With ″Top Gun: Maverick” in theaters and Kate Bush’s synthy ’80s anthem “Running Up That Hill” suddenly topping the charts again, you might be experiencing a hankering for some good old-fashioned accessories to match the throwbook mood this summer — in particular, a pair of eternally cool aviator sunglasses. While this classic eyewear silhouette has strong associations with style icons of the late ’70s and ’80s, it actually originated several decades earlier in the 1930s.
Like many other fashion staples that we now consider “timeless,” the sunnies were invented out of necessity and originally part of a uniform. According to the New York Times, an air force lieutenant collaborated with with lens company Bausch & Lomb to create angled, polarized goggles specifically for high-flying pilots, to protect their eyes from the intense glare and freezing temperatures at ultra-high altitudes. The resulting “Ray-Ban” aviator goggles were released in 1936, and were marketed to the public soon after.
Several decades and countless turns on the silver screen later, aviators have cemented themselves in the fashion canon as a nostalgic (yet perennially cool) accessory suitable for stylish shade-wearers of any gender. Shop our favorite aviator sunglasses for summer, from an Amazon option clocking in at a whopping $8 to a luxury leather-clad pair straight out of a James Bond film.
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