Many of the essentials that we commonly use today were invented thousands of years ago.
The fire was invented by primitive man, so was the invention of the wheel. Fire leads to the invention of the primus stove which was followed by a gas stove and later an electric stove. Similarly, the invention of the wheel led to the invention of carts and later cars and the advancements continue even today.
While all these we have been studying during schooling, there are many inventions that are now used as essentials but never made it to the history books. We are talking about the invention of sunglasses here.
In today’s time, we are aware of whether our eyewear is UV protected or polarized, etc. but the time around the invention of sunglasses people only wore them to cover eyes from sunlight or hide emotions behind the dark shades.
Yes! Sunglasses were invented in China sometime in the 12th century. These were smoke-colored quartz lenses in jagged frames and were not affordable for mass people. Mostly worn by judges of that time in China to cover emotions while giving out verdicts.
Sunglasses around that time were not designed for vision correction. In around 1929 mass production of sunglasses was initiated by Sam foster after that it gained popularity among celebrities and over years it became a common man commodity. China still continues to be a leading manufacturer of all types of eyewear.
After 1929, there was a surge in redesigning of eyewear in new shapes and colors. After the first chunk glasses in 1930, Aviators were invented. In the 1950s came in the Cat-eye design and the Browline sunglass design.
It was in the 1960s and 1970s when sunglasses gained popularity in India. The retro square and the oversized sunglasses mostly in oval or round shapes were seen flaunted by actors and actresses of that era.
Oversized fashion is still alive and adorned by celebrities who are often spotted in huge round and square-shaped beautiful designs with some modern tweaks. Most oversized sunglasses of that time carried tinted glasses that are still well-liked.
Here is a gallery that takes us to 70’s fashion and back to current trends where old-fashion is revived and re-adapted with better protection and superior vision.
Love of old-fashion never ends. With a hint of a modern touch, these trends will continue to penetrate deeper into the common markets.
