Why Certain Types of Sunglasses Never Go Out Of Style
Sunglasses are an interesting product from the consumer’s point of view. A consumer can look over a dozen pairs of aviators from separate manufacturers and notice very few significant differences between them. He can also shop five different stores and see the exact same styles at each one.
Perhaps that explains why certain types of sunglasses never go out of style. For example, consumers have been buying aviators since the 1950s. Is there something specific about the aviator style that makes it so enduring? Probably not. If you are curious as to why they have hung around so long, don’t overthink it. The answer is actually pretty simple.
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Five Enduring Styles
Style Caster’s Bella Gerard posted a piece in early September 2020 discussing five types of sunglasses that never go out of style for women. Four of the chosen styles apply to men as well. Only one, cat eyes, is more weighted to the female sex. What is interesting about all five is that they are synonymous with eyewear fashions. Before we get to an explanation, here are the five mentioned by Gerard:
- Cat eyes
- Aviators
- Rounded
- Wayfarers
- Rectangles.
Cat eyes and aviators are very distinct styles that do not offer a lot of room interpretation. Rounded sunglasses are, by their nature, geometrically limited. That leaves wayfarers and rectangles. There is quite a bit of overlap with these two styles because they are not as well defined. The biggest difference between the two is the shape of the lower portion of the frame.
All of that notwithstanding, it still doesn’t explain why these five types of sunglasses never go out of style. So here is the reason in a nutshell: they cover all the bases.
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Limited Variation in Shapes
Olympic Eyewear is a Salt Lake City company that designs and distributes more than two dozen brands of designer-like sunglasses. Their products fall mainly within the same five categories Gerard talked about in her piece. Olympic says there is good reason for this: they are working with limited shape variations.
In simple terms, the five styles are so designated by their shapes. There isn’t much more you could do with shapes without pushing the boundaries. Let’s face it, circles, ovals, rectangles, and teardrop shapes pretty much cover it all. Go beyond those basics and you create something that many consumers feel crosses the line.
It is just as easy for Olympic Eyewear to make triangular-shaped eyewear frames as any other frame they make. And yes, there will always be that segment of the population willing to buy triangular sunglasses. But such odd shapes are not the norm. Nor are they in high demand. They are a novelty at best.
All of this is to say that the five particular styles mentioned by Gerard are enduring because they answer the needs of the majority of the buying public. They cover everything. Most consumers are happy to pick one of the five and stick with it. They have no desire for oversized squares, big triangles, and odd shapes that do not conform to the norms of aesthetic geometry.
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It is a Consumer Thing
Now you know why certain styles of sunglasses remain popular year after year. There is nothing mystical or magical about it. In the end, it is really just a consumer thing.
There isn’t much more eyewear makers can do with lens and frame shapes without coming up with something too far out of the ordinary to be appealing. So they make what consumers want. And what do they want? Those five designs that never go out of style.
