Best Sunglasses

Summer might get all the sunglass hype, but a good pair of shades provides fabulous support year-round. Sun bouncing off snow blinds as surely as sun over a beach, so there is always a place for shades on your face. Sunglasses can make or break a look, so choose well: a trustworthy pair always comes in handy.

This guide moves through the classic shapes: Wayfarer, aviator, browline, double-bridge browbar, round, retro square, sport, cat eye, square and keyhole bridge frames. It then salutes the movies and wearers who made several of them immortal, and closes with the brands, from Oakley and Persol to the designer houses. Eyewear is not only fashion: polarized lens options protect eyes from glare, and sunglasses are protective eyewear designed to keep bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes.

The Classic Shapes: Wayfarer, Aviator and Browline

The Wayfarer, first manufactured by Ray-Ban in the 1950s, is trapezoidal in shape and often considered the best-selling style of all time - and the Original Wayfarer Classic, designed in 1952, is the most recognizable style in the history of sunglasses, gaining popularity among celebrities, musicians and artists. The aviator originated in the 1930s for pilots: thin wire frames, a double bridge, and dark lenses two to three times the size of the eye socket that block light while preserving peripheral vision; developed by Ray-Ban, aviator lenses now come in classic, square and teardrop shapes.

Browline frames take their name from the way they mimic how eyebrows frame the face; hugely popular in the 1950s and 60s, they remain a classic yet slightly retro option, with Ray-Ban's Clubmaster the bold exemplar - a plastic upper that accentuates the brow line, vintage and timeless at once. The browbar or double-bridge family spins off the aviator's second bar, adding a bar that rides along the eyebrows across frames of many shapes, sizes and materials.

Round, Retro Square, Sport, Cat Eye, Square and Keyhole

Round frames are often considered retro yet repeatedly return as modern fashion: the lenses are always round, while frames come small or large, skinny or thick, plastic or metal. Retro square frames carry thick rims and square lenses, classic but capable of modern readings, in plastic, metal and mixed materials. Sport frames serve biking, running, golf, fishing and other outdoor sports, where protection joins style.

Cat eye frames are rounded frames that flare out near the temples, popular in the 1950s and 60s and probably the most popular style of vintage eyeglasses - playful while stylish. Keyhole bridge frames rest on the sides of the nose through a keyhole-shaped bridge that touches two points and eliminates pressure from the top of the nose, a bold statement suitable for both men and women. Face shape should referee among them: legendary styles tempt everyone, but frame and lens proportions must suit the wearer.

Movies and People That Popularized Sunglasses

Cinema built the sunglass mythology. James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Sean Connery's James Bond set early templates; Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair made Persol immortal. Tom Cruise did it twice: Wayfarers in the 1983 film Risky Business, after which a reported 360,000 pairs were sold that year, and aviators in Top Gun. Clint Eastwood's Ray-Ban Balorama in Magnum Force fixed the tough-guy frame, and Robert De Niro's Taxi Driver, the Reservoir Dogs cast, Woody Harrelson's Ray-Ban 3447 in Natural Born Killers and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator each added a chapter.

Musicians and style icons widened the canon: John Lennon's round frames, Elton John's stage eyewear, Audrey Hepburn's oversized elegance and Jackie Kennedy's large frames remain reference points in stores today. The gallery below gathers these faces and frames together.

The Brands, and Protection with Style

The designer and specialist houses divide the top of the market. Oakley leads sport performance. Maui Jim built its name on lens technology from Hawaii, becoming by 2015 the third largest producer of sunglasses in the world. Persol, formed in 1917 by Giuseppe Ratti for pilots and sports drivers, is one of the oldest eyewear companies in the world, named from the Italian per il sole - for the sun - and marked by its silver arrow. The designer houses linked below - among them Gucci, Versace, Prada, Dior and Fendi - each translate a fashion language into frames.

Whichever badge a frame carries, judge the lenses as equipment: full ultraviolet protection is the non-negotiable, and polarization is the upgrade that kills glare off water and roads. The sunglass stores directory and the women's and men's sunglass guides linked below carry the shopping further.

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