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Affordable Men's Style

The Men’s Sunglasses Matrix

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At the center of the Sunglasses universe lies the Ray-Ban New Wayfarer.  If you had to buy one pair of sunglasses, and wear them for the rest of your life everywhere, the Ray-Ban New Wayfarer wouldn’t let you down.  They are as well balanced as it gets.  Chart below is broken up into four quadrants.  X axis reflects how modern or retro the overall styling is, while the Y axis shows to what level the sunglasses can be easily dressed up.  As always, there will be exceptions (i.e. Steve McQueen’s 3-piece suit in The Thomas Crown Affair with the Persol Foldables.)
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From top left, moving down, then over:
The Bottom Line

In general, the more plastic = more casual.  Also, the bigger the lenses the more casual they’ll look.  Wire frames tend to look more dressed up, as long as they’re proportional to your facial features (think rule of 3rds).  The more exaggerated a retro detail gets, like chunky key-hole or sweat bar details, and the harder they’ll be to wear.

Plenty of expensive shades on that list.  Feel free to add affordable alternatives you’ve had success with in the comments below.  Agreements?  Disagreements?  Additions?  All welcome in the comments…

Comments

  4. I have recently forgone my AO aviators for a pair of smith optics foleys that I got for a good price. I’m liking ’em.

  6. I’m having trouble finding the larger model clubmasters anywhere. Does anyone know where to find them?

  7. Had the AO Original Pilots for a year now. Love ’em. Lots of compliments. Look great with a suit on the way to work. Look great with jeans and a fitted tee on the weekends. (Although I’m sure they look best with a flightsuit stepping out of a fighter jet.) Authentic, no-nonsense, all-American look.

  8. sport/wrap sunglasses are for 2 things:

    – sport and fat NASCAR fans.
    They have no place on your face for normal use if you frequent a mens fashion forum

  12. I never spend more than $20 on sunglasses because I go through about 1 set a month. I find knockoff’s in Target or kiosks in malls that have the same effect as these ~$100 options. One less thing in my life to worry about.

  13. Agreed on the New Wayfarer holding that central piece based on look, but I can’t bring myself to wear them anymore when literally every other person is wearing them. This, of course, is personal. That said, two New Wayfarer inspired alternatives (among the many, many out there) :

    http://www.oliverpeoples.com/online-boutique/mosley-tribes/hillyard.html

    http://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jacobs-317-sunglasses/dp/B003J9HVOC

    Both can be had cheaper than those prices. I collect compliments at an astonishing rate, which does not happen when I wear my other glasses. Just food for thought!!!

  14. Like the looks of those picks. Cheap alternative might be the BR Corbin on sale. They look a little bit thicker? That right?

  15. Those would go in the lower left hand corner, and I’d say Smith makes some really nice sporty pairs that don’t look overly athletic. Big fan of that brand, and I can attest to how sturdy they are. Have had a pair for going on 10 years that have had the snot kicked out of them, but are still going strong.

  17. I’ve been debating between the AO Original Pilots and Randolph Engineering Aviators. Other than the increased price for the Randolphs, I can’t see much of a difference in terms of looks. And I haven’t seen any bad reviews for the Pilots in terms of quality, so it seems hard to justify the extra cost of the Randolphs.

  19. I don’t go through pairs that fast, but for some reason I just cannot justify spending much on sunglasses. It’s the one thing I’m like that about. I’m all for high end ties, shoes, etc., but $50 is the absolute most I’m paying for sunglasses.

  21. You’re right, they are both a little thicker. The Tribes are only a little thicker, but the Marc Jacobs have some heft. That said, they ooze quality.

  22. I don’t see this chart being as useful as it could be. The thing this doesn’t take into account is hairstyle and head shape, Just look at the Carrera Aviator (Extreme Retro) against the Persol Wire Aviator (Extreme Modern), the lens shape is nearly identical. If you look at those two side by side, the similarities are far more striking than the differences.

  23. I agree. I usually buy my sunglasses at mall kiosks. Having lost an expensive pair (I was wearing a shirt without a breast pocket, put the glasses on the bar and forgot them when I left) and carelessly broken other inexpensive pairs I can’t justify spending more than $15-20. Besides, the cheap sunglasses I’ve chosen were well designed and get me lots of compliments.

  24. Joe,
    Avid reader low your stuff but gotta disagree where you places the Mqueens I think they can be pretty dressy. The way metal around the folds accents the tortoise frame. They are sign of eligance in my book and quite the investment haha.

  25. The thing about all of those “if your head shape is this, you should wear this” suggestions, is that they’re just that. They’re suggestions. Lots of times someone with a certain shaped face will put on a pair of sunglasses that “should” look good on them, and they don’t. To them. More of a stylistic matrix than a “what you should wear” matrix. Sunglasses are so personal, it’s extremely tough to generalize. But, plenty of those types of guides floating around out there.

