Retro Eyewear Models To Help You Channel Old School Style

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Sustainability has been one of the most prioritized elements in fashion in the past few years,
especially as Gen Z fashion sentiments dictate the trends for enthusiasts and designers alike.

With the new generation of style aficionados going for vintage pieces, there has been a natural shift in taste for retro aesthetics. Because of this, even brands making new clothes have been emulating older eras to appeal to the new tastes of the internet.

Whether you prefer glam from the golden era of Hollywood, street styles of the MTV-soaked ‘90s, or flowy flower power, one of the best ways to tie your whole look together is to accessorize. Eyewear is practical, impactful, and easy to channel any old-school era and complete your vibe. Here are some of the most popular retro frames making the rounds.

Aviators

With the Top Gun: Maverick movie hitting streaming on Paramount+, there has been a resurgence in the desire to copy the classic pilot chic look and wear sunglasses like Tom Cruise and his new castmates. Even beyond the movie, the biggest stars and fashion icons like Lenny Kravitz continue to rock the Aviator style. 

Something about the form and design immediately makes the wearer look timelessly cool, which is why they’ve always been a pinnacle of red carpet glam, outdoor style, and on-stage accessorizing. The Ray-Ban Aviator eyeglasses revolutionize the frames established by the brand back in the late 1930s by adding modernized features like advanced light protection, superior transition lenses and blue-violet light filtering, anti-reflective coating that doesn’t dull vision sharpness, and thinning technology to make a more stylish look that still captures the classic style that has persisted through the decades.

The Cat Eye

The cat eye frame is another classic shape that adds a touch of peculiarity to any look while keeping it stylish. Originally known as the Harlequin frame, the style came from the mind of Altina Schinasi as a pushback against the generic shapes that women had to accept when it came to eyewear. To this day, the cat eye is an unapologetically feminine style that is still one of the most often associated with vintage clothing.

Where Marilyn Monroe was the poster girl for the frames in the silver screen era, today, you can see it donned by the high-wattage star power gracing the Wimbledon tournament. In a US Open with plenty of fashion statements and eyewear choices, pop icon Taylor Swift donned a retro-style gingham dress paired with her signature red lip and Marquee Rox cat eye sunglasses from Urban Outfitters.

Wayfarers

A discussion around Wayfarers can’t be had without mentioning some of its most historic fans: Bob Dylan, John F. Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and James Dean are ubiquitous figures in their respective fields. They perfectly represent a snapshot of the ideal man with a hint of danger for the decades when they hit the height of their popularity, so it’s no wonder these frames immediately became associated with that image.

Ray-Ban is still the most associated eyewear brand with the style because they invented the shape in 1952. If you want to personify that era of sleek masculinity and fashionable laissez-faire, you can opt for a vintage pair or a new Wayfarer. They’ve even introduced Reverse models that stick to the well-known silhouette while using sustainable materials and concave lenses to look edgier and add protection against the sun. 

Final Thoughts

Eyewear has such a storied history that there is a virtually endless supply of frames to choose from. Trends may come and go, but a few frames will always be tied to specific eras when thought of in the public space. These eyewear designs represent a time before smartphones and reality television, evoking a sense of glamor and nostalgia, which can give your style an added flair.