Ray Ban Aviators
From Tom Cruise in Top Gun to Kate Moss at a festival aviator sunglasses look hot on most people and have been popular through generations of fashion history. Female First look at the story behind our favourite shades and how they became a icon of cool.
Aviator glasses were developed by Ray Ban in 1937 to replicate the flying goggles they were already selling to the Army and Navy.
The sunglasses were originally invented when soldiers complained that they were being left with tan marks around their eyes where the goggles blocked the sunlight. The oversized sunglasses hid these white patches while the sun could still shine through and let the face tan evenly- and who said men aren't vain!
Even after the goggles were replaced in the sunglasses were still popular with the forces especially Naval Aviators.
One of the reasons why the aviator sunglasses were so popular was becuase the bridge across the nose gave the cheeky army boys somewhere to stash a cigarette- how handy!
Aviator sunglasses became popular in fashion in the 70s and 80s after a surge in American war films- in particular Top Gun. Since then they have been making a re-appearance summer after summer.
Celebrity aviator fans include Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, Kanye West and most recently Kate Moss.
To celebrate their 70th anniversary Ray Ban re-issued 25,000 limited edition aviator frames in titanium and gold in December last year- and they proved to be as popular as ever.
There we have it- from the days of helping Army pilots get an even tan to covering up Kate Moss's hangover eyes aviator glasses have always been on hand to make sure we look good and that's why they make it into our fashion icon hall of fame.
Caz Moss- Female First