One year, in my expensive sunglasses phase, I must have lost almost a grand in sunglasses. It’s inevitable that my sunglasses will get left in some dressing room, some restaurant, I’ll leave them in my handbag and they’ll get scratched, a screw will come loose… I’ll drop them on the street. I’ll sit on them, step on them, fall asleep on them. You name it, I’ve done it.
Perhaps, someone will invent the bullet-proof sunglasses with built-in GPS connected to my iPhone (which I don’t own yet) that has a call service that let’s me know if I’ve left my shades at the Ritz Carlton Terrace on my Sunday morning brunch. Ahh… the life which hasn’t happened yet.
Until then, fashionable shades under $100 will have to do. Ok.. under $50. While vintage is going up in price, it’s still an option for those of us who like good quality and want something more unusual, and there are a lot of deadstock and vintage glasses out there, just waiting for me to destroy them. (kidding…)
The Sought After
Like everything else, there is a huge selection of vintage sunglasses on eBay… though eBay.com has the widest selection, I found that the other eBays, eBay.co.uk and eBay.de had great finds with a smaller range. Like I was able to find quite a few Linda Farrow Vintage glasses (celebrity favorite) and some Ziess glasses (superior lenses) for bids starting as low as £6.
1. Black Round Linda Farrow Sunglasses, (with original tag) bid at £10
2. Black & White Linda Farrow (unmarked) Shades, bid at £10
3. 1960′s Round Carl Ziess Umbral Sunglasses (with original case) bid at £6
So Transparent
Last year, it was clear bags, this year… clear frames. While I personally have a love/hate relationship with clear, transparent frame glasses don’t really ever go out of style. I mean, I can’t think of a time when they were inappropriate. Finding a pair of antique celluloid sunnies was a real treat. It’s pretty rare to find anything fashion-related made of that material. Kurzenberger’s World of Glasses store on eBay has a great selection of vintage and second hand glasses and sunglasses, many of which are produced in Germany, France and Italy. And when you’re looking for vintage sunglasses, it’s a pretty good sign of quality.
1. 80′s Handmade Plastinax Sunglasses, buy it now price, $33
2. 70′s Transparent Oversized Sunglasses, buy in now price, $29
3. Celluloid Sunglasses, buy it now price, EUR 29
In All Seriousness
We can’t always take ourselves seriously.
1. 80′s Unisex Deadstock Asymmetrical Sunnies, current bid £7.99
2. 80′s Round Flip-out glasses, buy it now price £6 (they look cheap, but could be fun!)
3. 80′s Space Glasses, buy it now price, $24.90 (also comes in different colors)
{ 19 comments }
Oh I love the round black ones… I’m going to start searching ebay…
That’s amazing of you to put together this selection… will be bidding away on these lovely cheapies!
Aw, thank you! It was fun browsing through them…
I love the Carl Zeiss, but I don’t have much luck with sunglasses fitting me. I’d have to try them on in person.
these are all fab..but add one more scenario to your dilemma-a toddler chewing on them and the point of contact always being the lens =)
oh yes, you can add a whole lot of things to that list, toddlers, dogs, cats, ex-smokers
awesome shades, the green umbrals are my fav! I’ve gotten a few good shades off ebay.
hot! I like the b&w Linda Farrows!
You have put this post together awesomely, sort of reminiscent of that detective style where is Agathe post.
aw pretty, thanks that’s a lovely compliment.
I’m loving the round ones!
funky glasses.
im the opposite with sunglasses. i started buying pricer ones so that i would STOP breaking them, sitting on them, and leaving them behind in bathrooms.
You had me at the headline!
hehe, i’m glad someone got my awful pun.
I love them all but i am totally inlove with the Jeremy Scott Mickey mouse sunglasses. They are just amazing!
it’s crazy shades, love them all!
great post.
great timing Jennine! I’m writing an article for Venus zine on vintage sunglasses. I’ll be sure to reference your picks!
Great post. I tend to destroy or lose sunglasses myself, so I don’t like to pay too much if I can help it.
i found amazing vintage sunglasses at this little boutique in SF called Harputs Market- they also have a deadstock adidas store.
http://harputsmarket.com/
http://www.harputsadidas.com/visu.html
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