5 Pairs of Iconic Sunglasses
Although its official celebration is today, for me, every day is National Sunglasses Day. I cannot stand bright light of any kind—so much so that my friends accuse me a being a vampire quite regularly. I swear I’m not a member of the undead… but at the same time I do admit that I’ll continue wearing my sunglasses until long after the sun has gone down. So you can bet that I’m pretty obsessed with finding the perfect pair. And since everyone should want to keep their eyes protected from UV rays, I don’t think I’m alone in my search for amazing shades. Thankfully, Hollywood is here to help us on our quest. Here are 5 of the most iconic sunglasses to have ever hit the silver screen.
Maverick’s Ray-Bans in both Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise’s cocky pilot specifically wears model 3025 (Aviator Classic), and after the original film came out in 1986, sales soared 40%! Alas, we can try to look like him, but I don’t think any of us will ever be as cool as Maverick.
Holly Golightly’s Manhattan-style Oliver Goldsmith frames in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Audrey Hepburn chose the sunglasses for her iconic character in the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel. With those oversized shades, her elbow-length gloves, her heaps of costume jewelry and her perfect updo topped off with a mini tiara, an iconic look was born.
Ferris Bueller’s Ray-Ban Clubmasters in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – If you’re in the mood to skip school and wreak havoc across the city of Chicago, you can’t do it without the black and titanium shades Ferris wore to help him evade his vengeful principal.
Agent J and K’s Ray-Ban RB 2030 Predators – In Men in Black, the Agents (Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones) don’t mess around with their “we mean business” look. In their crisp black suits, white collared shirts and black ties, they’ll erase your memory of any alien encounter with a smile as you gaze into the depths of their dark, dark shades. Their glasses even got a shout-out in the movie’s theme song, sung by Smith: "So don't blink, think what was there but now's gone. Black suit with the black Ray Bans on. Walk in shadow, move in silence, guard against extraterrestrial violence.”
Tyler Durden’s Oliver Peoples 523s in Fight Club – A character as calculating and menacing as Brad Pitt’s Durden had to have just the right shades to complete his look. And they were found in the bizarre, silver-framed and red-lensed 523s, which Oliver Peoples’ re-released in 2009 for the film’s 10-year anniversary. They’re nearly impossible to find now … unless maybe our alternate personalities are currently wearing them?
It was very hard for me to narrow down this list. What movie characters’ shades do you lust after?