Fashion Icon: Ray-Ban Wayfarers (stylish eyewear)

The Fashion Time Magazine ^ | Jul 8th, 2008 | The Fashion Time Magazine

[Mister Ghost]

Who knew that Wayfarers originally marketed as sunglasses for pilots, would become an object of cult fashion?

The popularity of Wayfarers can be compared only to the little black dress, as Wayfarers are cited as the best-selling design of sunglasses in history, and have been called “one of the most enduring fashion icons of the 20th Century”.

[lesser_satan]

I like my Gargoyles better.

[1rudeboy]

I asked this on the last Ray-Ban thread (months ago): anybody remember when Bausch & Lomb distinguished between the Wayfarer I and Wayfarer II? The Wayfarer I had a "smaller surface area." Are they still available?

The salespeople at the higher-end shops are no help (because they're all, like, sixteen and everything).

[econjack]

Not for this old goat...I like the Aviators!

[kbennkc]

As an aviator , I preferred and found almost all other aviators preferred Aviators .

[DManA]

My kid got some Ray-Ban frame for his regular glasses. I liked them so much I got some similar ones.

[1rudeboy]

Yeah, the Ray-Ban Aviators are still the best. But the Wayfarers can take more of a beating and are more appropriate for night time use.

[philled]

Not sure if the WF1s are still available. I have a prescription pair of them with the green lenses that have to be fifteen years old. I have a non-prescription pair of the WF2s from the same era that I don't wear because they are absolutely HUGH!

I just got a new pair of prescription WFs in the grey lens and I'm a little sheepish about them because they seem quite large (in between the 1s and the 2s). I also got a pair of metal-framed Raybans (not Aviator- a little smaller and with more wrap to them) that I absolutely love. Got them in the polarized brown lens- look and view quite sharp!

Oh, and my new prescription frames are Rayban (I'm wearing my contacts today, otherwise I'd have a name for them). Smallish, rectangle-ish, and weigh almost nothing...

[SF Republican]

Wayfarers can take more of a beating I never could go more than a couple of months without breaking my sunglasses, my Wayfarers I have had for 3-4 years now, they are tough puppies.

[dominic flandry]

Me too.

[Ready4Freddy]

I've always preferred my Randolph Aviators since the 1st pair I got from Uncle Sam in the 70s:

[MeanWestTexan]

Partial to Oakley. This is my pair, daughter resistent:

[Notwithstanding]

Ray-Ban Clubmaster

[Joe 6-pack]

Real men don’t wear shades. We just stare at the sun until it dims itself out of respect.

[Ready4Freddy]

Plastic lenses, tho. I’m partial to glass.

[School of Rational Thought]

I have a couple pair twenty years and had two others.

Some bastard stole my Wayfarers II (originals).

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I checked Ray-Ban’s web site and it appears the Wayfarer ‘Original’ is still available in black as well as variations of tortoise shell.

[RightWhale]

I'm a little sheepish about them because they seem quite large

You look like a bug, but that's okay because looking like a bug is 'in' now.

[elcid1970]

Randolph Aviators!!? There was a time you couldn’t even buy them, not in the PX or anywhere else except for a small fortune. You had to be on flight status and have them issued.

I entered Army flight school in late 1970 and it was a proud moment to finally own my very own `real helicopter pilot’s sunglasses’.

There was a method to this: instructor pilots made us wear sunglasses under our flight helmets instead of lowering the tinted visor - so they could watch the student pilot’s eye movements and insure that a proper crosscheck between instruments and outside the aircraft was maintained.

Nowadays? Heck, the goldframes are $24 in the PX, less for chrome. I had to get reading glasses a couple of years ago. Yep - real helicopter pilot’s flight frames with granny lenses. Ah, farewell to much misspent youth!

;^)

[Cecily]

I like Cats.