The Evolution of Sunglasses

Sunglasses are one of the world's most ubiquitous fashion accessory, but also play an important part in protecting our eyes from harmful UV rays. We take a look at how they came into being...

Snow goggles: the first sunglasses

Snow goggles of caribou antler, 1800/1850 (From the collection of British Museum)

The Inuits weren't the only people in history to find an innovative way to protect their eyes from glare: Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History that the Roman Emperor Nero used to watch the gladiator fights through polished gemstones to reduce the glare from the sun—potentially the most expensive and most ineffective form of sunglasses in history. Another form of eye protection also cropped up in 12th century China, when flat planes of smoke-tinted quartz lenses were worn by magistrates in court proceedings. However these were supposedly used to hide the expressions of the wearer, not while outside catching rays.

Habach Valley Emerald (From the collection of Natural History Museum Vienna)

By the 18th century the modern form of eyeglasses had been invented, made with lenses held together by wire and the frame extending over the ear to hold them in place. A man called James Ayscough believed that changing the color of the actual lens could further help with specific vision impairments. He experimented with blue and green-tinted glass as ways to improve poor eyesight—little did he know that his idea would go on to be one of modern day’s must-have fashion accessories.

Eyeglasses (From the collection of Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial)

The dawn of modern sunglasses

Sunglasses, by Foster Grant, ca. 1953 (From the collection of The Strong National Museum of Play)

Where celebrities go, fashion follows

Sunglasses:Ray Ban Sunglasses, Bausch & Lomb, 1930 (From the collection of The Strong National Museum of Play)

Polarized lenses, which contain a special filter invented by Edwin H. Land that blocks intense light reflected off other surfaces like sand or snow, became available in 1936. Ray Ban, a glasses brand founded by American eye health company Bausch and Lomb, created aviator-style sunglasses using polarized lenses that were widely used by US Air Force pilots during World War II to block the glare from the sun. In 1937, they went on sale to the public and function finally met fashion with the shape of frames and color of lenses changing drastically to keep up with the catwalk.

Here is a selection of some of the styles that have emerged throughout the years:

Sunglasses co-created with brand THEO, by Emmanuel A. Ryngaert, 2016 (From the collection of Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp)

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