nose. Glasses frames had been made from leather, bones and metal and sidepieces began as silk strips of ribbon that looped around the ears. Instead of loops, the Chinese added ceramic weights to the ends of the ribbons. Benjamen Franklin's invention of bifocal lenses followed in 1780.

By the 20th Century, sunglasses were used to protect the eyes from the sun. In 1929 Sam Foster's "Foster Grants" were the first mass-produced sunglasses and they began the trend of sunglasses for fashion.

In the 1930's the Army Air Corps asked Bausch & Lomb to develop sunglasses that would efficiently reduce high-altitude sun glare for pilots and they came up with dark green tinted sunglasses that absorbed light through the yellow spectrum.

Edward H. Land had invented the Polaroid filter and by 1936 he used it in making sunglasses and soon, sunglasses became "cool." Movies stars began wearing sunglasses to hide behind and for fashion. Aviator glasses became popular with the movie stars and the general public in 1937 after Ray Ban developed the anti-glare sunglasses using polarization. The longer lens was created to give more protection to pilots' eyes from light reflecting off their control panels.

By the 1970's Hollywood stars and fashion designers made a huge impact on the sunglasses market. Clothing designers and stars put their names on glasses and sunglasses and everyone had to have them. In 2007, stars are still hiding behind their oversized designer sunglasses, making fashion statements and protecting their eyes from the harmful effects of the Ultra Violet radiation.

Today's trendy designer sunglasses are a status symbol; however, in order to be fashionable in sunglasses, you do not have to give up quality. Quality designer sunglasses can be polarized to reduce the glare of sunlight reflecting off surfaces like the highway, cars, water or snow. Polarized sunglasses work by blocking off horizontal light reflections and only let in vertical light reflections. The polarization of designer sunglasses makes them fashionable in other areas of lifestyle like golfing, boating, biking, swimming, fishing and aircraft flying.

Marketers of designer sunglasses target children who choose the same hot styles and brand-names as their parents and their idols. Sunglasses for children have Disney and cartoon characters in many colors, shapes and styles. Children's designer sunglasses can also be polarized to block the harmful UV radiation.

With modern technology and improvements, the making of sunglasses continues to evolve. We have gone from holding green gems up to our eyes to Oakley's 2004 sunglasses with digital audio players built in.

Sunglasses have come a long way over the centuries. They have evolved in uses, styles, popularity and technology. With sunglasses what they are today and their importance in popular culture, it is difficult to imagine where and in what form they will turn up next. Keep your eyes open-and your sunglasses handy-to find out!

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