You should not take off from home without your trusted sunglasses especially during a hot sunny day. Even though fashion commands which pair of sunglasses are stylish, you should ensure that the glasses you are planning to buy has 100 % UV protection. This article will narrate a concise history of sunglasses beginning with the top five models during the past 70 years.

1. Wrap around shades.  They were popularized in early 1990s and became the first choice of players from regular sports to extreme ones.

2. Oversized Sunglasses. They gained fame in 1960s as women tried to imitate Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis fashion sense. Oversized sun glasses just recently got back in the limelight and its reappearance can be largely credited to fashion conscious women like Paris Hilton.

3. Tea-shade Sunglasses. These sunglasses are also dubbed to be John Lennon glasses, famous in the 1960's, but have greatly faded away from the fashion world after. Rumor has it that they are coming back as paparazzi captured recent photos of popular actresses and performers donning the said shades.

4. Aviators. The design had debut in 1936, it was originally made for the usage of U.S. military pilots and it was not yet accessible to regular people, only a few years after it was made. Actor Tom Cruise made the aviators famous in 1986 as he played as the pilot Maverick in the movie, Top Gun.

5. Ray-Ban Wayfarer. It was made in 1952, such sunglasses had for plastic frames instead of the traditional metal frames.  Initially designed for pilots, ray-ban wayfarers rapidly became famous among actors like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. Audrey Hepburn donned them in her movie- Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961 and Tom Cruise also wore them in his movie, Risky Business shown in 1983. Until today, it is a famous style of sunglasses.
     
During the last 70 years, sunglasses have become a famous fashion detail however there history date way, way back. The first sunglasses were created from walrus ivory and it was during the prehistoric era. In the olden times, people forged flattened walrus ivory with slim slits for their eye protection against the sun rays. Meanwhile in the Arctic regions, people without eye protection suffer snow blindness.      

Written evidence shows that China started using sunglasses beginning in the 12th century. The first pair was made of flat panes of quartz; they were worn mainly for sun protection. Sunglasses took off in the 20th century. Sam Foster started mass- production of the eyewear in America in 1929, and from then on other companies started making sunglasses too.    
  
Your reason for getting sunglasses may be due to certain fashion needs. Or, you may simply get one for yourself because you are concerned mainly in protecting your eyes. Always, remember that they do not need to be costly. Ensure that they can shield your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun. An appropriate pair of sunglasses, maybe it be signature or a modest one, must block out 100% UV rays to protect your eyes.