When it comes down to sunglasses that people know of, one of the more popular, and probably the most famous brand is Ray-Ban. Ray-Ban sunglasses have been around since the 1930’s and not many people know this fact. As a matter of fact, the Ray-Ban style of sunglasses came from the mind of an Italian man by the name of Lester Belisario.
Lester Belisario had decided to provide the world, or at least his town with a set of glasses that would allow the average person who worked outside to be able to see what they’re doing without the sun blinding them all the time. The first version of the glasses was made from a plastic frame, and the lenses were tinted green for that purpose of sun blocking. This was in 1936. About a year later Bausch & Lomb took out a patent on the newly designed frames, moulded them in metal, and then named them, “The Aviator”. From that point forward Aviator sunglasses began to flood the streets as well as the market.
In later years Bausch & Lomb took the Aviator and then began to mould it to what a lot of customers were asking for, but right around the same time World War 2 came about, and the revamped version of the Aviator found itself flooding military installations all over America. The Aviator was given a reflective, or gradient style of lens that allowed pilots to see their instrument panels but protected their eyes from the sun above them. After the war, the civilian version of the glasses became wildly popular, and everyone was clamouring for them. If you were a pilot you had Aviators, if you weren’t a pilot you still wanted Aviators.
Besides the normal military admiration, the Aviator sunglasses got a lot more fanfare from movies, and the movie stars that were in them. Ray-Ban then tweaked their design, called it the Wayfarer, and then it found it’s way on the face of world renown actor James Dean in the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause”. Further down the movie line, Ray-Ban kept providing the world with an even sexier set of shades that were called the Olympian, and those made their appearance in the 1969 film, “Easy Rider” where Peter Fonda made them all the rage. At the time every teenage girl who saw a guy with those Ray-Bans on his face, she did a lot more than simply swoon.
By today’s standards Ray-Ban sunglasses are still wildly popular and have an immense following behind them. It’s not like how things are back in the day were everyone wore Ray-bans for the simple fact that our soldiers, and actors were wearing them. Nowadays, the Aviator, and the Olympian have been dubbed classic looks that seemed to have paved the way for the sunglasses that are out here in the world now, from Oakley to Tom Ford Sunglasses. So, all we need to do now is find a set of Aviators that suit our needs, and our style. It doesn’t hurt to own a piece nostalgic history to wear on your face, as the sun sits up in the sky trying to outshine your own beauty, and style.
