It may be hard to believe, but the sunny, warm weather is closer than we think. And when summer comes, you’ll want to be in style with your shades. So we stopped by Metro Eye, 301 N. Water St., to talk to marketing director Crystal Behrendt, who also has ten years’ optical styling experience, about the latest trends in eyewear fashion.
Round out
The bookish round style isn’t just for hipsters anymore. Behrendt reports that vintage shapes are becoming more mainstream – and a lot of her customers want to round out.
"As far as sunglasses go, we’re seeing a lot of round shades," she says. "For a while it was square, dark ... now it’s the translucent frames and the round shapes."
Meow!
Female customers are loving the classic cat-eye, shown best in the LaFont Hampton style. But take note of your natural face shape. If you love the round style, that’s great – but it’s better if you have an oval face. If you face naturally tends to be more round, you’re better off opting for a more angular or cat-eye frame.
And while the translucent trend is white-hot, that isn’t for everyone either – some customers with a lighter skin tone feel washed out by it, and may want to opt for something like Salt.’s Lodin, which incorporates a leopard print with clear frames.
In Living Color
Along with the throwback shape, Behrendt says customers are loving the gold frame trend, pairing it up with green lenses for an old-fashioned feel.
"We’re seeing a lot of gold with green lenses," she says. "Green is what they used to have back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, so if you want that little vintage look, you want to do a green lens."
And while bold color choices are a big trend for spring fashion, the same applies to eyewear. Frames with pops of color are big sellers, like the Anne et Valentin "Scarlett" pair, with a bold black frame and bright purple on the side.
Classic leopard print and matted tortoise print are also hot, as evidenced by the popularity of cat-eye LaFont Greta, which can also accommodate clear prescription lenses.
Metalheads
Plastic is more popular than ever, but Metro Eye also has something for the metal-loving consumer. The LaFont "Lome" pair, with a delicate filigree frame, shows the marriage of plastic translucence and metallic structure.
"Metal is good if you need nosepads," Behrendt says. "People who have a smaller bridge or have a hard time finding glasses that fit well do well with metal."
She stresses the importance of finding the right fit for your individual face, and recommends coming to a professional and knowledgeable optometrist like Metro Eye to find the right pair for you.
Getting sporty
For all the athletes out there trying to find a way to block out the sun, Behrendt stresses that tint and polarization are important factors when purchasing different lenses.
Tint determines how dark the lens will be. "Gray is the darkest of all the tints. If you want to block out the most sun or if you're very light-sensitive, you want gray," she says.
Brown is the second darkest, which gives the wearer a different contrast of color. Behrendt mentions that when purchasing prescription sunglasses, consumers usually opt for brown or gray.
Polarization is also an important factor for those who invest in sports-caliber sunglasses. "Polarization is a filter that is built inside (the lens), that filters out all of the horizontal blue light, which is the blinding glare that we see," Behrendt says.
Golfers in particular tend to choose pairs like the Kaenan Georgia style, which feature polarized lenses that help them see the white golf balls better. Cyclers love the Rudy Project’s Rydon II, which is good for an individual who wants dual usage and wears the pair both indoor and outdoors.
