The Shades

When I was little, I was never a huge fan of sunglasses. I think it was because once I saw a camp counselor of mine with a glaring pink raccoon eye sunburn. Being really fair skinned myself, I got paranoid that that would automatically happen to me when I wore sunglasses when it was sunny out, and that I would look as awkward as they did. I spent many summers squinting.

Recently though, I've realized that sunglasses can be indispensable. Plus, they make you look pretty darn hip. The first pair of sunglasses I fell in love with were a pair of aviators that I found on the ground at UMass. I liked to call them "the best pair of sunglasses that I never paid for."

They were pretty rad. Plus they made pretty much everybody look cool.

My Brother.My cousin Jeff.My Aunt Martha. These were all taken with a disposable camera on a muggy spring night in Cambridge. We went to see a one-man show about the life of Chopin, which was actually really awesome.

At some point though, these shades returned to the wild. Lost, but hopefully found by another person who can appreciate free accessories.

I bought my next pair when they were on super-sale at Newbury Comics in Amherst. The were wayfarers and I loved them.

They were really flattering on my face. I loved them a little too much though, and the lenses got scratched up as I carted them around everywhere in the bottoms of purses.

Last summer, I bought into the oversized sunglasses mania that seemed to be sweeping America. I used to associate big frames with old ladies and the 80's. But the look of these grew on me, and did a really good job of protecting my eyes to boot.

Unfortunately, these guys too bit the dust when one of the arms snapped off. So this year, I find myself again on the quest for good eye wear. I've been thinking about getting some Teashade frames this time. It was a look I totally rocked in 1995.


Sunglasses are a pretty sweet invention. I find it really amazing too that in a few hundred years we've gone from this:

Precursor to modern sunglasses; Inuit sun goggles

To this:

Swedish Astronaut at the International Space Station, 2006