The geeky origin of your cool sunglasses

By Gilead Amit

Certain classic moments of cinematic history would be unthinkable without sunglasses. Audrey Hepburn outside Tiffany’s in her Oliver Goldsmith Manhattans. The Blues Brothers on the run from the police, unflappable in their Ray-Bans. Without his custom-made micro-shades, Neo in “The Matrix” would have been just another weird computer hacker in a leather trench coat.

Sunglasses have been the ultimate chic accessory since they emerged onto the mass market a century ago. That’s surprising, given that their main purpose is to protect the eyes. Safety-wear is seldom cool: inflatable armbands, bicycle helmets and hi-vis jackets have never scaled the heights of fashion. Yet shades have bucked the trend. Why? Perhaps because unlike other practical items that advertise their function by distorting your natural shape or making you garishly bright, sunglasses conceal. Because they hide the eyes, they grant their wearers privacy, masking the direction of their gaze and lending them an air of aloofness and mystery.