Aviator

The 1986 Tom Cruise-starred, Top Gun, set a new trend in sunglasses: dark, reflective lenses three times the size of the eye socket, metal frames with wire temples that hook behind the ears. The aviator sunglasses were born, everybody thought.

But did you know that aviator sunglasses were worn by Air Force pilots even way before that? Here’s a quick look at the history of aviator sunglasses.

Aviator History: Classic Beginnings

The original creator of Rayban aviator sunglasses was the high-end sunglasses manufacturer, Ray-Ban. At first, the company was tapped by the US Army and Navy to develop smoked-lens flying goggles for their fly-boys.

However, the military-issue goggles had one undesirable effect experienced by those who wear them: mismatched tan. Pilots who wore the flying goggles went around having a pale skin around the eyes but with the rest of the face tanned.

The Ray Ban aviator sunglasses were developed in 1937 to address the problem. These oversized aviators served two purposes: the large lenses hid the white areas but allowed some sunlight through in order to let the skin to tan.

In 1941, the goggles were replaced, but the aviator sunglasses became popular. Naval aviators were especially fond of wearing them while the Army and Air Force pilots were more inclined towards the smaller, squarish American Optical glasses with straight temple wires.

Top Gun Fashion

In 1986, Tom Cruise starred in a movie about a hotshot Navy pilot aiming to graduate Top Gun in a prestigious naval school. Top Gun grossed over $350 million world-wide and broke home video sale records.

While the movie was truly entertaining, especially the flight scenes, the one legacy that the movie left to the world were aviator sunglasses as a fashion statement. All the pilots that appeared in the flick wore some type of aviator sunglasses or another.

After the hype over the movie died down, aviator sunglasses remained ever popular. Not only were they worn by military pilots but civilian aviators have also taken a liking to them.

With Good Reason

The Aviator was designed with large, curved glasses that bulge out slightly. The eyeglasses were not straight, unlike other sunglasses of the day. This unique design of the aviator sunglasses provided the most cover for the eye, preventing as much of the eye as possible from being exposed to the light.

The aviator sunglasses were perfect for this purpose. Law enforcement officers even took to wearing them for various reasons, but mainly because the sunglasses work quite well in canceling glare as well as preventing eye contact.

As more and more people, including those from the non-flying civilian population, began to wear aviators, the sunglasses were seen as fashionable, which of course increased its popularity.

But that was way back in the 1970s. By the 1980s, the popularity of aviator sunglasses has waned quite a bit, although pilots still wore them. It is only today that aviator sunglasses are coming back in fashion.

Aviator Sunglasses Today

Although the original aviator sunglasses were created by Ray-Ban for the military and Air Force, today’s aviator sunglasses are made by several eyewear designers, including Dior, Gucci, Oakley, and more.

The choice of the shades of the aviators is no longer just black. Aviators come in tints of pink, purple, blue, red, yellow, orange, and shades in between. They are especially popular among young people, who value them for their aesthetic appearance than for their practicality of use.

Celebrities also often wear sunglasses, though not exclusively aviators. Typically, they would wear sunglasses with dark, large lenses that hide most of their faces in order to escape the paparazzi or hide their real identity. Another purpose of sunglasses worn by celebrities is that the production lights in the studio are often too bright and uncomfortable for the naked eye.