  27. Can anyone vouch for the authenticity of the New Wayfarers sold from Amazon? I am very hesitant about buying sunglasses online, even from Amazon. I feel that 9 out of 10 are fake.

  28. My local eyedoctors ordered me a pair to try on when I was trying to find a design for a prescription. Hope they work out better for you than they did for me; I really wanted them to fit well but they let in too much sun around the edges of the lenses for me.

  29. Kirkland Signature polarized glasses for $30 for me. All it takes is sitting down on a pair for me to realize I don’t want to spend a whole lot on glasses 🙂 I’ll save’em for the shoes

  31. When buying new sunglasses, it is imperative to get polarized lenses. They block blinding glare from the sun and reduce eye strain, especially helpful when driving or doing any water sport.

  32. I bike to work (fashionably, I might add) here in Manhattan. Having good sunglasses that offer not only style and sun protection but also protection against road hazards are key. I don’t want to swap glasses each time I get off my bike! Open your mind, BF.

  34. The foleys are an aviator/navigator style and have a slight wrap, and the wrap is the big advantage over the AOs imo

  35. $20 a month is $240 a year. You could get a couple or three really nice glasses for that with superior optics, and make a small effort to look after them. Assuming of course that you aren’t discarding them as you parachute behind enemy lines in disguise – that could possibly account for a higher turnover rate.

  36. Not much but here’s a coupon for 5% off at OpticsPlanet.com if you plan to get the American Optics Original Pilot;

    bx5sm9n

  37. Useful in many cases, not imperative. In my experience anyway, they can put a weird sheen on wet or shiny surfaces, and this is compounded when there’s an additional layer (i.e. a windshield or motorcycle visor) in front of the glasses.

  38. When you buy cheap sunglasses you don’t care if you break them because they’re so cheap. Would you buy $20 shoes (not on sale) every month because you wear them out so fast?
    And I’ve never seen someone with good looking cheap sunglasses. Having a nice pair of sunglasses is like a nice watch or pair of shoes.

  39. I’ve got the Ray Ban Clubmasters (in tortoise). They don’t work with many types of faces, but luckily they work on my face. They look fantastic and I get plenty of compliments on them. Going on 2 years with them and they still look new (I keep them in their case when not in use).

  41. Those are the regular sized original Wayfarers. I don’t think they fit big but they do sit a lot higher than the new wayfarers. If you have high cheek bones that’s usually when they look oversized. Overall they are made with much better quality though than the new style wayfarers.

  42. I’m also worried about this. Amazon says the shop it sells it through is Ray Ban? Yet the negative reviews seem sketchy, but with every negative review all of the comments under them say they are real?

  43. You have the Persol foldables, as you stated CRAZY expensive. For a fraction of the cost look to Sunpocket http://www.sunpocketoriginal.com/ I’ll admit not quite as awesome looking, but at between 1/3 and 1/4 the cost I can give up a bit of flair. I got a pair from bespokepost.com last month and like them at the beach. I’ll stick with my AO originals for my dressier pair. Don’t get me wrong I’ve spent hundreds on sunglasses in the past, but would like to think that I’ve become more sensible in my spending as I’ve gotten a bit wiser.

  44. Is anyone aware of a manufacturer that offers different temple lengths? Almost all standard temples are too short for me, but I’ve had the devil’s own time finding quality shades that offer a longer arm.

  45. The new wayfarer does not look good on me at all but the original looks amazing. I have a prominent nose though. Just saying. The originals work well for a lot of people still.

  46. I agree. Did anyone jump on that groupon goods deal from a week or 2
    ago? They had Persol 714’s and 649’s in most colors and sizes topping
    out at $225. Sadly, those weren’t the Steve McQueen editions. What’s
    left of those are now marked way way up on ebay, amazon, etc. But you
    can still find the regular editions for a pretty good price on ebay if
    you can find a reliable seller.

  47. I’ve always loved the look of the Clubmaster but I’ve never bought it because everyone told me I’d look stupid with it :/

  49. Any reccomendations for small faces? Most sunglasses look ridiculous on me because they are too large

  51. Does anybody happen to have the model number for the Persol Monoblock Wire Aviators that are listed here? It can be found on the inside of one of the ear pieces. It would typically start with “PO”, be followed by 4 numbers, and then it may or may not end with one more letter.

  52. I would just like to make a recommendation to update this matrix. A better alternative that should take place of the BR Corbin is the RL Polo PH4076 in either matte or gloss havana/tortoiseshell frames (check it out here to see how it looks like: http://bit.ly/1eiJYeR ). This is more balanced than than the BR Corbin and has a slimmer frame. Made also by Luxottica and is reasonably priced at around $80.00 in Amazon or even less in Ebay so I believe these are truly value for money as they are of good quality.

  53. And one more thing, the ray-ban RB3477 aviators are a great alternative to both the classic style as well as the caravans.

  55. A lot of these have green tinted lenses. I’m new to the sunglasses world. Are these preferable/go with more than black lenses?