As mentioned in another thread, I'm thinking about getting some sunglasses. There are a bazillion sunglasses out there. Wayfarers, aviators, sport shield/Oakley types, hippie/Lennons, etc. For some reason I've been thinking hardest about a brand and style that I recall as once being ubiquitous, but that now seem all but forgotten. Vuarnet Cateyes. Like:
You know, Portland is full of retro and vintage stores and enthusiasts, and they are enthusiastically diving into 1980s stuff, including sunglasses. Lots of styles from that period are back, from the one piece visor look to aviators and "big glasses". Even cateyes. But these tattooed hipster vintage dudes and dudettes seem completely blind to Vuarnet cateyes.
First, they don't recognize that the style shown above is called "cateye". They think the term refers only to the 1950s/1960s glasses with horn rims and exaggerated flared corners. A oh-so-hip woman at a very good vintage store here told me flatly that a pair of vintage Bolle glasses in the shape shown above were absolutely never called cateyes.
Second, they barely recognize the brand Vuarnet. They nod and go um-hum but their eyes are blank without recognition. And indeed I never, I mean never, see Vuarnets in the local vintage stores. They are on eBay occasionally, but never in stores.
I guess I'm just venting. I may be an old fart with one foot in the grave, but damnit I'm not senile and I know what was what in the 1980s when these punks were just semen dribbling down their mommy's legs.
Oh by the way, would an old fart look like an idiot in Vuarnet cateyes today?
What sunglasses do you like? Pics are best!