Polaroid Best Under the Sun sunglasses — 10 vintage designs from the 1930s to 1980s

Yes, across most of the U.S. it has been bloody, unbelievably, wicked hot. But that also means: It’s sunglass season, and no matter how much a dork you may be, cool sunglasses pretty much always make you look and feel like a with-it dude. And what could be better than these Polaroid sunglasses — 10 designs, recently introduced, that have been meticulously copied from the 1930s through the 1980s.Read on — you’ll see that even his loveliness Johnny Depp can’t resist –>

Here is just a sampling of the 10 styles — taken from the best-sellers in Polaroids archives — that are now available in their “Best Under the Sun” colllection. Going rockabilly? I’m thinking it would be the sparkly “Broadway” (above) or simpler cateye “Marilyn” for you.

Want to disco again? It’s “Donna” (above) to be sure. There are a goodly number of 1970s style, which is more popular than ever today. There also are “iconic” sunglasses from the 1980s. Yes, the “Best of the 80s” is another tsunami headed our way. Well, it may be a small splash — “Best of?” I dread.

If you want to get a a way-way-back machine, this is what they wore in the 1930s — the “Swing” (above) — back when sunglasses for the masses became within reach…

Yes: There is a video that lays out some history. And actually, it’s pretty informative and very entertaining. Dr. Edwin Land invented the first synthetic polarized lens in 1929. In 1937, he created Polaroid, and launched the sunglasses revolution. Looks like Polaroid then had a good 50 year run of stylish shades — dominance, maybe even? I certainly recall buying Polaroid sunglasses in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, I think that the word “polaroids” meaning “sunglasses” was pretty much tossed around like “Kleenex” for “facial tissues”. Another one: “Keds” for “sneakers” no matter what the make and model.

These puppies are not cheap — with MSRPs at $70, $79 and $110. Perhaps you can find them on sale. The video claims ‘finely crafted’ and no doubt, they are going to be sturdier and provide better visibility than $10 “I always lose them anyway” sunglasses. Interestingly, when DH and I were on vacation last week, he was using some special-order sunglass-readers. We are a “we always lose them anyway” family, but in this case, he paid like $50 for them, because of the combo lens.  They were So Much Better — in terms of overall visibility quality — than cheapo sunglasses that he actually stopped and made me try them. So it seems, you can get what you pay for with sunglasses. Just don’t lose them.

To be sure, these Polaroid Best Under the Suns are pretty wicked cool — and you know how I Luv Authentic Reproductions. Well done, Polaroid!

Links:

• Polaroid’s homepage showing all the models — you can order online here, too.
• The page created to launch the new lineup to dealers (I think).
• You can also see the styles on Amazon. Disclosure: If you buy anything from Amazon after entering from any link on my site, I get a little spiff: